Get with the times man, move away from the peasants life tending the land and come join the revolution! And get broadband!!!
Quake wars bots
Jaquboss
(Jaquboss)
#43
OT: I would like to see vanilla ET bots in action, sadly no bspc for ET, and probably some more broken things, however they seems to support the most of ET MP features… It could be great two years back…
zIP
(zIP)
#44
Hey all, just a newbie to this forum. I normally forum lurk, but this topic happens to be one close to my heart, so I thought I’ll drop a few thoughts about bot support in games like ET:QW.
People have already expressed other reasons why bot support should be included (no broadband in their area, cost of broadband etc.); I guess valid enough reasons. However, my biggest argument FOR bot support would be just one acronym: LANs.
Someone already posted the question “Why would you need bots in a LAN?”. Well, for a game that supports up to 32 players; tell me, how big a house do you own to fit that amount of sweaty, geeky LANners? Does anyone even have 32 friends who would be into QW?
Myself and 3 friends always have a LAN at my house every Friday night. For the last few months we’ve been going nuts at BF2 (yes, yes, I know all forumites here hate that game with a passion 
). Even though the bots aren’t perfect, the AI for them seems to be the best in any game designed with MP only in mind, especially one with rules as complex as BF2. Mind you, DICE’s implementation of BF2’s SP support was rather half-ars*d, but hey, here is where the guys at Splash Damage can rise to the occassion and outdo them! 
The other beauty is that bots programmed by developers are normally done in a way which corresponds with how they perceive the game to be played. Even though I have a broadband connection, I have only ever played BF2 online TWICE since I bought it on release date. I’m sure you’re all familiar with the smacktards who play online, either bunny-hopping non-stop to get any ‘edge’. I play games to immerse myself in another world, and when I see US marines bunny-hopping while snapping off random rifle shots, it makes me think, “I’m sure the designers didn’t make their game to be played like this.” But what can you do…that’s the problem of game design that relies so heavily on human nature.
Now, ET suffers from the same problem. Some servers are filled with the same smacktards that ruin play for people looking for a tactical, team-based WWII shooter (that isn’t cursed Day of Defeat 
). Or, even worse, the servers of ‘elitists’ who always whinge at the newcomers just looking for a new experience.
LANs with good friends and bot adversaries overcomes all these unpleasant gameplay experiences. Plus, nothing beats the instant socialisation when your friends are all physically present to witness the crazy things that go on in these games.
Oh, and from an economic point of view, only myself and 1 of my friends have broadband connection, but all have decent PCs. When ET:QW comes out without bot support, I wouldn’t see them getting broadband just to play one game (especially if we have LANs so regularly), so no sale for them. However, they all own a copy of BF2 and its expansion pack, even without having a broadband connection. Reason? A compelling gameplay foundation with bots layered on top.
Ok, sorry for the rant. If Splash Damage doesn’t release bots with QW it’ll be no biggie to me. The game looks ace and it uses ET’s more refined objective-based system (as opposed to BF2’s capture-any-flag-you-want whackamole). However, this post was just to state that ANY kind of game (even the supposedly MP only ones) can benefit from bots.
And for those of you keep putting down people who enjoy bot play, just understand this. It is not a superior way of playing a MP-only game, nor is it inferior…it’s just a different kind of fun. Don’t believe me? Get some mates together, chuck on BF2’s Strike at Karkand map, and make the odds 3:1 in the enemy bot’s favour. Then try defending the city against a horde of bots. Bots may be thick, but how long can you and your 3 buddies last against 20 bots converging on your position? 
Now imagine that in QW, a squad of 5 EDF troopers defending objectives against the numerically superior Strogg invaders, or a crack team of Strogg infiltrating EDF territory crawling with troopers…
Joe999
(Joe999)
#45
i don’t want to dig into the bot thing again, but i have to top this:
unfortunately it seems you haven’t yet felt the joy you can have when you get to know a lot of people from all over the world in teamspeak, talk with each other and play with each other the same quality rich game? and i don’t mean 3 people at once, i mean 20 and more. all different nations, races, religions, … that’s a totally different quality of gameplay. you should try to get broadband asap.
Gringo
(Gringo)
#46
Well said joe joe. Via the wonder world of et mp i have met many nice peeps world worldwide. Who says video games are anti social!
Also, Bots are not ur friends not matter how often u say they are
Dazzamac
(Dazzamac)
#47
I attend a LAN every month or so at a friends house where we normally turn out 14 or 15 players. Playing ET only. Also after a trial run it was decided not using bots was a good idea.
zIP
(zIP)
#48
unfortunately it seems you haven’t yet felt the joy you can have when you get to know a lot of people from all over the world in teamspeak, talk with each other and play with each other the same quality rich game?
Well joe, I DO have broadband, and I do play team-based games online using Teamspeak servers. Yes, you do meet some decent people online, but tell me, do you go out on a weekend with them to paint the town red? Are they into cricket like you are too? It’s not that these people have to be interested in what you are, but most aren’t even in the same age group that we belong to to have the same interests.
Now, LANning with good friends who do things other than play PC games with me gives us a more interesting social gathering during the LANs. In between map loads we talk about what we got up to together on the weekend, discuss how dodgy it is when Ricky Ponting goes out for a golden duck against Sri Lanka in the first VB one-day international final…and so on.
