• News
    • Teams
    • Players
    • Tournaments
    • Industry
    • Rumors
  • Features
    • Community
    • Players
    • Columns
    • Controversy
    • Business
    • Culture
  • Strategy
    • MMR
    • Learning
    • Stats
    • Tools
    • Betting
  • Scene
    • Tickets
    • Fixtures
    • Match Previews
    • Results
  • Entertainment
    • Trending
    • Fail
    • Comics
    • Gossip
  • Community
    • Giveaways
    • DotaBlast
  • Team Romania
Dota Blast
  • About
  • Contact
Dota Blast
  • News
    • Teams
      IKEA instructed to change name coming into Kiev Major EU regional qualifiers - Now 4 protect five

      IKEA instructed to change name coming into Kiev Major EU regional qualifiers - Now 4 protect five

      'To the end' - Ad Finem parts ways with their Dota 2 team

      'To the end' - Ad Finem parts ways with their Dota 2 team

      Changes in Team Secret Management: Kemal steps down, John Yao appointed CEO

      Changes in Team Secret Management: Kemal steps down, John Yao appointed CEO

      XBOCT signed by Russian Premier League organization FC Anji

      XBOCT signed by Russian Premier League organization FC Anji

    • Players
      FATA returns to competitive play, forms new team

      FATA returns to competitive play, forms new team

      2016 debutantes and break out players from around the world

      2016 debutantes and break out players from around the world

      YapzOr nominated for Red Bull's "Best Esports Player of the Month"

      YapzOr nominated for Red Bull's "Best Esports Player of the Month"

      SumaiL shortlisted as one of the most influential teens of 2016 by Time.com

      SumaiL shortlisted as one of the most influential teens of 2016 by Time.com

    • Tournaments
      The International 2018 - who will qualify and who are the favourites to win?

      The International 2018 - who will qualify and who are the favourites to win?

      Newbee, LGD.FY, Secret invited to Perfect World Masters minor

      Newbee, LGD.FY, Secret invited to Perfect World Masters minor

      Liquid, OG, Secret, VP to square off in ROG DreamLeague season 8 EU+CIS qualifiers

      Liquid, OG, Secret, VP to square off in ROG DreamLeague season 8 EU+CIS qualifiers

      Barcelona to host the WESG Dota 2 2017 Europe and CIS regional qualifiers

      Barcelona to host the WESG Dota 2 2017 Europe and CIS regional qualifiers

    • Industry
      Trumps travel ban; The International, careers, tournaments at stake

      Trumps travel ban; The International, careers, tournaments at stake

      New Patch update 7.02

      New Patch update 7.02

      ESL plans for television style production value

      ESL plans for television style production value

      FC Copenhagen brings Maelk on board as esports director

      FC Copenhagen brings Maelk on board as esports director

    • Rumors
      Dota 2 API Key allegations and implications: A case against LGD owner, Pan "RuRu" Jie

      Dota 2 API Key allegations and implications: A case against LGD owner, Pan "RuRu" Jie

      Sources: Monkey Business to play under a new brand

      Sources: Monkey Business to play under a new brand

      Sources: London Conspiracy squad no longer with the organization

      Sources: London Conspiracy squad no longer with the organization

      London Conspiracy to replace Vega Squadron for MLG Pro League LAN finals

      London Conspiracy to replace Vega Squadron for MLG Pro League LAN finals

  • Features
    • Community
      Special Event; Dark Moon available for a limited time

      Special Event; Dark Moon available for a limited time

      Battle Cup Winter 2017; Chance for six teams to participate in Kiev Major regional qualifiers

      Battle Cup Winter 2017; Chance for six teams to participate in Kiev Major regional qualifiers

      Charity; Gamers can make a difference

      Charity; Gamers can make a difference

      TI6 Trove Carafe and Lockless Luckvase released

      TI6 Trove Carafe and Lockless Luckvase released

    • Players
      bOne7 interview: "I told Envy I want to coach his team so that I can build up my reputation and start playing again"

      bOne7 interview: "I told Envy I want to coach his team so that I can build up my reputation and start playing again"

