sc2players 0.4.0

A suystem of managing Starcraft 2 player profiles.

Define human or AI players to compete in Starcraft 2 matches

Purpose

Various Starcraft 2 processes rely on understanding players and differentiating this. This package provides capability to define them such that matches can be started, identify the player(s) within the match and act as a key for performance across matches.

Installation

On a command line, perform the intended query or operation. All queries are performed on the user's local machine. (To query remote player definitions, use the sc2gameLobby.

EXAMPLE: python sc2players <options>

To view the complete and up-to-date options and how to use them, review the --help documentation.

EXAMPLE: python sc2players --help

Usage

Command line operation

For general use, the intent is to utilize this package's interface. Unless incorporated into external python code, the command-line interface is the primary means to acquire player information. After specifying the command to invoke this package, the remaining parameters specify the operation to be performed and any parameters for that operation. (NOTE: specifying no arguments after the package name simply displays all known players.)

EXAMPLE: python -m sc2players <operation> <parameters>

EXAMPLE: python -m sc2players --help

Create your own human player

Only two parameters must be supplied to create a human player. Name your player and specify its type as human. Each new player that joins the ladder starts with a 500 rating which helps distinguish how well the player performs by winning ladder matches.

EXAMPLE: python -m sc2players --add name=foreverbronze type=human

Create your own AI bot definition

Similar to creating a human player, name and type must be supplied. However, an additional parameter must be specified, initCmd. Details for this additional paremeter depend on whether you are running a python-based bot or something else. Also, instead of type=human, your type value can be either ai or bot.

• If you're using code to understand data and make decisions (e.g. if <condition> then <perform action>), set the type as bot.
• Otherwise if your code uses machine learning in some form to make its decisions, set the type as ai.

NOTE: in realtime mode, it is possible to skip gameloop values and also possible to receive multiple copies of the same observation, depending on how busy the Starcraft 2 game client is, latency associated with data transfer, etc.

python AI / bot

The initCmd format must be followed strictly. The format is <your_package_name> followed by each additional package/module/attribute needed to access your initializing function. First, your package will be imported. Then each subsequent accessor is accessed until the presumed initializtion routine can be invoked. The initialization routine is called without any parameters. The return value from this function (callable) must be a list (an indexable iterable). The first value (index 0) in this list must be a callback function. Each time a game state observation is received from the connected Starcraft 2 client, your callback function is invoked and the observation is passed as a parameter. Any additional indexes in the returned list can contain python objects of any kind that you wish to persist over the course of the game. Additional indexes are optional and subject to your own implementation.

initCmd format EXAMPLE: "cheeseBot.source.initFunction"

In this example, your bot is defined in the cheeseBot package (which must be available in your environment). It's submodule source is accessed and ultimately your initFunction is accessed then called. The return value from initFunction must be a list whose first index is a callback function. The callback function is invoked initially once to pass the absolute filepath of the json game configuration. This callback function is then subsequently invoked each time a new observation is received.

EXAMPLE: python -m sc2players -add name=cheesebot type=bot initCmd="cheeseBot.source.initFunction"

non-python AI / bot

The initCmd format for non-python bots is fairly loose. Whatever you put into this command will be executed verbatim. Because you specify the command content and the command ultimately runs locally on your machine, this is safe. It is highly recommended that you supply the __CFG_DATA__ keyword as a placeholder for the filepath name of the file that contains the json data for the game configuration. Interpreting that game configuration data for your bot appropriately is important.

EXAMPLE: python -m sc2players -add name=cheesebot type=bot initCmd="runbot.exe --cfg=__CFG_DATA__"

Also, by running your own instance, additional expectations are placed on you (or at least your framework).

• Interpret the json game data configuration appropriately.
• Launch the Starcraft 2 game client process.
• Construct and run the s2clientprotocol to create/join the game.
• Run the main game loop that acquires observations, interprets the game state and issues unit commands.
• Upload results and replay information ( example <lines ~200-209> ) to the ladder server following the end of the match.

NOTE: The sc2gameLobby for non-python may provide additional, useful information to you how this parameter value will be interpreted.