Via the wonder world of et mp i have met many nice peeps world worldwide. Who says video games are anti social!
I’ve met some decent people when playing online games, and they now populate my x-fire friends list. But the countless immature people who populate these servers seem almost equal in number with the people who just want to enjoy a game without it being spoiled by some brat who decides lone-wolfing it and not working as part of a team makes him/her the next Rambo.
I’m not trying to say playing exclusively online makes the experience anti-social, it’s just that it’s a different kind of socialisation. Sometimes you just want to talk about what your small clique of friends are interested in, and you are not guaranteed that when gaming online. The gathering is more controlled; you aren’t entering the wilds of internet gaming, not knowing what kind of experience you’ll be getting that day.
I attend a LAN every month or so at a friends house where we normally turn out 14 or 15 players. Playing ET only.
That’s good for you Dazzamac. Unfortunately, not a lot of people (me included) know that many people who are into ET, let alone PC games. And yes, ET can be great fun with 15 people, but when QW comes out, isn’t it a pity your LAN won’t be able to have the maximum of 32 players running around the larger maps and making full use of combined mass vehicle and infantry battles? Mind you, it might still be fun with only 15 people, but if you wanted a mass frag fest, that option is denied to you. With bots it isn’t.
Gringo
(Gringo)
#49
The problem is u cant slag off bots or brag to them about eatin their babies! I love playin ET, knowing that ive pwned somebody so bad they are probably crying like a small child would. (Never really happened, just a fantasy)
Killin bots dont make a person feel like a big man which killin human opponents does. And if it does, seriously, there are operations that can make their thingy bigger!
ElderNewb
(ElderNewb)
#50
Frag fests are only good for a small amount of time and can be done online any time. An while we won’t have the max number of players that simply mean there will more choice for the rest of us and more thought has to put in on what piece of equipment is need to win the game. Add that to 14 other mates in one room +booze = a fucking great challenging game.
Dazzamac
(Dazzamac)
#51
Also you can’t take pictures of your bots in seemingly gay poses either. Nor can you photoshop the photo’s of sleeping bots to make them look almost completely bald and make them paranoid about their tiny bald patch. And can you drink the bots vodka thinking its your whiskey? No, though I believe this argument has gone off in somewhat of a tangent so I’ll end it here. LAN’s are not a reason to add bots, many arguments have been put forward and some of them I agree with. Not that one.
zIP
(zIP)
#54
Also you can’t take pictures of your bots in seemingly gay poses either.
Hmm, but I can take pictures of my 3 mates in seemingly gay poses though (not that I ever have :eek3: )
Nor can you photoshop the photo’s of sleeping bots to make them look almost completely bald and make them paranoid about their tiny bald patch.
Shhh, Dave doesn’t like it when we mention his bald spot, even if it doesn’t really exist.
And can you drink the bots vodka thinking its your whiskey?
Yeah, but Mark the freebooter keeps pinching my Jagermeister. Just because he has a dodgy job and can’t afford his own alcohol doesn’t make my LANs an alcoholic free-for-all.
Yes, my friends and I do all the above and more at our LANs. Pity that a 2-on-2 game of QW might not be the epitiome of a fun night of gaming. Instead, we’ll probably be LANning to other games like Battle for Middle Earth 2 or Battlefield 2 for our sandbox FPS fix (even though the game is prone to CTD and is buggier than Daikatana at release).
Killin bots dont make a person feel like a big man which killin human opponents does. And if it does, seriously, there are operations that can make their thingy bigger!
Ahh, the very reason why I try to avoid online gaming on public servers. The rise of persistent rankings is like handing out free viagra to the minors who populate these servers so that their e-penis can be constantly erect. I don’t ‘kill’ bots or humans as proof of my manhood; I want to just do it for fun. Isn’t that what games were originally made for? :rolleyes:
Gringo
(Gringo)
#55
DAMN RIGHT, AMEN TO THAT POINT!!!
I do agree that stats should be avoided! Btw, I need to feel like a big man some way. At least until i can afford the operation!
Joe999
(Joe999)
#56
why don’t you hang your friends on your broadband then? imo these games are the most fun when you make a raid on some servers, frag the noobs n such as a group. suggestion in ET: two play covert ops. the one distracts the target, the other knifes it. it’s a blast, i can tell
nUllSkillZ
(nUllSkillZ)
#57
I haven’t followed the thread.
So sorry if this has been mentioned.
Omnibot wants to support ET:QW right from the start.
But needs some additional coders:
Omni-bot
corvey
(corvey)
#58
Omnibot wants to support ET:QW right from the start.
But needs some additional coders:
Omni-bot
If this is true that Omni-Bot team is gonna take on task, then I say fuck having bots shipped with the game. I can wait for the Omni-Bot ET-QW version to come out.
Omni-Bot is real good bot program, I like it. The Omni-bot team has done a great job with the current ET bots. Just hope they don’t let us down and not make it.
zeh
(zeh)
#59
I was under the impression this would happen (the guy had done bots for ET, and he had recently started messing with bots on Q4 and liked the AAS system); thanks god.