Bot States
Lesson 16 of 20 in Coddy's Roblox Game: Battlegrounds course.
The bot's mind is getting tangled. Game AI is usually written as states: each tick, decide which one the bot is in, then do what that state does. This bot has five:
Stunned: your combo froze it. It does nothing.Retreat: belowSettings.RetreatAtof its health, it runs away from you.Idle: nobody in sight.Attack: you are in range.Chase: you are in sight.
The order of the checks is the bot's priorities. The state is an attribute of the bot, State, so you can see what it is thinking.
Challenge
HardRewrite the inside of runBot's loop as states. Decide state in the order above and set the bot's State attribute; then Chase walks at the target, Attack stands and hits (as before), Retreat walks 12 studs straight away from the target, and anything else stands still.
Press Play, then Check.
Try it yourself
local Players = game:GetService("Players")
local ServerStorage = game:GetService("ServerStorage")
local Debris = game:GetService("Debris")
local Settings = require(game.ReplicatedStorage.Settings)
local remotes = game.ReplicatedStorage.Remotes
local bots = workspace.Bots
local lastSwing = {} -- player -> when they last swung
local combo = {} -- player -> { hits in a row, when the last one landed }
-- Roblox's own sword animations
local slash = Instance.new("Animation")
slash.AnimationId = "rbxassetid://522635514"
local lunge = Instance.new("Animation")
lunge.AnimationId = "rbxassetid://522638767"
print("Swords deal " .. Settings.SwordDamage .. " damage")
-- A number that floats over whoever was hit, for a moment
local function damageNumber(character, amount)
local root = character:FindFirstChild("HumanoidRootPart")
if not root then
return
end
local tag = Instance.new("BillboardGui")
tag.Name = "Damage"
tag.Size = UDim2.fromOffset(60, 30)
tag.StudsOffset = Vector3.new(0, 4.5, 0)
tag.Adornee = root
local text = Instance.new("TextLabel")
text.Size = UDim2.fromScale(1, 1)
text.BackgroundTransparency = 1
text.TextColor3 = Color3.fromRGB(255, 220, 80)
text.TextScaled = true
text.Text = "-" .. math.round(amount)
text.Parent = tag
tag.Parent = character
Debris:AddItem(tag, 0.8)
end
-- Every hit in the game goes through here
local function hurt(humanoid, amount)
if humanoid.Health <= 0 then
return
end
local character = humanoid.Parent
-- a block takes most of the hit
if character:GetAttribute("Blocking") then
amount *= Settings.BlockMultiplier
end
humanoid:TakeDamage(amount)
damageNumber(character, amount)
end
-- A stun freezes someone for a moment
local function stun(humanoid)
local character = humanoid.Parent
if character:GetAttribute("Stunned") then
return
end
character:SetAttribute("Stunned", true)
local speed = humanoid.WalkSpeed
humanoid.WalkSpeed = 0
task.delay(Settings.StunTime, function()
if character.Parent then
humanoid.WalkSpeed = speed
character:SetAttribute("Stunned", nil)
end
end)
end
-- A swing: the animation, then everyone in the box in front of you is hit
local function swing(player)
local character = player.Character
local root = character and character:FindFirstChild("HumanoidRootPart")
if not root or character.Humanoid.Health <= 0 then
return
end
local now = time()
if lastSwing[player] and now - lastSwing[player] < Settings.SwingCooldown then
return
end
lastSwing[player] = now
-- three swings in a row make a combo; the third is a lunge
local c = combo[player]
if c and now - c.last <= Settings.ComboWindow then
c.count = c.count % 3 + 1
else
c = { count = 1 }
combo[player] = c
end
c.last = now
local finisher = c.count == 3
character.Humanoid.Animator:LoadAnimation(finisher and lunge or slash):Play()
-- the box in front of you, never your own body
local params = OverlapParams.new()
params.FilterDescendantsInstances = { character }
local box = root.CFrame * CFrame.new(0, 0, -3)
local hit = {} -- each humanoid once per swing
for _, part in workspace:GetPartBoundsInBox(box, Settings.HitboxSize, params) do
local humanoid = part.Parent:FindFirstChildOfClass("Humanoid")
if humanoid and not hit[humanoid] then
hit[humanoid] = true
hurt(humanoid, Settings.ComboDamage[c.count])
if finisher then
stun(humanoid)
end
end
end
end
-- The abilities, by name: what each one does
local abilities = {}
function abilities.Dash(player, character, root)
root.AssemblyLinearVelocity = root.CFrame.LookVector * Settings.DashSpeed + Vector3.new(0, 15, 0)
end
-- everyone around you is hit and thrown away from you
function abilities.Slam(player, character, root)
local params = OverlapParams.new()
params.FilterDescendantsInstances = { character }
local hit = {}
for _, part in workspace:GetPartBoundsInRadius(root.Position, Settings.SlamRadius, params) do
local humanoid = part.Parent:FindFirstChildOfClass("Humanoid")
local theirRoot = part.Parent:FindFirstChild("HumanoidRootPart")
if humanoid and theirRoot and not hit[humanoid] then
hit[humanoid] = true
hurt(humanoid, Settings.SlamDamage)
local away = (theirRoot.Position - root.Position) * Vector3.new(1, 0, 1)
if away.Magnitude > 0 then
away = away.Unit
end
theirRoot:ApplyImpulse((away * Settings.SlamKnockback + Vector3.new(0, 40, 0)) * theirRoot.AssemblyMass)
end
end
end
function abilities.Block(player, character)
character:SetAttribute("Blocking", true)
task.delay(Settings.BlockTime, function()
if character.Parent then
character:SetAttribute("Blocking", nil)
end
end)
end
-- The client asks for an ability by name. The server checks it: a real
-- ability, a living player, and its cooldown over. When it is ready again
-- is an attribute of the player, so their screen can show it.
