Let me try to explain, its a bit difficult. I want to create a bot that will play single player Terraria, although the game itself is irrelevant.
I need to be able to do a couple things, I'll just make a list
Attach to the game
Send out movement and action commands (use item, etc)
Figure out constants and monitor variables. I need things such as movement mechanics, block breaking times, and life/mana in order for the bot to appropriately react to external stimulus. I want the bot to figure these things out on its own so that it can adapt to other environments, so feeding them in from the wiki won't help.
I believe I can figure out the rest, but I really don't even know where to start with these few things. To clarify, I'm not looking to copy and paste; I'd like to learn how to program this stuff but I have no clue where to look.
Some additional details, I'm a novice with C++. I've been poking around and assembly language has come up a couple times, and I wouldn't mind learning it or any other languages if its necessary. Sorry if the tag is inaccurate.
Related
I'm currently working on a C++/SDL/OpenGL game. I've already made a few small games, but only local ones (no netcode). So I know how to make the engine, but I'm unsure about the netcode.
Can I firstly create the full engine for split-screen play and later on add the netcode or will this make everything complicated? Do I already have to take netcode into consideration while programming the basic game engine or is it also okay to just put it on top of the game after it runs fine on one machine?
It's a 2D shooter type game, if that matters. And no, I don't like to change my choice of programming language/window manager/api because I already implemented the bare bones of the game. I'm just curous how this issue is approached best.
In theory, all you need is a good enough design. Write enough abstract classes and BAM! you can pop out one user interface (i.e. local-only) for another one (networked). I wouldn't believe the theory, though.
It's possible to do what you want, but it involves taking into consideration all of the new issues you address when dealing with networked gameplay - syncing views for multiple users, what to do when one user drops their network link (how to detect when one user drops their network link, of course), network latency in receiving user input, handling lag on one side and not the other. Networked programming is completely different, and some of the aspects (largely ones dealing with synchronization) may impact your core engine itself. Even "just showing two views" gets a lot tougher, because you now have data on two completely different machines, and the data isn't necessarily the same.
My suggestion would be to do the opposite of what you're hoping for. Get the networking code working first with minimal graphics. In fact, console messages will be far more important than pretty graphics. You already have experience with making the graphics of other games - work the most questionable technology first. Get a good feel of all the things the networked code will ask of you, then focus on the graphics afterwards.
Normally for a network oriented game there are five concepts too keep in mind:
events
dispatcher
synchronization
rendering
simulation
Events. A game engine is a event software, that means over a state of each generic object in the game (can be a unit, GUI, etc), you do an action, that means, you call a function or do nothing.
Dispatcher take each event change and dispatch that change to another subsystem.
Synchronization means that over a change of event, all clients in network must be advised throw his dispatcher over that change, in this way all players can see the changes of other players, render and simulate same things at same time.
Rendering The render read parameters and relevant states for each object and draw in screen. For example, is you have a property for each unit named life_points, you can draw a normal unit if life_points>50 and a damage unit if life_point>0 and life_point<50 and a destroyed unit if life_point=0. Render dont make changes in objects, just draw what read from them.
Simulation read every object and perform some task taking on count states and properties, for example, if you have cero point of life, you mark the state of a unit as DEAD (for example) or change de GUI, or if a unit get close to another of a enemy team, you change the state from static to move moving close to that another unit. Plus this, here you make the physics of units, changing positions, rotations, etc etc... as you have all objects synchronized over network, everybody will be watching the same thing.
Best regards.
Add in netcode as soon as you can. If you don't do this you may have to overhaul a lot of the engine later in the dev cycle, so better to do it early.
It also depends on how complex the game is, but the same principles still stand. Best not to tack it on at the last second
Hope this helps!
I am making a server for a mmorpg somewhat soon, and I want to release a bot to go with it, since I don't want people having the ability to level to the maximum within a week or less but I don't want them to be discouraged from the amount of farming exp and items, so I want to make a bot that handles 1-8 accounts. I'm somewhat good with c++, do not tell me "use autoit" I am trying to make it look somewhat professional and actually work with the settings on their computer, I am good with the functions for windows.h but I can't figure out how to make the bot read or write to memory nor can I figure out how to use softice (not sure if I even have the correct one).