      SingSing interview: "I'm going to quit pro Dota forever, this has been my last tournament"

      SingSing interview: "I'm going to quit pro Dota forever, this has been my last tournament"

      MVP.QO interview: What makes MVP special, road to 9K MMR, personal background

      MVP.QO interview: What makes MVP special, road to 9K MMR, personal background

      swindlemelonzz interview: Early struggles, family support, blunt chronicle of the scene

      swindlemelonzz interview: Early struggles, family support, blunt chronicle of the scene

    • Columns
      Dear Dota 2 personalities, you should be the ones setting up a good example

      Dear Dota 2 personalities, you should be the ones setting up a good example

      Dota 2 tournaments: Watch out for the elusive cash cow!

      Dota 2 tournaments: Watch out for the elusive cash cow!

    • Controversy
      Team Secret accused again for allegedly owing money

      Team Secret accused again for allegedly owing money

      Flipsid3, PR, ProDota, DB ripped off after tournament organizer disappears with prize money

      Flipsid3, PR, ProDota, DB ripped off after tournament organizer disappears with prize money

      Mineski Dota may pursue legal action against former players for breach of contract

      Mineski Dota may pursue legal action against former players for breach of contract

      Valve clears Ewolves and Infamous of match-fixing ProDota Cup Americas series

      Valve clears Ewolves and Infamous of match-fixing ProDota Cup Americas series

    • Business
      Changes in MatchMaking; No ranked group games, Random Draft & Captains Mode out of Solo Queue

      Changes in MatchMaking; No ranked group games, Random Draft & Captains Mode out of Solo Queue

      The curious incident of the Kiev Major tickets: A look into event ticketing

      The curious incident of the Kiev Major tickets: A look into event ticketing

      Valve issues cease operations notice to third party betting websites

      Valve issues cease operations notice to third party betting websites

      The Spring Cleaning 2016 Update

      The Spring Cleaning 2016 Update

    • Culture
      Biased gender role cast poses question: How inclusive has esports become for women?

      Biased gender role cast poses question: How inclusive has esports become for women?

      Valve, The International 6 and Miracle- among winners at the Esports Industry Awards 2016

      Valve, The International 6 and Miracle- among winners at the Esports Industry Awards 2016

      Puppey featured as a guest speaker for TEDx at TTÜ

      Puppey featured as a guest speaker for TEDx at TTÜ

      Miami University to launch first varsity esports program

      Miami University to launch first varsity esports program

  • Strategy
    • MMR
      Valve answers MMR complaints with new update

      Valve answers MMR complaints with new update

    • Learning
      From Dota 2 to Overwatch – a game comparison

      From Dota 2 to Overwatch – a game comparison

      Ten changes you need to know as you boot Dota 7.00

      Ten changes you need to know as you boot Dota 7.00

      Ten of the most important changes in patch 6.87

      Ten of the most important changes in patch 6.87

      Understanding The Offlane Jungle

      Understanding The Offlane Jungle

    • Stats
      Frankfurt Major stats: Of Sides, Farm, and Rapiers

      Frankfurt Major stats: Of Sides, Farm, and Rapiers

      Beyond summary: truly understanding 6.85 Phantom Lancer, Gyrocopter and Intelligence Cores

      Beyond summary: truly understanding 6.85 Phantom Lancer, Gyrocopter and Intelligence Cores

      6.84 items - winners, losers, equine superheroes, and pizza rolls

      6.84 items - winners, losers, equine superheroes, and pizza rolls

      6.84 myths and realities

      6.84 myths and realities

    • Tools
      Dota 2 Bot API on the horizon

      Dota 2 Bot API on the horizon

      BecomeTheGamer drafting assistant: a statistically better drafting phase

      BecomeTheGamer drafting assistant: a statistically better drafting phase

      Loot Market: one secure way to sell your Dota 2 items for real cash

      Loot Market: one secure way to sell your Dota 2 items for real cash

      Gamekit: Earn points and exchange them for Steam dollars!

