\n");

 

~ Frequently Asked Questions ~

Last updated : 22nd Jan 2004

Questions:

Install problems...

Administrating...

Answers:

INSTALL PROBLEMS

Q: I type "addbot" in console and it says "unknown command"!

A: type "rcbot addbot" !!!<back to top>

Q: Alright, I type "rcbot addbot" and it still says "unknown command"

A: This could be of a few reasons:

1. There are two gamedll lines or two gamedll_linux lines that are uncommented in the liblist.gam file for the MOD you want to use. You should only ever have ONE of each of these lines.
2. If using metamod, the bot may be installed in the wrong folder or you have entered the path wrong in metamod's plugins.ini file.

1 : If using the stand alone dll (without metamod) open the liblist.gam and remove any other lines that start with "gamedll" other than the line which gives the bot dll.

2 : If using metamod, type "meta list" in the console. If it shows rcbot_mm...dll/so status is 'badf' it means the file could not be found (meaning the path written in metamod's plugin.ini file is wrong). If it isn't shown at all then you haven't wrote the bot dll path into metamod's plugins.ini file and still need to do it. Some people have found that changing the '/' folder characters in the rcbot path in metamod's plugin file to windows folder character (backslash : '\') will work.<back to top>

Q: I type "rcbot addbot" and the console says something about "no profiles are free"

A: Bots have their own profiles stored as files in the botprofiles folder. Also the file called bot_profiles.ini must have numbers in them (each line is a valid profile number).

The most common situation is that you simply have not installed rcbot to the correct folder. RCBot must be installed ABOVE the mod folder (that's the same folder where the MOD folder is, NOT inside the MOD folder!)

In STEAM, and if running mods such as deathmatch classic where the mod is in its own folder (i.e. not inside half-life steam app folder), you must make another copy of the bot folder and put it in the "steamapps/<email>" folder too.

So you may get this error if:

- you haven't installed the bot to the correct folder
- there are no profiles in the botprofiles folder / the botprofiles folder doesn't exist
- there are no lines in the bot_profiles.ini file (which denote valid bot profiles)<back to top>

Q: I am running Linux, I have installed everything to the correct folder but when loading the bot it says "Load Library Failed"

First of all this could be because the bot is again not installed into the correct folder, or the gamedll_linux line in liblist.gam is pointing to the wrong .so file or the path is written incorrectly.

If the installation folder and liblist.gam seem fine then you may need to download the GNU C++ Libraries for backward compatability. The bot is compiled on gcc on mandrake 8.2 (don't know what gcc version it is to be honest!) and may need the libraries to link the dll file with metamod etc. Download the libraries for your linux distribution.<back to top>

SQUADS

Q: How do I make a squad from bots on my team?

A: Use the squad menu ("rcbot squad_menu"), you can bind a key to it and then select
"more options" and then "make squad". Alternatively you can say "form up" in a team
message.<back to top>

Q: No bots will join my squad when I want them to

A: You must be nearby bots to be able to make a squad from them<back to top>

Q: They still won't join my squad even if I am really close to them!

A: Probably the bots have got a squad already of their own. You can remove the squads made by bots (or being lead by bots) by using the squad menu. Choose the "more options" item in the squad menu and then "remove all bot squads" Then try making a squad again.<back to top>

Q: I try to make a squad and enemies join my squad!

A: If you have godmode or notarget mode on then enemies might join your squad because the enemy check will return false.<back to top>

NATURAL SELECTION MOD

Q: Bots in NS marine team don't build! So they can't respawn if they die.

A: Try using the 'rcbot config marine_auto_build' command. It will create an infantry portal near the command console provided there are waypoints on the map.<back to top>

Q: How do I get RCBot and Whichbot (NS Bot : http://www.whichbot.com) to work together?

i. Download latest RCBot and whichbot
ii. Extract the bots to their locations
iii. Get the latest metamod dll file from http://www.metamod.org
iv. Extract metamod dll into ns/addons/metamod/dlls and overwrite the old file.
v. Edit the metamod plugins.ini file and make sure these lines are in the file:

win32 addons/whichbot/dlls/whichbot.dll
win32 ../rcbot/dlls/rcbot_mm.dll

Similarly for linux, edit the plugins.ini file to point to the metamod linux dll files instead. (see metamod documentation if unsure) <back to top>

ADMINISTRATING

Q: Can you run the bot on a dedicated server?