Now, the game is simple and I would have only 2 spells per account being used (long or short ranged) and monster icons and hp are always in the same x,y pos so the AI is very basic having all the accounts do the exact same things, but I can't figure out how to look at let alone edit the packets to allow my bot to work without having each account become the focus window at every step of the fight.
the reason for 1-8 accounts is that most people on the normal server have anywhere from 1-8 usually 4-8 once they reach higher levels to allow for them to be able to do things without searching for a group since most dungeons take up to 5 hours at higher levels and it would be easier to have all you need instead of being stuck half way through once someone decides that they have to get off or you need to leave.. you know how it can be. anyway,
it is strictly for my server, but its not up yet so I can't learn with it, and I'm not the host I am paying my friend to set it up but he has no idea how to make a bot so I'm looking for some help.
I would like help with
-some tutorials on or around the subject.
or
-someone to help me through it (I don't need much help, an hour or two would probably be enough for me to get in the right direction)
or
-the source code to someones bot (I could probably look through it to find what I need.)
or
-where to go to find someone to teach me (cheap)
Now Please don't post things like "you shouldn't cheat" I am making this for a server I am supplying, so its not cheating since I allow it and give people the program for free on my website. And if you say something like "you'll have to practice with it on the real server", Yes I will, but I would be using level 1 accounts in the "noob" area in a place nobody ever goes (plus on the real server the noob area has individual 200 people servers so even if I go on it I wouldn't disturb anyone) and I am only using it for practice and then I would edit it once my server was up, so I am not cheating to get farther in the game or anything, it is purely for the use in my server. I also ask that people take this somewhat seriously, I am fairly good with C++ I am just stuck since I can't find where to teach myself this.
Also, admins please don't shut this down I realize that this could be taken as I am violating the terms of service but if you read this, I am not. Since it is for own MY server and I am not using it to cheat, I have a viable reason for making this and I do really need help.
EDIT:
I found some information that said I need to learn about sockets and networking in C++. I have located some tutorials for networking, but I would greatly appreciate something on sockets (all I have found are useless tidbits of information).
In my opinion it would be way easier if the bot was a game-client itself. This way it could do everything a client could without hooking anything. The bot doesn't even need a useinterface, it could just run in the background. If this is possible depends on how modular your code is. In an ideal situation you could make a new application, referencing the game-client dll with the gamelogic and recieve requests from the server and send actions as a player would do.
Creating a bot that clicks on a client windows button is possible but complicated. But to help you with your request we need more info about how the client and server work. What languages are they written in, what APIs and Libraries are you using?
If you have no idea how to achieve this it and got no idea how the client works it would probably better for your friend to write the bot.
I am writing a game. it is in c++ an direct x and I think I am making my own engine as I am programming from winproc up.
I have made large amounts of progress such as sound, collision detection, AI specific to my game settings, dynamic graphics creation from tile sheets.
after doing some research on event programming I have been told to "script it". I have researched this and as far as i see scripting is used so non programmers can add to the project.
I an a prety good programmer and I have no intention of having anyone else work on the game except on outside things such as graphics or map design. I already had a function where I can read in maps from csv files. these contain not just the tile layout but the npc data, entrances/exits. other files of the same nature control monster and item data so I can update the contents without a recompile.
So I am asking for the view of experienced programmers and maybe real world examples that relate to my circumstances as to why I should or should not use scripting in my game?
The NPC and monster data need to be able to contain some simple logic like "if the player has this item", "if the player has been to somewhere", "if the player is comming from the right" etc. And for this you'll need ability to define some composed actions and conditionals. That is called scripting and is best done by incorporating some existing script language interpreter like Lua, Python, some variant of JavaScript, whatever.
