RFS AI Pack

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Promotional "poster" for RFS AI Pack V1.5 (circa 2004).

The RFS AI Pack, initially released in 2003, is a trilogy (and soon to be quadrilogy) of supplemental all-stock AI upgrades created by Radio F Software for the Robot Arena 2 game.

History

The RFS AI Pack is considered to be a groundbreaking modification because of its expansions to the fundamental AI coding of the game. Until the second installment of the RFS AI Pack was released, the original AI restrictions of the game allowed only 15 enemy teams with 3 robots per team; all AI packs released during this time consisted of only 45 robots. Throughout the first three installments of the RFS AI Pack each one built upon a specific part of the game beginning first with the replacement of the stock AI, followed by increasing the AI's allotment of robots to 6 per team, and finally by extending the AI's allotment of teams from 15 to 30. Thirty teams was the number decided upon because it was a simple doubling of the existing amount; theoretically the number of teams could go on endlessly so long as the additional data was coded correctly.

Release history of RFS AI Pack installments:

  • Version 1.0: Released Q4 2003
  • Version 1.2: Released Q4 2003
  • Version 1.5: Released Q1 2004
  • Version 1.7: Canceled, project merged into V2.0.
  • Version 2.0: No release date announced.
  • DSL Version 1.0: Release date unknown.

Reception

The designs featured in the pack ranged from moderately well received to indifference and nominal complaints. The RFS AI Pack encompassed a number of realistic designs with very few "abuses" of what cannot be constructed realistically should someone have the desire to do so (e.g. no usage of AAM, few stacked/overpowered weapons, etc.). Many claim this design choice is the pack's biggest shortcoming because of the lack of challenge for experienced and seasoned Robot Arena 2 players, but the pack's creator claims this is its strongest point because it's marketed toward beginner players who likely aren't familiar with advanced building levels in the game.

Legacy

Screenshot of an RA2 torrent pre-patched with the RFS AI Pack.

The RFS AI Pack series held the rank of being the most downloaded AI pack ever (according to the original download counters on RA Reborn), and several pirated copies of Robot Arena 2 that were once available for download featured the game pre-patched with V1.5 of the RFS AI Pack (see photo).

Ultimately, the RFS AI Pack lost its rank of "most downloads" to the AI pack(s) created by Starcore who cited Radio F Software among his inspirations for wanting to get involved with AI creations of his own and was given permission to use the special UI files to allow for more AI teams and robots.

DSL Version

A special DSL version of the RFS AI Pack was created to coincide with the launch of the massive overhaul of the Robot Arena 2 game. This pack featured 45 robots built using the DSL components.

Plans to expand the pack to the proportions of its stock counterpart were announced but ultimately scrapped when the RFS DSL AI Pack received generally poor ratings from players.

Installation

Installation of the RFS AI Pack series was once a simple process but after the closure of AceUplink it became problematic because the installation instructions for the packs were hosted on an AceUplink page and there were no provided readme files until after the packs were unzipped or extracted to their appropriate directories. The proper installation instructions are:

  • 1. Unzip the 1.0 pack to C:\Program Files\Infogrames\Robot Arena 2\AI\
  • 2. Unzip the 1.2 pack to C:\Program Files\Infogrames\Robot Arena 2\
  • 3. Unzip the 1.5 pack to C:\Program Files\Infogrames\Robot Arena 2\

The rumored "2.0" version of the RFS AI Pack is said to be an "all-encompassing" version that will not require meticulous installations of all previous versions. The 2.0 download will contain the entire 1.0 - 1.5 collections in its download.

Robots Included

The table below contains a complete roster of robots provided to players who have updated the packs to the latest version of the RFS AI Pack (currently V1.5).

