Changes

So eventually you join the forums and to your surprise find out that everyone is a better builder than you. Their bots look amazingly powerful and they have all these new types of showcases of themselves going against robots that you have never seen. Eventually you either find and install the same pack that they have and are either obliterated by the immense destructiveness of the AI itself or you get the guts to actually make a showcase of your own and get your bots critiqued on what can be done to make it better (mostly dealing with empty space). On rare cases you may take up quickly to the difficulty of the AI pack and simply build better bots from there, but this tutorial isn't needed for those types now is it? So what now?

So eventually you join the forums and to your surprise find out that everyone is a better builder than you. Their bots look amazingly powerful and they have all these new types of showcases of themselves going against robots that you have never seen. Eventually you either find and install the same pack that they have and are either obliterated by the immense destructiveness of the AI itself or you get the guts to actually make a showcase of your own and get your bots critiqued on what can be done to make it better (mostly dealing with empty space). On rare cases you may take up quickly to the difficulty of the AI pack and simply build better bots from there, but this tutorial isn't needed for those types now is it? So what now?

One thing to remember is that a good bot builder knows his botting skill level. To determine what botting skill level you have can be confusing, but one good way to know is by simply trying out different AI packs and seeing if you can win AT LEAST 3-5 tournaments of the pack. It does sound like a had thing to do, but this is what building bot skill is all about. Please look at the outline of what packs should be tried out to get a general idea of where you stand (not limited to new packs, this is just an example):

One thing to remember is that a good bot builder knows his building skill level. To determine what bulding skill level you have can be confusing, but one good way to know is by simply trying out different AI packs and seeing if you can win AT LEAST 3-5 tournaments of the pack. It does sound like a had thing to do, but this is what bot building skill is all about. Please look at the outline of what packs should be tried out to get a general idea of where you stand (not limited to new packs, this is just an example):

Stock:

Stock:

For DSL I would recommend at least mastery of Level one Packs:

For DSL I would recommend at least mastery of Level one Packs:

   1. Level Two: DSL v.1.2 (respectively)

   1. Level Two: Can beat most if not all of DSL v2.1 AI robots

   2. Level Three: DSL v.2.0, or DSL v.2.1 Patch Applied (respectively)

   2. Level Three : Can beat most if not all of NAR AI v1.1 AI robots

   3. Level Four: NAR DSL AI Pack Alpha (respectively)

   3. Level Four : Can beat most if not all of the last NAR AI implement.

  4. Level Five: ???

As you can see, there are certain packs in order of difficulty. Level one and two packs pose a challenge and level three and four packs are simply brutal. The ??? Indicates either packs that have not surpassed their difficulty or does not exist. Note that I have also separated DSL and stock packs as they are completely different in terms of gameplay; so DSL packs get their own category, but since DSL is more demanding in terms of skill, it starts off at level two. These packs can be found here.

As you can see, there are certain packs in order of difficulty. Level one and two packs pose a challenge and level three and four packs are simply brutal. Note that I have also separated DSL and stock packs as they are completely different in terms of gameplay; so DSL packs get their own category, but since DSL is more demanding in terms of skill, it starts off at level two. These packs can be found here.

After this process is tried out, you will be able to accurately see how skilled you are. This process will take time however, and it's best to build a bot based on your own knowledge first before you ask for advice; as it is better to see how much you are improving.

After this process is tried out, you will be able to accurately see how skilled you are. This process will take time however, and it's best to build a bot based on your own knowledge first before you ask for advice; as it is better to see how much you are improving.