Question RTS AI

Hello. I want directions on how to make an AI system for an RTS I'm working on. I can't say anything now but I will reply/edit here later when I get my mind in focus.


Meerjel01

 

You will need your mind 100% in focus for an RTS AI.

But don't post here, hurry to Youtube and start with the top tutorials, of which there are over EIGHT MILLION to choose from:



Tutorials and example code are great, but keep this in mind to maximize your success and minimize your frustration:

How to do tutorials properly, two (2) simple steps to success:

Step 1. Follow the tutorial and do every single step of the tutorial 100% precisely the way it is shown. Even the slightest deviation (even a single character!) generally ends in disaster. That's how software engineering works. Every step must be taken, every single letter must be spelled, capitalized, punctuated and spaced (or not spaced) properly, literally NOTHING can be omitted or skipped.

Fortunately this is the easiest part to get right: Be a robot. Don't make any mistakes.
BE PERFECT IN EVERYTHING YOU DO HERE!!

If you get any errors, learn how to read the error code and fix your error. Google is your friend here. Do NOT continue until you fix your error. Your error will probably be somewhere near the parenthesis numbers (line and character position) in the file. It is almost CERTAINLY your typo causing the error, so look again and fix it.

Step 2. Go back and work through every part of the tutorial again, and this time explain it to your doggie. See how I am doing that in my avatar picture? If you have no dog, explain it to your house plant. If you are unable to explain any part of it, STOP. DO NOT PROCEED. Now go learn how that part works. Read the documentation on the functions involved. Go back to the tutorial and try to figure out WHY they did that. This is the part that takes a LOT of time when you are new. It might take days or weeks to work through a single 5-minute tutorial. Stick with it. You will learn.

Step 2 is the part everybody seems to miss. Without Step 2 you are simply a code-typing monkey and outside of the specific tutorial you did, you will be completely lost. If you want to learn, you MUST do Step 2.

Of course, all this presupposes no errors in the tutorial. For certain tutorial makers (like Unity, Brackeys, Imphenzia, Sebastian Lague) this is usually the case. For some other less-well-known content creators, this is less true. Read the comments on the video: did anyone have issues like you did? If there's an error, you will NEVER be the first guy to find it.

Beyond that, Step 3, 4, 5 and 6 become easy because you already understand!

Finally, when you have errors, don't post here... just go fix your errors! Here's how:

Remember: NOBODY here memorizes error codes. That's not a thing. The error code is absolutely the least useful part of the error. It serves no purpose at all. Forget the error code. Put it out of your mind.

The complete error message contains everything you need to know to fix the error yourself.

The important parts of the error message are:

- the description of the error itself (google this; you are NEVER the first one!)
- the file it occurred in (critical!)
- the line number and character position (the two numbers in parentheses)
- also possibly useful is the stack trace (all the lines of text in the lower console window)

Always start with the FIRST error in the console window, as sometimes that error causes or compounds some or all of the subsequent errors. Often the error will be immediately prior to the indicated line, so make sure to check there as well.

Look in the documentation. Every API you attempt to use is probably documented somewhere. Are you using it correctly? Are you spelling it correctly?

All of that information is in the actual error message and you must pay attention to it. Learn how to identify it instantly so you don't have to stop your progress and fiddle around with the forum.

 

It is a deep question you should show your project so far so the question can be answerable.

I have made rts ai for both unity terrain using colliders and formation and for custom terrain using mesh and custom collision collider solutions, both navigate terrain obstacles and target enemies. One was defined to grid, the other is free to position at any point on the terrain, So the type of setup is fairly important to the question.

But fundamentally you'll want basic stuff in both cases like, obstacles detection, obstacles avoidance pathing, path finding over long distance, which may be interrupted by avoidance, and youl want decision points prominent such as should i drop path-finding to follow an enemy or defend myself. Should I follow an enemy at all etc etc.

Best way I found is to play some RTS games. In all rts games you can bug out the units. And understanding where those rts were limited can help you recognize how it was coded so effectively.

 

Ill add as well

I assume you talk about unit brains. Because unit brains is different from opponent brain. While an opponent will make teams of units and perform strategic attacks. A simple ai brain is what stops your units from infinitely running into a corner. This little brain has to be quick and make simple decisions using smart solutions. The opponents economic management and task force production is another type of rts ai entirely.

 

Closed. Low effort, wrong forum. Start with the Unity Learn section.