Posted: 8/23/2017 8:31 PM
Post subject: Starcraft via BWAPI
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DemonStrate
Joined: 4/18/2006
Posts: 179
Location: East Petersburg, PA
I recently found out about this: https://github.com/bwapi/bwapi It is an open-source API used to create Starcraft AI bots for a yearly hosted tournament. this is a generally accepted API for the purpose of automating game actions. Information on the tournament can be found here: https://sscaitournament.com/ Now, from what I'm told, the tournament has a restriction to run the game at 24 FPS with inputs on a per-frame basis. Sound familiar? This seems like it would be a great way to make a TAS of Starcraft. Currently, the API only works with original Starcraft/Broodwar. There is a large push right now to make an API that works with Starcraft Remaster, but that won't be completed anytime soon, mainly because of memory locations being different between the 2 games. Would there be any interest in this, and would it even be valid as a TAS for this site? I know I've brought up topics like this in the past, but this already has a well-established following and set of rules that could be used/borrowed for a TAS on this site.
"I think we can put our differences behind us... for science, you monster."
Posted: 8/23/2017 11:03 PM
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BadPotato
Joined: 1/26/2009
Posts: 558
Location: Canada - Québec
You mean using the bwapi to TAS all the campaign? I guess that's possible, but I'm not sure if we could get this to sync on more than one computer. If I recall correctly, the bwapi use dll injection. So in order to sync the game, the bot need to setup a consistent RNG, consistent lag, consistent loading time, etc. Yet, I'm unsure how big of a problem this is. Given such environment, it's sound far easier to simply TAS SC64 first, since better tools for emulator are available such as savestate, etc. But on the other hand, someone could do a proof of concept by playing through some of the first mission and see how well his bot sync.