  • The first three robots in the teams Sgt. Stone to C0MPU73R H4CK3R5 comprise the original 45 robots of version 1.0.
  • The last three robots in the teams Sgt. Stone to C0MPU73R H4CK3R5 comprise the additional 45 robots provided by the version 1.2 upgrade.
  • All robots contained in the teams Pokemon Robotics to Radio F Software make up the additional 90 robots the 1.5 version included.
Team Name Team Motto LW #1 MW #1 HW #1 LW #2 MW #2 HW #2
Sgt. Stone "Indestructable Forces." flipMODE Pneumenace Detonator Fang The Mantis Saturday Night Slammer Wooden Warrior IV
Alien Research Team "The PROOF is out there!" It Came From The Moon Thwacktar The Truth This Planet Sucks! The... Probe Mothership
United Commoners "We don't need the fancy crap to whopp your ASS!" 5 Gallon Bucket Chop Shop Harry The Potter Cement Mixer Padre Diablo Final Verdict
Lethal Dosage "100 Rads can kill you, 4000 Rads will make you suffer." Face Scruncher 4000 Rads Big 1 Item Shockwave Aftermath
The Disturbed Ones† "Oddly effective..." Cheap Shot Cheese Monkey Wrench Spikey Chewbot Tank
United States Army "A ROBOT Army of one." Wire Cutter Bomb Disposal Unit 32 M1A1 Claymore 4X4 M2A2
Pyros "All of our bots will make yours to explode and burn!" Fire Burst Satan's Forklift Bomb Spark Firestorm Mind Meld
Reptilian Team "Tough as nails. Deadly as a dragon." Pit Viper Predator Garden Dragon Snatcher Snapping Turtle Alpha Dragon
Mode II "Mortal robots beware!" Ghetto Blaster Traffic Jam Overwhelming Force Diamondback Rift Blade Loch
Stoners "Dude we are so stoned right now." Get High Tokin' It Weed Cutter Bad Trip Ultra Bong The Munchies
The rObO zOne "You're going down!" Tilt a Whirl Crap Bot 3000 Stomper Lemon-Lime Twist and Shout Irrational Exuberance
Brute Force "Pure Metal. Pure Force." RC Car Underdawg Mega Force 2 No Escape All Your Bot Are Belong To Us Prize Grab Machine
Under Pressure "How good can your bots do, under Pressure?" Big Box Bot Invertigo Pressure Mini Klamp Class Act Thumperizer III
chAos "Take no prisoners." Deceptitron The Chaos Engine 2 Tryke Psygnos Stratosphere Northern Fury
C0MPU73R H4CK3R5 "Terminate." PIN Circuit Breaker MK III LAN Mower Hax0r Bit Rot Firewall
Pokemon Robotics "Forget the kids' stuff." Psychic Spinner Earthquake!!! Tha Master Quick Attack Dive Bomb King Krabby
p0werh0use tw0 "Full of it, power, that is." Lightning Rod XLR8 Atomic Generator Unit 56 F.L.A.S.H. p0werh0use tw0
Aquas "Water-proof, Robot-proof." Harpoon Watermill Turbine Sand Dune Starfish Tidal Wave
Team Plastic Fruit "You could say we are a bit fruity." Laser Gates Razor Burn Worm Hole Decibel STOP FaceFull of Steel
Sinister Squad "We would rather die on our feet than live on our knees!" Stretcher Quarter The Rack Lasceration Silence Sticks and Stones
New Island Technologies "We use only the best stuff available." Infernus 0115D8CF Chainsaw Charlie Stealth Streamliner Bumper
Inventive Minds "We find ALL of the loopholes!" Phase IV Hate Factory Stomperama IV Plink Foxtrot Centrifuge of Pain
X-Force "If you think we're aggressive now, wait until mating season." Dragon Spawn Telekinesis The Dragoness Velociriptor PinDragon V
United States Navy "Our torpedoes will SINK your robots." Quadrant CODE: RED Defcon 1 Level 5 Turbulence Striker 2
r3v3ng3 0f t3h n00bz! "OMG ur goin down!1!!one!1!eleven!!!" OMG WTF SUSPENDED !11!one!1eleven! OMG WTF BANNED 1337 Obvious ICED OUT Clone 7h3 d347h 5p1nn3r
People In The Basement "We all got bored one day..." Lurker Student Driver Fully Articulated Plow Any Time is Good For Pizza! Drum Ba Dum Dum Smack in the Box
Maximum Resistance "You're a wimp! You're going DOWN!" 1K Octa-GONE Big Red Solar Flare Short Phuse F-7
toXic "This ain't no false alarm!" 17 ChemTox Heavy Lobster Fissure toXic Experiment X
Destruction 101 "Now for a class in Destruction 101." 101 Fork Truck The Windcallers Paradox Twilight Shades Of Green WHAT?WHERE?
Radio F Software "You KNEW it was coming." Keep BACK 500 Feet Digital Dragon Tha Thumperizer LaunchPad 404 Wooden Warrior
RA2 Revenge (TBA) Holy Moly Close Shave Uncare Bear Sam R. Rye Best Served Cold The 'Merge
RA1 Remix (TBA) Patriot Act Going Commando Executioner EX Menace 2 Society Gammarazer Wimpy 2K10
Best of Twilight Foundry (TBA) LaunchPad 2 HACK! Balls Of Steel Revolution No Escape Reincarnated CrapBot: The Reckoning Thumperizer 9 Yr. Anniversary
Second Chance (TBA) Psygnos 2004 Steamroller Thrasher The Bloody Butcher The Supervisor
Blast Works (TBA) Sharp Thing The Fursecutioner Violator Hot Pursuit
RoboWarriors (TBA) Toasty The Maw USS Bot Destroyer Runaway Rocket Wrecking Ball Mad Max
Team MegaSparkRiotStorm (TBA)
Obligatory Dragon Team (TBA)
Newfac Robotics (TBA)

† This team was formerly known as "Team Crashed" in the 1.0 version of the AI pack. It was renamed in the version 1.2 update after program assistant TheDisturbedOne. The 3 new robots that were added to the team are also his creations.

Personnel

  • Radio F Software - Lead Designer, Main AI-ing
    "dead.jpg", an example of one of the many hidden images in the AI pack.
  • TheDisturbedOne - Support Programming

Secrets

Despite what the creator claims, there are "secrets" hidden in two of the three available AI packs.

  • V1.0: No hidden secrets.
  • V1.2: C:\Program Files\Robot Arena 2\Secret contains the pack's readme file as well as some pictures from SomethingAwful.com and a tribute picture to one of RFS' friends.
  • V1.5: C:\Program Files\Robot Arena 2\AI\NOT A SECRET!!! contains various media including a Bahamut dragon graphic, a MIDI version of Green Day's "Basketcase", an optical illusion program, and an interactive sandwich maker game. The optical illusion generator does not run on Windows 7 operating systems.
  • V2.0: TBA