Talk:Bots

Patches

erm, I was wondering if I could create a new subject in this page that shows a chronological list of all the updates that affected the AI bots in general, if yes, how would i achieve this? i'm currently writing on a phone so i'm gonna edit this later and be more specific. Guy 22:29, 20 July 2010 (UTC)

Good idea. You could set it up like Sandman's update bit. I'm editing on my phone too! They suck! -- Smashman... _{(t • s)} 22:33, 20 July 2010 (UTC)

Okay, I did just that, it should be complete now, I'll try and keep it up to date seeing as I'm one of the few who actually know about this page and update it. If anybody sees any errors or problems with my writing, would you be so kind as to let me know? I'll gladly edit it for the better.Guy

Too long maybe just link to the patches ? nb i watch this one as the short scripts at the bottom were written by me--Markd 13:51, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

I think instead I'll just move it to the bottom of the AI bot's section, so it's kind of out of the way, but all of it is relevant and I find it looks fine with the page. Guy 19:10, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

Commands

That is a lot of commands, which seems to get in the way rather easily. Even worse is that that isn't all of them (tf_bot_debug_insertstuffhere) for example. I was thinking of just cutting it down to the essential commands (add, remove, mimic, rename, difficulty, etc.) Should we?--Kurathedog 20:47, 6 November 2010 (UTC)

No,its for anyone to know how to use any command,so we should put every command--Nagoffyvongola21 12:16, 7 November 2010 (UTC)

We could make the tables collapsible --Firestorm 03:21, 7 November 2010 (UTC)

At present the list both includes commands that aren't implemented in the current TF2 version (1.1.9.2) (bot_flipout, bot_defend) and omits some other commands that are (eg. bot_drop and bot_jump). Pathetic One 22:24, 8 January 2012 (PST)

Bot Classes

I'm wondering if I could make individual paragraphs for each class of bots, one for scout, pyro, soldier, demoman, heavy etc etc, because they all have different behaviour that we could highlight, either towards the player or eachother and I would like to write about each of them seperately instead of clustering individual bot behaviour in the main paragraph. Guy

I like this idea. Especially considering I've noticed that if you use tf_bot_force_class Medic, the enemy Medics will never leave the spawn point, whereas friendly Medics will follow the player (using only the Medigun, and Ubercharging the moment the player takes damage).Suzaku 15:11, 3 August 2011 (PDT)

Another class-specific quirk: under bot_mimic the Heavy can jump while spun up. Pathetic One 22:14, 8 January 2012 (PST)

Demoman spam bug

As of the April14 update, Demoman bots will shift into play to combat enemy Sentry Guns. However, they seldom switch back to another class whether or not they destroy it, leaving a team full of Demomen and 1-2 Medics. Dunno if it's worth adding into a bug section on the main page or not. -Update- Still all switch to Demoman, but now switch back once the Sentries they were specifically targetting are destroyed. DarkQuill 08:54, 6 June 2011 (UTC)

RCbot

I think it should be fair to mention and do a small section about this community made bot. For reference here is the webpage [1]--Sjru 14:42, 15 April 2011 (UTC)

tf_bot_taunt_victim_chance

I entered this line of code and it no longer gave me the notice that cheats cannot be used on the server. Does this mean it's no longer a cheat? And should we add this to the table of AI commands? RainingMetal

Can anyone else confirm this?

When I type 1 after bot -team, bots no longer spawn on RED but on BLU, even though both teams are numerically even. I tried all the other numbers; they all spawn bots on BLU each time the teams are numerically even.

Qidhbughu 00:11, 14 August 2011 (PDT)

I think it's to do with auto-team balance. Try disabling that. » Cooper Kid (blether·contreebs) 09:13, 14 August 2011 (PDT)

Red team is 0 Blu team is 1. You can also use the team names Canucka (talk) 14:05, 5 June 2013 (PDT)

Movement?