There are several reasons to use a scripting system in a game, not just as you pointed out, to allow non-programmers to add game content. The first game I worked on professionally used a scripting system and the only people who were writing scripts were the programmers who created the scripting system. There were two reasons they used it:
build times
New data files/script files can be tested quickly. This particular engine didn't support it, but some allow for script files to be reloaded while the game is running. The more times you can iterate through the build-deploy-test cycle, the more you will be able to tweek your game and end up with a much better game.
power of expression
A custimized scripting system can allow you to easily express/code concepts that are cumbersome in traditional programming. For example, the game engine I am working with now allows me to easily control concurrent animations in script.
I don't think scripting is entirely necessary in your case. The bonus behind adding scripting support an engine have been listed up and down this page.
It gives you a simple langue to work with
It is more accessible to someone without training
It can be compiled on the fly, hot
swapped at runtime
For lots of high end games with large teams these items are very important. But it really comes down to the goals for your engine. If you are not considering sharing your engine and plan to work on the game just yourself then scripting does loose some of its benefits. Adding a scripting language also has some down sides.
Add complexity and creation time to your engine
Increase debug time, even if the scripting language has a wonderful debugger, switching between 2 languages is never smooth.
As long as you still have a data driven design (keeping stats and types in separate files which can be swapped out during runtime) you retain the ability to hot-swap out data for rapid iteration.
definitivly add scripting. Its a pita to recompile the whole game, just because your player does 0.8 damage instead of 1.0. Also, If you want to have a door open under certain circumstances, you need it definitfly. I would do most of the game in a scripting language, Its just more flexible.
Big names are using scripting languages. For example Eve Online is written in stackless python. Other examples can be found here: http://wiki.python.org/moin/PythonGames
I am immediately placing this as a community wiki thing. I don't want to ask for help in programming yet or have even a specific question about programming, but rather the process and the resources needed to make such a game.
To put it simply: My college friend and I decided to give ourselves a really big challenge to further our skills in programming. In six months time we want to show ourselves a Pac-Man game. Pac-Man will be AI-controlled like the Ghosts and whichever Pac-Man lives the longest after a set of tries wins.
This isn't like anything we've done so far. The goal here, for me, isn't to create a perfect game, but to try and complete it, learn a whole bunch in the process. Even if I don't finish in the time, which is a good possibility, I would want to have at least tried this.
So my question is this: How should I start preparing myself? I already have started vector math, matrices, all that fun stuff. My desired platform would be DirectX 9.0c; is that advisable? Keep in mind that this is not a preference just for this project, but I wish to have some kind of future in graphics development, so I want to pick a platform that is future-safe.
As for the game development in general, what should I take into consideration? I have never done a real game before, so any and all advise to development of mid-scale projects( if this would be a mid-scale project ) is greatly appreciated.
My main concerns are the pit-falls and demotivators.
Sorry if the question is so vague. If it doesn't belong here, then I will remove it. Otherwise, any and all advise regarding making larger projects is greatly appreciated.
Given you've not tried this sort of thing before here's a few things I'd recommend.
Start with something other than DirectX (and presumably C++)
DirectX and C++ expose you to a lot of low-level stuff you can learn later. Keep things simple and perhaps try XNA and C# which is close enough you can port it later but will let you skip a lot of things like memory management and pointers for now.
Start with 2D instead of 3D
The original Pacman is 2D so you won't be needed vector math for now.
So where does that leave you?
Well, a few things to think about are the game loop, keeping things in sync, updating the screen and responding to user input.
These are great principles and will let you get something up and running a lot sooner. Do not underestimate how important it is to keep seeing progress - this is hard if you set the technical bar too high initially.
I'd go down this route (ordered to keep things fun and interesting)
Get a screen displaying - this is highly visual
Get a Pacman responding to user input
Get Pacman constrained to within the walls
Get a ghost responding to secondary user input - you can chase each other
Figure out some collision detection
Get the dots and power pills rendering so you can score and eat ghost
Render some more ghosts and figure out AI
Work out the code for finding when the level is complete
Make the map change and state reset when on a new level
Once you've got this working and running you can then decide if you want to play with better AI, 3D math or switch over to C++.
