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.