1. Introduction
In 1992 a new computer
game called Wolfenstein 3D created by id Software was released. This game
soon became popular because of it's stunning features. The game belongs
to the genre of first person shoot-em up games. The player is viewing from
a first person perspective and needs to know how to pull the trigger. Wolfenstein
3D takes place in a real-time indoor environment. Although the player has
only four degrees of freedom and the environment is rather simple, the graphics
were very sophisticated for the computers of those days. The game also
features stereo sound and the enemies seemed to be quite smart creatures.
They even chase you when running away.
In 1994 id Software
again came with a computer game that amazed many people. This game called
DOOM also takes place in a real-time indoor environment but the player's
surroundings are far more complex and detailed than in Wolfenstein 3D.
Walls in the game aren't all orthogonal and there are differences in height
between rooms. There are also different levels of light in different rooms.
One of the most important new features at that time was network support.
People with a LAN or modem could now join together and play the game. After
getting bored playing against the artificial enemies, network support made
the game interesting again.
A few years later
in 1996 id Software released an even better first person shoot-em up game
called Quake. This game has a true 3D environment and the player has six
degrees of freedom. The graphics and light effects are stunning. Not every
room has a light level but every wall has light settings that give a far
more realistic view. Like DOOM this game has multiplayer support for modem
and LAN but Quake also has Internet support. People from all over the world
with a connection to the Internet can play this game together. Multiplayer
support adds a new dimension to the first person shoot-em up games. Lots
of people are more interested in the multiplayer type of game than the
singleplayer one. People that don't have access to the Internet or haven't
got a LAN available aren't able to play the multiplayer type of game. But
they also want to experience the aspects of playing against or with other
human. Besides many would like to practice the game before playing with
others. For all these people the Omicron bot was made. The Omicron bot
is an artificial player acting like a real human in the Quake environment.
With this robot, often abbreviated to bot, everyone can play the multiplayer
type of game without a network or other people.
Purpose of this
document
This document describes
the Omicron bot. The first part gives a detailed description of the computer
game Quake. In that part the game engine used for Quake is also documented.
The documentation of Quake is included to give a better understanding of
the Omicron bot and the environment it operates in. The second part documents
the Omicron bot. First the goals for developing the bot will be described
in more detail. Then the design and knowledge systems used for the Omicron
bot will be explained. The implementation and its problems followed by
test results and the tools used for testing are also documented.