Anyone know how to make puppet bots move forwards?(and backwards, and sideways?) or just for AI bots to move forward only. Pootis9000 10:29, 23 November 2011 (PST)

I'm not sure exactly, but the syntax is (might be): bot_command <botname> <command>, and replace <command> with +forward, +back, etc, etc. See the default keys page for basic commands and variables normally bound to your keyboard. (i.e., +forward is usually 'w', +back is usually 's', and so on. SYSREQ (talk) 11:05, 1 October 2013 (PDT)

bot_whack will kill with (apparently) any weapon

bot_whack will kill the targeted bot with the user's selected weapon even if the weapon normally can't do damage (eg. Jarate) or can't directly affect characters at all (eg. the PDA and the Electro Sapper). (The generic skull kill icon is displayed.) I'm not sure whether it's worth mentioning this in the bot_whack entry. Pathetic One 22:58, 8 January 2012 (PST)

Sentries and Other Buildings on 2Fort?

Hi, this is my first comment to this wonderful wiki, and I'd like to point out that whenever I choose engineer bots on 2Fort, they never build anything. They just use their shotgun. I believe this is actually for all CTF maps, because they don't build turrets on itemtest either. Yes, it's a CTF map, even if there are no flags. It says so when you load it. --JezzDawga 21:48, 15 June 2012 (PDT)

There are an innumerable number of ConVars dedicated to bot behavior. Perhaps you have tf_do_bot_build set to zero?

MvM and Engineers

Ok, this is my second post, and this time, I would like answers. I was reading about Spy bots working in MvM, and I remembered the time I tried to add 6 Engineers, and only one of them stayed and built their stuff after I used tf_bot_warp_team_to_me. The rest of them ran back to the Upgrades spot. Could someone mention that one Engineer? --JezzDawga 04:41, 8 September 2012 (PDT)

Bots In Arena Mode

Do the bots work at all on Arena maps? There is no mention of this one way or the other in the article.

Litnin200 (talk) 23:35, 7 June 2013 (PDT)

Attacking Bots in Payload

Bots apparently now will not stay in their spawn positions during setup times on Blue, can someone else confirm this and add it to the behaviour section? — The preceding unsigned comment was added by Mtemple12 (talk) • (contribs) 15:16, 16 July 2013

As far as I know (and I play with bots a LOT), even on unsupported maps as long as you use nav_generate they should pathfind okay. SYSREQ (talk) 10:48, 1 October 2013 (PDT)

Missing information on unavailable gamemodes

I noticed that the bots behave similarly in Arena mode in that they do Mann vs Machine mode (Don't move, but will move around when an enemy is nearby, doesn't attempt to cap the control point), but I didn't want to add anything if that was left out intentionally. #trigger_hurt^(T|C) 13:56, 28 September 2013 (PDT)

I'll go add it to the list of unsupported gamemodes in the section, as I wasn't sure if it applied. SYSREQ (talk) 10:46, 1 October 2013 (PDT)

How do you kick any bots that are a certain class?

How do you kick any bots that are a certain class? I'm trying to create a script for playing highlander offline where if I choose a class, and a bot is already there, the bot is kicked and I can get the slot. Then, the bot is reconnected, and it chooses the class I was before. However, I haven't figured out how to kick the right bot. I'm considering just creating bots that have names of what class they are, then kick them by name, but then I'd have to write the script 18 times.

