Psiborg : Downloads

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Last modified : 28 Nov 2000

Every good website has a FAQ page, right? Here's mine.

MODIFICATIONS AND OTHER ENGINES
SOURCE CODE AND DEVELOPMENT
ABOUT ME

THE BOT

Do you use neural networks/fuzzy logic/genetic algorithms/A* searching/<insert other buzzwords> ?

In order : Yes, but not extensively. Yes, although I'm never completely happy with the term. Not at the moment. Yes. Probably.

MODIFICATIONS AND OTHER ENGINES

Is Psiborg available for <insert your favourite modification> ?

No. Most modifications (for example, Counterstrike) are quite different from the original Half-Life deathmatch. Not only are they considerably different internally, many have extra weapons, additional commands, and so on. As you might guess, it's not just a matter of re-compiling - I'd need to tweak large amounts of code (AI, weapon handing, etc), and that takes time.

But don't give up hope just yet, because I'm not saying it'll never happen. It just won't happen soon (not from me, anyway).

If you're developing a mod and would like to support Psiborg yourself, I might be prepared to hand over the source code. Mail me.

Any plans to port Psiborg to Quake x/Unreal Tournament/etc.

            UT : No.
            Q2 : Unlikely ; Q2 is old technology.
            Q3 : Probably not ; they're already well served with bots. I'd like to do a port, but I've no idea how feasible it is.

SOURCE CODE & DEVELOPMENT

Will you be releasing the source code to Psiborg or PSIBSPC?

Not sure. It's probable that I'll release some source code eventually, but don't ask me what or when. Any released code will almost certainly be under a LGPL style license. I don't think something like Psiborg really makes sense as a true 'open source' project ; without excellent design documents, I fear it would all fall apart.

Why not use an open source model? What do you mean when you say 'it would all fall apart?'

I suspect that the project would either a) not attract any developers or b) attract The idea is tempting, but I don't think it would work. Don't get me wrong - I work on open source projects, and broadly agree with the open-source/free software(*) ethos, but a bot is a very design-heavy project. To form a cohesive open-source team, you'd need several talented developers, a good design document, and excellent communication. That would be tricky for me ; I'm used to working alone, all the design is purely in my head, and I'm prone to ripping things up and starting again if I don't like them. (As an example, if I ever finish Psiborg version 1, I'll probably start again more or less from scratch for Psiborg 2).

If you really feel strongly about this, please try and convince me - but don't bother flaming me, and don't point me to ESR's websites - I do understand the arguments *grin*.

* delete as you prefer.

I bet it's just because the source code is really ugly...

No, it's lovely. Honest.

What do you use for development?

I switch between Linux (a heavily hacked around Redhat 6.0) and Windows 98 on an Athlon 650 (oc'd to 750). I use XEmacs for writing source code, MS VC 5 for compilation.

ABOUT ME

Have you worked on any other projects? Is your second name fremen too? (You're making this up, you self-indulgent swine. Ed.)

I've done various bits of programming (source code available), but none of it is very interesting. Before this, I worked on a single-player role-playing game, various Amiga utilities, a never-to-be-released Pascal compiler, and so on. Yes, fremen* is from the Dune series - none of my usual handles were available at freehosting.net. Can someone please stop Frank Herbert's relatives from killing Dune? Thanks.

* But you can call me Mark.