remotes.Ability.OnServerEvent:Connect(function(player, name)
if typeof(name) ~= "string" or not abilities[name] then
return
end
local character = player.Character
local root = character and character:FindFirstChild("HumanoidRootPart")
if not root or character.Humanoid.Health <= 0 then
return
end
local now = workspace:GetServerTimeNow()
if now < (player:GetAttribute(name .. "ReadyAt") or 0) then
return
end
player:SetAttribute(name .. "ReadyAt", now + Settings.Cooldowns[name])
abilities[name](player, character, root)
end)
-- Every player gets Kills on the leaderboard, and a sword every life
Players.PlayerAdded:Connect(function(player)
local leaderstats = Instance.new("Folder")
leaderstats.Name = "leaderstats"
leaderstats.Parent = player
local kills = Instance.new("IntValue")
kills.Name = "Kills"
kills.Parent = leaderstats
player.CharacterAdded:Connect(function()
local sword = ServerStorage.Sword:Clone()
sword.Parent = player.Backpack
sword.Activated:Connect(function()
swing(player)
end)
end)
end)
-- The training dummy: its health bar follows its health, and a beaten
-- dummy comes back after a moment, a fresh copy in the same place
local function setupDummy(dummy)
local humanoid = dummy.Humanoid
humanoid.HealthChanged:Connect(function(health)
dummy.HealthBar.Back.Fill.Size = UDim2.fromScale(health / humanoid.MaxHealth, 1)
end)
humanoid.Died:Connect(function()
local spot = dummy:GetPivot()
task.wait(0.5)
dummy:Destroy()
task.wait(Settings.DummyRespawn)
local fresh = ServerStorage.Dummy:Clone()
fresh:PivotTo(spot)
fresh.Parent = workspace
setupDummy(fresh)
end)
end
setupDummy(workspace.Dummy)
-- The nearest living player's character a bot can see, and how far it is
local function nearestCharacter(position)
local best, bestDistance = nil, Settings.BotSight
for _, player in Players:GetPlayers() do
local character = player.Character
local root = character and character:FindFirstChild("HumanoidRootPart")
if root and character.Humanoid.Health > 0 then
local distance = (root.Position - position).Magnitude
if distance < bestDistance then
best, bestDistance = character, distance
end
end
end
return best, bestDistance
end
-- A bot's mind: every quarter second it looks around and decides
local function runBot(bot)
local humanoid = bot.Humanoid
local root = bot.HumanoidRootPart
local lastAttack = 0
while bot.Parent and humanoid.Health > 0 do
local target, distance = nearestCharacter(root.Position)
if target and distance <= Settings.BotRange then
-- close enough: stop and hit, once per BotAttackCooldown
humanoid:MoveTo(root.Position)
if time() - lastAttack >= Settings.BotAttackCooldown then
lastAttack = time()
humanoid.Animator:LoadAnimation(slash):Play()
hurt(target.Humanoid, Settings.BotDamage)
end
elseif target then
humanoid:MoveTo(target.HumanoidRootPart.Position)
else
humanoid:MoveTo(root.Position)
end
task.wait(0.25)
end
end
-- A new bot on the red pad, with its numbers and a health bar
local function spawnBot()
local bot = ServerStorage.Bot:Clone()
bot:PivotTo(workspace.BotSpawn.CFrame + Vector3.new(0, 3, 0))
bot.Humanoid.MaxHealth = Settings.BotHealth
bot.Humanoid.Health = Settings.BotHealth
bot.Humanoid.WalkSpeed = Settings.BotSpeed
bot.Parent = bots
-- keep the bot's physics on the server, so the slam's knockback moves it
bot.HumanoidRootPart:SetNetworkOwner(nil)
bot.Humanoid.HealthChanged:Connect(function(health)
bot.HealthBar.Back.Fill.Size = UDim2.fromScale(health / bot.Humanoid.MaxHealth, 1)
end)
task.spawn(runBot, bot)
end
spawnBot()
This lesson includes a short quiz. Start the lesson to answer it and track your progress.