Update anytime and Engineer bot problems

I usually play a lot with bots. It's a fun way to practice, but there are some things that make me wonder. First, when was the last update for bots? I don't think they have ever recieved an improvement in their AI (heck, the ones on Expert are barely more lethal than Easy bots!) since the Hatless Update! Another issue I want to point out is that the line on bot behavior says that Engineer bots won't move up their buildings, and instead destroy them and then build elsewhere. I can confirm this is very wrong. Every single time I encountered Engie bots (even when playing on officially supported maps), all they did was build a sentry, dispenser, tele-exit around them, then whack their sentry for all eternity, regardless whether the objective is two feet away or two miles away. I hope Valve gives a little more attention to Bots... Dafuq? (talk) 04:31, 4 November 2014 (PST)

Kicking bots with a space in their name

Does anybody know how to kick a bot whose name consists of a space? (ie Hat-Wearing MAN). - Pootis-Man (talk) 17:49, 15 November 2014 (PST)

bot_kick "Pootis Man" I believe Darkid (Talk | Contribs) 18:03, 15 November 2014 (PST)

Dude, not cool. I meant from a bot INSIDE the game. Try using Still Alive instead, and show me the command. - Pootis-Man (talk) 18:14, 15 November 2014 (PST)

Oh, you put quotes. Alright, I get it. - Pootis-Man (talk) 18:19, 15 November 2014 (PST)

"Bots are mute" - Technically not?

The bots are able to use basic voice command and sometimes when coded are able to utilize all voice commands. Are they technically mute as they can't not actually talk in the main chat? I'm just wondering. Tanner (talk) 15:23, 4 February 2015 (PST)

<bot> bid farewell, cruel world!

The concepts of the bots are good, but this bug is a serious problem. In training part 2 for Soldier, the bots just self-destruct over and over again. This also happens if I assign a class for a new bot.

Example, I type in this: "tf_bot_add 1 scout" (I can't box it in, sorry) and the Scout just kills himself and switches to another class if not already locked to it. If the Force Class variable is set to none and the Change Class after Death thing (I don't quite see it anymore) is 0, he just dies over and over. Literally boring to watch.

If anyone can bring this to Valve's attention, I hope the bots get fixed soon. Non-competing bots are plain drags if they just die repeatedly.

Regards, I do like messing around offline (especially bots), but this ruins the fun. --JarateCloaker (talk) 22:30, 21 March 2018 (UTC)

Have you tried if nav-generate before adding bots would work? Also make sure any behavior commands are set to default.--Akolyth (talk) 22:55, 21 March 2018 (UTC)

Attempted the nav-generate thing and added a bot...Zilch. Still dies. And what behavior commands are there and how to set them so as to prevent this? --JarateCloaker (talk) 22:15, 24 March 2018 (UTC)

Regarding the list of maps with no official bot support

Should Cloak (Control Point) and Background01 be included in the list of maps with no official bot support since both maps have little to no playability ? Cactus Canyon and Asteroid are both unfinished maps but at least it's playable to a certain extend. Kaezle (talk) 08:14, 15 October 2019 (UTC)

Which commands to include and exclude

From the section on Puppet bot commands:
"Not all of the following commands work; some working commands are also omitted."
What is the decision process behind which to include and which to omit?
I propose the inclusion of bot_hurt, which can hurt bots (or heal, with a negative value for the damage parameter). It has the parameters -team <red/blu/all>, -damage <int>, and -burn (lights bot on fire but does not cause burn/afterburn damage)
Why do I propose the inclusion of this command? Because I was looking for it myself but it was not here, it seems useful enough to include.CaptainZidgel (talk) 23:56, 1 July 2020 (UTC)

I dont see a reason why working commands should be omitted, maybe sort them in order of least important (E.g. spawning a bot is more important than hurting it).
GrampaSwood (talk) 09:55, 2 July 2020 (UTC)

Missing Navmesh pack

I removed a dead link from the article, indicating there was a navmesh pack available on the Steam Forums. The link is dead after the Steam forums rework, and I can't find the original pack. Does anybody know what it was supposed to reference? Note: A pack of pre-made bot meshes has been compiled for many popular maps. Sgtketchup (talk) 22:35, 3 October 2020 (UTC)

Is it really necessary to have 2 lists regarding official bot support?