      Gamekit: Earn points and exchange them for Steam dollars!

    • Betting
      The best Dota 2 tournaments for gamblers

      The best Dota 2 tournaments for gamblers

  • Scene
    • Tickets
      TI5 VIP passes, limited eligibility

      TI5 VIP passes, limited eligibility

      Sold Out! The International 5 tickets gone in minutes

      Sold Out! The International 5 tickets gone in minutes

      The International 5 tickets on sale soon

      The International 5 tickets on sale soon

    • Fixtures
    • Match Previews
    • Results
  • Entertainment
    • Trending
      coL undefeated, Wheel Whreck features first female player to advance through  Kiev Major NA Open Qualifiers

      coL undefeated, Wheel Whreck features first female player to advance through Kiev Major NA Open Qualifiers

      Purge and Day[9] embark on their first adventure tonight

      Purge and Day[9] embark on their first adventure tonight

      Arcana Votes: Eight heroes remain

      Arcana Votes: Eight heroes remain

      City Hall employees fired for playing Dota 2 at work

      City Hall employees fired for playing Dota 2 at work

    • Fail
      ARS ART meltdown: "Artstyle is another player!"

      ARS ART meltdown: "Artstyle is another player!"

      How to Techies

      How to Techies

    • Comics
      TI5 compendium: The Summoning comic and other rewards

      TI5 compendium: The Summoning comic and other rewards

    • Gossip
  • Community
    • Giveaways
      ESP giveaway: win an Arcana item (UPDATE: WINNER!)

      ESP giveaway: win an Arcana item (UPDATE: WINNER!)

      ESP giveaway: win 100 Battle Pass levels (UPDATE: WINNER!)

      ESP giveaway: win 100 Battle Pass levels (UPDATE: WINNER!)

      LootMarket giveaway: win a $75 gift card (UPDATE: Winner!)

      LootMarket giveaway: win a $75 gift card (UPDATE: Winner!)

      LootMarket giveaway: seven weeks, seven arcanas (UPDATE: WINNERS!)

      LootMarket giveaway: seven weeks, seven arcanas (UPDATE: WINNERS!)

    • DotaBlast
      We are live! What to expect

      We are live! What to expect

  • Team Romania
  • Follow
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Google+
    • Youtube
    • RSS
Dota 2 Bot API on the horizon
Tools
Home
Strategy
Tools

Dota 2 Bot API on the horizon

October 19th, 2016 Cristy "Pandora" Ramadani Tools 0 comments

Recommended

BecomeTheGamer drafting assistant: a statistically better drafting phase
BecomeTheGamer drafting assistant: a statistically better drafting phase
A new Dota 2 Bot API is in the works. Once completed, the project would allow for anybody to create their own bots and also improve the quality, options and difficulty of the ones that are currently available. The procedure is developed by a student at Maastricht University and is expected to be launched in the near future.

If you’ve played Dota 2 long enough, you’ll know that the bots offer limited training development or challenges. Practice can feel futile and often frustrating, but rarely are pubs any more rewarding of a training ground.

Martin Rooijakcers, a 26-year-old computer science student at Maastricht University, is looking to change that. In his final year of the AI program, Martin is in the process of creating a Dota 2 Bot API which will allow programmers to create better Dota 2 bots.

Inspired by a consistent outcry on Reddit for a Dota 2 Bot API and currently wrapping up his Master Thesis on a Brood War bot for StarCraft, Martin rolled up his sleeves.

