Does this game have AI bots (or plans, at least?)

[dejaime=D-Newbie]

Hi,

I am a huge fan of the old Natural Selection mod, used to play quite well all those years ago.

Got really excited about NS2, but then discovered there were no bots, what, imo, would be the best possible difference over NS1, even considering graphics and all other differences, bots would definitely be the best one for me.

Why?, you ask me. When I started playing the mod, there were dozens of servers with tens of people on 5 continents playing it, always easy to find a game. Of course, it was really complicated for newbies to get up to speed, and there were always a couple of feeders on both teams, but that was OK. Consider it a touch of realism haha!

Sadly, as a year, 2, passed, servers started shutting down one by one. The ones that were still online never had enough players to make a decent game, always 2 or 3... The mod died and now is practically unplayable if you, like me, don't have friends that actually play NS1.

If the game had official bots, I am sure the community would help with the scripting. Unofficial bots are always a liability, since these projects die quite easily for 'not so mainstream' games.
With good bots, I could play alone or with a friend or two, without turning this into one of those unsaid "you build your turrets and I try to win" games.

So, the question, does the game have official bots? Will it simply turn unplayable 2 years after my purchase?

[󠀡󠀡]

Yes there is official bots, i use them to practice the commander

[WarpFactoid]

Bots are accessed by going to Practice in the Main Menu. You can select the team sizes, Marine bots difficulty, and whether you want AI Commanders for either team or not.

They are of course still a work-in-progress. For example, Marines will only purchase Shotguns once research, and Kharaa will only use Skulks.

However, they do scout, help build, follow your orders (if commander), and engage enemies on sight. Should be enough action to help you through the basics as both player and Commander :)

[dejaime=D-Newbie]

That's great news!
Thank you!

[Carrion Juice]

There are bots but beware, they're dumber than bricks at the moment. :)

[JCD2150]

Give them Shotguns and they will dominate the world :P

[Zargas]

Ive trained comming on a few bot matches, yes they're sometimes stupid but generally work like you want it. Biggest issues apart from obvious occational pathing is that the weapons dropped at death litter the whole map sucking PC resources! They do not pick em up, and they do not dissapear after a short time?

Also a vote out commander that works when you're alone would be awesome if you suddenly would like to change anything.

[dejaime=D-Newbie]

Sad to see how the bots have not been properly implemented in over a year.

Even worse is seeing my prediction true, the game's on an all-time low players and interest, while no bots are here yet. The logical assumption is that they have simply cut out this feature sometime, whitout properly anouncing it out loud.

There was someone doing a bots mod that, even though his work was better than the official game's bots, is also down for over a year (I don't even know if it is still compatible).

Well, at least I didn't recommend this to any friend.