I don't see the point of having a list of maps WITH official bot support, and one WITHOUT official bot support. Wouldn't it be more rational to have only the one list of maps with the bot support? They could easily check to see if a specific map is or isn't on the list. -- Zeminarv (talk) 04:20, 15 November 2020 (UTC)

I don't think it matters that much, a list of maps without bot support is handy for if players are wondering if the list is outdated (for example).
GrampaSwood (talk) 10:30, 15 November 2020 (UTC)

Aimbot Bots

Should something be added about cheater bots, such as the ones currently plaguing Casual mode? Kestrelguy (talk) 00:24, 28 December 2020 (UTC)

That is already in Cheating#Bots · Ashe (talk) 00:26, 28 December 2020 (UTC)

Missing/Incorrect information

1) Bots (aside from sniper) don't attack the player at any point during the setup Phase, instead opting for retreating backwards.

2) Engineer, Sniper and Spy bots will move from their spawn positions when attacking on payload maps. Sniper will melee the door if a bot or player gets close to the door, spy will disguise and stand in a corner by one of the doors. Engineer will go to a spawn door, open their PDA and select the sentry. If a bot or player gets close, on most maps they will pull out their shotgun and run further into spawn.

3) Engineer bots will build and upgrade in this order: a) when they run out of spawn they will place a Teleporter Entrance. b) they will build and upgrade their sentry to level 3. c) they will attempt to build and upgrade their Dispenser to level 3, if they cannot place a Dispenser they will give up and melee their sentry. After a few minutes they will try again. d) They will attempt to build a Teleport Exit, If they cannot place one they will give up and return to melee their sentry. After a few minutes they will try again.

4) When a Medic activates their Übercharge, they will attempt to keep the beam on the player or bot they were healing when it was activated. if the heal target dies they will switch to another preferred heal target.

5)Personally, I have found that medic bots are very effective with their Syringe gun. This may just be me.

6) Somehow, Engineer bots can stand inside the Hitbox/collision box of their buildings.

If I got something wrong or want to ask a question, you can find me on dustbowl, facing bots, because I'm lonely.

Who Art Thou (talk) 05:11, 27 February 2021 (UTC)

Compatible Maps

There are some maps are listed as not having bot support, like the Mannpower versions of Foundry and Thunder Mountain, but do actually have navmeshes included. Now obviously on a map like Thunder Mountain where you have to use the grappling hook to nab the intel, they can't really play the objective, but on Foundry they can sort of play the objective, just not intelligently (they grab the flag, but don't understand that they can't cap while the other flag is being held). Would it be worth making a separate list for maps that have bot support built-in, but they don't play properly? Something like "Maps With Partial Support" or something? Clone5184 (talk) 20:20, 10 March 2021 (UTC)

Nope
GrampaSwood (talk) 20:25, 10 March 2021 (UTC)

Third-party bots necessary?

It seems as if the third-party bots section is dedicated only dedicated to one community-made bot. To me, this looks like it's just advertising the bot. I also think this isn't really necessary in general because this is an article about TF2 bots (In the same way that List of maps doesn't have a "Notable community-made maps" section).
GrampaSwood (talk) 16:08, 6 June 2021 (UTC)

Engineers in CTF gamemodes (eg. 2fort Turbine and Doublecross ) is this a bug or behavior?

In ctf maps Engineer bots (at least on easy) just stand there for a few moments and leave spawn without building anything. I've looked at them using spectator camera and they look left and right slightly (in a grid (like the other bots) (presuming looking for a place to build then fail) ) and a bit up and down too then they go out and not build anything (however fixed in Team_Fortress_2_Classic ) Eryked (talk) 19:41, 1 November 2023 (UTC)

It may be because they are on easy they are delayed in building their defences. I wouldn't consider it a bug for now, but I can try and see if I can find smth about it in the code.
| s | GrampaSwood (talk) (contribs) 19:53, 1 November 2023 (UTC)

Yes Engiebots indeed don't work in CTF maps. See https://github.com/ValveSoftware/Source-1-Games/issues/4916 · Ashe (talk) 20:13, 1 November 2023 (UTC)