Martin Rooijackers Dota 2 Bot API

Martin Rooijackers

While developing my Brood War bot, I was already wondering if developing bots was also possible for other esports titles. In StarCraft 2, Blizzard explicitly states to one of the Brood War AI people that they will stop any attempt to create such a bot; LOL was out of the question as well. But Dota 2 had LAN mode, so that one was an option that I was considering.

Martin is not just creating a bot, but also an API to allow others to create bots. The process is not an easy one and the Dutch student realized there were several drawbacks and limitations to the two methods that were already available.

One method is based entirely on using the LUA code (lightweight multi-paradigm programming language designed primarily for embedded systems and clients). However, LUA has some limitations: the File Input/Output and multi-threading are either disabled or not included in the LUA engine that Dota 2 uses. File Input/Output is used to store and retrieve a lot of information. Multi-threading enables usage of all the CPU available in a computer. Essentially, by using the LUA code method, the developer cannot store all or as much of the info needed to create a more complex bot and is left with limited amount of CPU at his disposal. Therefore, the method is far from being efficient.

With the LUA code being a little bit too restrictive to write a bot for a complex game like Dota 2, Martin looked to the second method perfected by Tobias Mahlmann. The method is based on a Maeven project for Java. This approach has a major drawback: since the server is integrated in the project, the procedure can only be executed with the Java programming language. Since the server is integrated, it has less overhead, but without knowledge or a detailed tutorial, the program is far from accessible.

Martin set out to develop a different framework/architecture. Instead of sending the Dota 2 data directly to a bot, it is sent to a server running on a computer – usually the one that hosts the game. Only one person has to run the bot framework, then others can join without having to do anything. From that server, the data is sent to a bot. The step by step tutorial proves the concept. In order to run to run the project, Dota 2 players would have to download XAMPP for the server and a bot written for that framework, then simply double click them both. Simple enough.

Plans for the Dota 2 Bot API

For now, in regards to the bot framework, Martin Rooijakcers has the following things planned:

  • Bots available for both Dire and Radiant. Players can add as many bots to both sides as you want and even have a bot-only tournament. With this framework, it is even possible to have a 5v5 and let a bot take over in case of afk
  • Works on all standard Dota maps (the winter map, for example)
  • The bot controller can draft/pick all the heroes, unlike the default practice bots which can only play a limited hero pool
  • Allows players to set the reaction time of the bots
  • More options to control bots. For example, they can respond to chat messages and change their role to support, jungler or carry on request
  • Customizable item builds, including the ability to set conditions for items to be bought. For example: only build an orchid if there is a specific hero like Invoker on the enemy team
  • Lane options: players can tell each bot which lane it should use in the lane stage
  • Players can set the farming priority for each hero (1, 2, 3, 4, 5 position)
  • Players can request wards (observer and sentry) to be laid set down in specific places

Dota 2 Bot API crowdfunding

So far, the process has been lengthy and it has required help from various other people. Martin Rooijakcers is getting close to perfecting the Dota 2 Bot API. There is still some work to be done, and that takes money, resources and some extra hands.

I want to say thanks to the people from #Dota2Modding on irc.gamesurge.net for helping me out.

– Martin Rooijakcers

A crowdfunding request has been set up to help facilitate the process and will be launched October 22nd. The money collected is earmarked for the following:

  • Adding missing features from the Dota 2 AI framework made by Tobias Mahlmann
  • Making some other small adjustments needed due to the fact that the apache server will not be directly used to control the bot
  • Writing the php code for the apache server
  • Creating an example bot to show the functionality of the API

Most of the work has already been done. Now it is a matter of adding bits and pieces from the LUA framework and from the Tobias Mahlmann implementation, and then making sure the entire project runs smoothly with an apache server. Once that is completed, Martin Rooijakcers needs to write the php code to allow any bot to interact with the apache server. Martin estimates that the finalized project will be rolled out approximately one month after the crowdfunding campaign ends. The cost is set at $1,000.