A: The bot should run fine on a dedicated server, you can access
the commands by using the same as the client (i.e. to add a bot use
the command "rcbot addbot")<back to top>

Q: The bots always just stand still!

A: The map must have waypoints, you can make your own or look for some on my waypoints page on the bot site or the bot forum. If it does have waypoints type "rcbot debug nav 1" and it will write in the console what the bots are trying to do, perhaps there are problems with the waypoint paths etc, or there is a bug you must sort out.<back to top>

Q: How do I set up my server so I or others can have access to bot commands?

A: The procedure has changed a lot since last RCBot because of the introduction of steam. Read the "Admin Use" section in the rcbot readme and also the bot_users.ini file (open with notepad) and read the comments on how to add a user. Note that the test in the bot_users.ini file is case-sensitive! <back to top>

PERFORMANCE

Q: The bot uses too much CPU / framerate is low with bots running.

A: Change some of the performance settings, these are typical bot commands. They are:

rcbot config max_path_revs
rcbot config update_vision_time
rcbot config max_update_vision_revs

See the bot_commands.txt file for more information on these commands.<back to top>

WAYPOINTS & NAVIGATION

Q: What are the .rcw files in Waypoints folder?

A: These are the waypoints for the maps, each waypoint is in a folder corresponding to the MOD it is for also.<back to top>

Q: What are the .rcv files in the Waypoints folder?

A: These are the waypoint visibility files, they store info on each waypoint if a waypoint is visible from another to work out best cover places etc.<back to top>

Q: How do I make my own waypoints?

See the waypoint readme that you get with the bot!<back to top>

Q: How do I install waypoints I downloaded?

i. If you downloaded a ".zip" file open the zip file with winzip or other zip compressor utility and extract the .rcw file into

<HALF LIFE FOLDER>/rcbot/waypoints/<MOD FOLDER NAME>/

ii. If you downloaded an ".rcw" file then save it to the same folder above

-: Replace <HALF LIFE FOLDER> to the folder where your half-life hl.exe is stored.
-: Replace <MOD FOLDER NAME> with the name of the MOD's folder that the MOD is used in.


-: Delete the .rcv file that has the same name as the map that the waypoints are for to save possible crashing and bad performance.<back to top>

MEGAHAL (Bot chatting)

Q: How can the bot stop learning from people chatting?

If you want bots to stop learning the language people are speaking altogether (for reasons such as that your megaHal brain .brn files are becoming huge) you can disable bots learning by using the config command "rcbot config chat_dont_learn 1". <back to top>

Q: Why won't the bots stop talking, they talk too much?!

You will need to put the reply percentage down. Use the config variable "rcbot config chat_reply_percent" and enter then percentage of time you want them to reply to messages. Plus you may have bots responding to other bots that will cause a lot of messages. If real mode is not on, then the bots will also chat more as the bots reputation with the player that it is responding to does not have affect. <back to top>

Q: The bots don't respond to other bots.

You will need to change the config variable "rcbot config chat_reply_to_bots" to 1, that's "rcbot config chat_reply_to_bots 1". <back to top>

Q: What are the .brn files in the botprofiles folder?

The .brn files keep the bots megaHAL brain, so that it can read it again when the bots re-joins the server. It stores what it has learned from humans talking in the server while the bot was also in the server. <back to top>

Q: What are the .trn files in the botprofiles folder?

The .trn files are training files for the bot. Each bot profile can specify a certain .trn file for it to train the megaHAL brain if none exists so that it has something it can say without needing bots to see humans say messages. If no .trn file is specified in the botprofile then it will load it's own if it exists. See the botprofile readme for info. <back to top>