I had to write a pacman game in Java for an OO class. I found it to be very straightforward, possibly with the exception of figuring out the best way to map walls. After a bit of research, I came across this: http://javaboutique.internet.com/PacMan/source.html which uses bit-shifting to determine walls. It looks like complexity overkill, but I found it to be pretty elegant after I played around with the math a little. Other than that, pacman is a very array-friendly concept, so use an array for the board, some basic sprites, tinker with the speed and refresh, keep track of game data, and toss it in a loop.
As for the AI with the ghosts, there are articles written about them. Each ghost has a specific "strategy". Or you could roll your own..you could program them to be as easy as always heading towards pacman (or his general location/quadrant), or as complex (shortest-path) as you'd like.
Play pacman! This is the first task for your project!
I'd look at the original arcade cabinet assembly code for Pacman and the description of what it does. It's a real eye opener :)
Personally, here's what I would do:
study open source games to see what they do
buy a book about game programming (actually, I have a book about game programming already, but you probably want something more recent than that)
pick a toolset/game development library (Sourceforge, Google Code)
work through the tutorials that come with that library, possibly change to a different library if the API is too weird
come up with a requirements document
draw up a first pass design ("plan to throw one away"), try to have somebody review it
decide on a test plan
write up a schedule, not because I want to stay on schedule but because I want to break things down into easily-defined tasks
write the smallest complete game I could (eg., a Pac Man sprite that I can control inside a window: no maze, ghosts, score, lives, ability to die, etc.)
add features to that game until I've implemented the whole thing
Sounds like a good idea for a learning project! The 2 general things I recommend for your approach are
work in iterations
read a bunch about C++ and DirectX along the way
Start small -- write some code that does nothing more than draw Pac-Man on the screen. Then build on that by implementing movement across the screen. Then build the map boundaries and the inability to travel through them. And continue in this fashion, prioritizing the next task you need to complete, and then doing whatever it takes to complete it. Try not to make the tasks too big.
In order to figure out how to complete the tasks, you'll need to read. Books, web sites and existing code are all very helpful in figuring out how to do what you want. It's worth looking at several different ways to complete the same task, because some ways are better than other, or might better fit your project.
Good stuff! I am glad that Pacman motivates and inspires you.
Things to get started.
1) Decide on the development environment.
a) Are you building a standalone game or a networked game.
b) Which language are you targetting at to improve?
2) How well versed with AI?
3) How well versed with the programming algorithms techniques - like A * (A star) path finding, Dijkstra algorith, collision detection, hit testing or even recursive programming?
4) Are any of you talented in graphical design?
Good luck.
P/S FYI, if I were to write a Pacman game, I would do it in C# and Silverlight 4.0 (I can write C++ comfortably but my priority is to jump on the Silverlight bandwagon).
This is my first time asking here but I've been a reader for ages! A fantastic place to learn!
I was asked to design a simple board game as a programming project this semester (using C++) and to implement GUI for a bonus mark. I was rather lost reading through tens of possible GUI toolkits and not knowing which one to use. I'm rather a beginner and this is my first big project!
My requirements for GUI are very very basic. All I want is to allow the user to pick from between two options at the start of the game. Those options determine which character the user will pick in the game to play with. This is the only input I want from the user. The console program would receive this input, interpret it and do all the logic of the game in the console window.
Currently, the console window displays a numbered list of options for the user who then picks a number and based off that character input, the console knows what to do through some if-statements.
Up till now, I've been told that GTK+ is a good option and I've been advised to check out wxWidgets and QT4. I'm confused on which one to use since I want something fast to learn and simple to implement because the purpose I want it for is also simple. I was also rather reluctant to start learning a GUI toolkit from its basics then realizing it might not have my simple requirement.
Thank you in advance fellas and sorry for the rather long post!
If you want something pretty basic as far as a GUI goes, it might be worth looking into some sample applications from any of the named projects. See what you can find in a sample application that is most similar to what you have, and try to get that working. Then once you have it working, and tweaked to your liking, maybe play around with things a bit more then for a further/better understanding.
My previous experience is with WxWidgets and Qt. My advice would be to check out Qt because of the great documentation for the project as well as the QAssistant.
Good Luck, GUIs can be really fun to incrementally learn!