Facebook Twitter Google+
Next article Team Secret grab title for FACEIT Dota 2 Invitational
Previous article Boston Major Open Qualifiers registration now open

Cristy "Pandora" Ramadani

Pandora is a behind the scenes Dota 2 professional Jack of All Trades ranging from team manager, social media staff, business consultant, board of director member, visa guru, Garter's waifu. When not busy with Dota 2 work, she is out trying to save the world or baking cupcakes. Follow her on Twitter @pandoradota2

Related Posts

BecomeTheGamer drafting assistant: a statistically better drafting phase Tools
May 22nd, 2016

BecomeTheGamer drafting assistant: a statistically better drafting phase

Loot Market: one secure way to sell your Dota 2 items for real cash Tools
January 11th, 2016

Loot Market: one secure way to sell your Dota 2 items for real cash

Gamekit: Earn points and exchange them for Steam dollars! Tools
October 1st, 2015

Gamekit: Earn points and exchange them for Steam dollars!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

DotaBlast Twitter button DotaBlast Facebook button

Latest News

Jun 14th 3:13 PM
Tournaments

The International 2018 – who will qualify and who are the favourites to win?

Mar 26th 1:02 PM
Betting

The best Dota 2 tournaments for gamblers

Nov 1st 3:29 PM
Learning

From Dota 2 to Overwatch – a game comparison

Sep 23rd 7:07 PM
Tournaments

Newbee, LGD.FY, Secret invited to Perfect World Masters minor

Sep 13th 9:38 PM
Tournaments

Liquid, OG, Secret, VP to square off in ROG DreamLeague season 8 EU+CIS qualifiers

Sep 6th 11:00 AM
Tournaments

Barcelona to host the WESG Dota 2 2017 Europe and CIS regional qualifiers

Mar 14th 12:53 PM
Tournaments

Invictus Gaming shine in China Kiev Major qualifiers

Mar 14th 8:21 AM
Tournaments

SG esports become Brazil’s sweethearts in SA Kiev Major qualifiers

Mar 14th 8:00 AM
Tournaments

Team Onyx blinsided the world in NA Kiev Major qualifiers

Mar 14th 7:42 AM
Tournaments

Team Secret grand slam performance in EU Kiev Major qualifiers

Mar 14th 7:28 AM
Tournaments

VIrtus.Pro pummel all opponents in CIS Kiev Major qualifiers

Mar 13th 2:01 PM
Tournaments

iG. Vitality clinch Kiev Major China qualifiers

Mar 13th 1:16 PM
Tournaments

TnC Pro surged from the elimition series in the SEA Kiev Major qualifiers

Mar 13th 6:40 AM
Tournaments

Invictus Gaming takes up two spots in China Kiev Major qualifier playoffs

Mar 12th 4:33 PM
Tournaments

Team Faceless knock it out of the park in Kiev Major SEA qualifiers

  • News
  • Features
  • Strategy
  • Scene
  • Community
  • Entertainment
  • Back to top

Privacy Policy

Terms of Service and Usage

Giveaway and Contest rules

Contact DotaBlast

All rights reserved to Blast Esports Media © 2015-2017. Valve, the Valve logo, Steam, the Steam logo, Source, the Source logo, Valve Source and Dota are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Valve Corporation. DotaBlast is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Valve Corporation.

Recent Posts

The International 2018 - who will qualify and who are the favourites to win?

The International 2018 - who will qualify and who are the favourites to win?

The best Dota 2 tournaments for gamblers

The best Dota 2 tournaments for gamblers

From Dota 2 to Overwatch – a game comparison

From Dota 2 to Overwatch – a game comparison

Newbee, LGD.FY, Secret invited to Perfect World Masters minor

Newbee, LGD.FY, Secret invited to Perfect World Masters minor

Liquid, OG, Secret, VP to square off in ROG DreamLeague season 8 EU+CIS qualifiers

Liquid, OG, Secret, VP to square off in ROG DreamLeague season 8 EU+CIS qualifiers