Using the AI - Revision history

Troylaurin: Replace the UNIVERSAL_MOUSE_DEBUG import code with the same in a code block for better display

2021-01-19T03:11:59Z

Replace the UNIVERSAL_MOUSE_DEBUG import code with the same in a code block for better display

Troylaurin: Add a recap

2021-01-15T22:57:06Z

Add a recap

Troylaurin: Use conditions to make more effective use of impulses

2021-01-15T14:30:06Z

Use conditions to make more effective use of impulses

Troylaurin: Finish the tutorial

2021-01-15T14:25:24Z

Finish the tutorial

Troylaurin: First cut

2021-01-15T13:57:07Z

First cut

New page

As powerful as the AI can be, it can be overwhelming at first, and there are many common mistakes that can be very discouraging at first.

Watch this video for one of the easier to access introductions to using the AI

https://youtu.be/JPFxJFaYcc4

== First steps ==

# Before you can use the AI '''at all''', you need to install the "Facility AI" software in the headquarters, which you receive at military tier 4.
# To be able to run a script in the AI, the script needs to be '''enabled'''. If it is displayed <s>with a strikethrough</s> then it is disabled, to enable it click on the script name, then tick the enabled button on the left, then hit save. The strikethrough should be removed to show that the script is enabled.
# Before you can run '''any''' scripts, the AI needs to be turned on. If you hit F4 (or whatever key you have configured in the control settings for "AI overlay") then the AI overlay will be displayed showing the running scripts on the left and the global variable with their values on the right. If you turn the AI off, all running scripts are stopped and all global variables are cleared - when you turn the AI back on, it will start from a clean slate.
# To '''start''' a script, you need to trigger one of its impulses. If you edit the script, the impulses will be listed at the top of the script with a red flag on the left. If a script doesn't have an impulse, you can't start it directly, though it can be started by another script.
# Before the script '''actually''' starts, any conditions it has must be fulfilled. If the script has no conditions then the script is always allowed to start.

== First scripts ==
To get you started, try importing the script by the code below. All scripts are disabled when they are first imported, this is to allow you to edit the script and see what it is trying to do before you run it, to prevent someone from giving you a malicious script that runs as soon as you turn the AI on.<blockquote><code>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</code></blockquote>You should have a script called UNIVERSAL_MOUSE_DEBUG, with a WAKE UP impulse. If you start the AI now, you should see the script in the active list on the left, and some global variables on the right. The variables will change whenever you move the mouse cursor, and they describe the cursor's location in the game screen as "relative coordinates". This is a very useful technique when creating scripts that need to click on the screen, because absolute coordinates will change based on the size of the game's window. But the relative coordinates will be the same for everyone, which makes it easier to share scripts.

=== A second script ===
Time to make use of everything so far!

Start the AI and determine the relative coordinates for the MILITARY button in the HQ. If you have the cursor at the top-left of the M, it should be about MOUSEX=0.14, MOUSEY=0.76 - roughly speaking, it's a big button so we don't need to be too accurate.

Click the NEW button to a new script and call it anything, say "let's open the military tab". Actually that won't work, because script names can't be that long, just call it "military state". Leave the enabled box ticked then hit save - you should see a new script appear in the list on the right. Click on your new script and hit edit.

You now have a pristine script, and will need to set it up to do what you want. We want to click on a button, so look for <code>BASIC: CLICK</code> in the components list on the left. Click it, and you'll open a dialog to configure the details of the action. Click on the <code>(X: 0, Y: 0)</code> button for another, slightly more confusing dialog. This is how you configure '''values''' in AI scripts, and what this dialog looks like will depend on the '''type''' of the value you're configuring, but it's always either setting a constant value that doesn't change at the top, or a calculated value that might change below that. The tick simply shows which is currently active - it has to be one or the other, it can never be both.

It might be tempting to simply enter our 0.14 and 0.76 values at the top, because they certainly are constant and don't change... but that will actually click very close to the bottom-left corner of the game screen, which isn't what we want. So click on the calculation drop-down and choose <code>VECTOR2: FROM COORDINATES</code>. There are now two values at the bottom of the dialog that you can fill in. Click the left one!

You're now configuring a '''double''' value, which is just a number. We want to calculate where 0.14 falls in the current screen size, so we need arithmetic. Click on the checkbox next to the dropdown (simply selecting arithmetic in the dropdown doesn't work because it's already selected so it doesn't fire a change event) to show a new set of values to configure. Lots of layers, it's kind of like Inception but less pretty.

Click on the left value and '''finally''' enter our relative X coordinate of 0.14, then click the tick to go back to the arithmetic level. Click on the middle value... now we're configuring a string, check out the dropdown list to see what kind of functions we have available now. But we actually want a constant, replace <code>+</code> with <code>*</code> for multiplication. Click the tick again. Finally click on the right value.

To convert 0.14 into an absolute coordinate so we can actually click it, we need to multiply it by the width of the game window. But... how? There are some interesting calculations available in the double list, but none of them obviously have anything to do with the screen size. For now, choose <code>CONVERT: INT</code>. This means that even though we're using a value in a double '''context''', we're actually going to give it a value that's just an integer - it will never have a fractional component (there's nothing after the decimal place). Edit '''this''' value and you can see that <code>SCREEN: WIDTH</code> is one of the available calculations. Even better, it doesn't have any values of its own! Hit that tick button until we're back to the <code>VECTOR2</code> calculation.

Repeat the steps above for the second value here (the Y value) so it's calculating <code>0.76 * DOUBLE(SCREEN.HEIGHT)</code>. Then you can keep hitting the tick button until you close all of the dialogs.

Et voila, we have a script that will click on a predictable part of the screen no matter what size of window the game is playing in! But we still have work to do to run it. Most importantly, we need an impulse. Click the <code>IMPULSE</code> component right at the top of the list, and choose one of the KEY impulses. For the sake of tutorial, I'm going to assume you chose <code>KEY: 1</code>.

Finally, we want to add a condition. It doesn't really make much sense to click a button that's found in the HQ building unless we're actually in the HQ building... in the worst case it might click on something bad like a delete button or something that spends resources that you've been painfully saving. Click the <code>TOWN: WINDOW OPEN</code> condition which is made just for this situation.

@@ Line 14: / Line 14: @@
 ==First scripts==
-To get you started, try importing the script by the code below.  All scripts are disabled when they are first imported, this is to allow you to edit the script and see what it is trying to do before you run it, to prevent someone from giving you a malicious script that runs as soon as you turn the AI on.<blockquote><code>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</code></blockquote>You should have a script called UNIVERSAL_MOUSE_DEBUG, with a WAKE UP impulse.  If you start the AI now, you should see the script in the active list on the left, and some global variables on the right.  The variables will change whenever you move the mouse cursor, and they describe the cursor's location in the game screen as "relative coordinates".  This is a very useful technique when creating scripts that need to click on the screen, because absolute coordinates will change based on the size of the game's window.  But the relative coordinates will be the same for everyone, which makes it easier to share scripts.
+To get you started, try importing the script by the code below.  All scripts are disabled when they are first imported, this is to allow you to edit the script and see what it is trying to do before you run it, to prevent someone from giving you a malicious script that runs as soon as you turn the AI on.<syntaxhighlight lang="text">
 ===A second script===
@@ Line 45: / Line 56: @@
 Let's recap.  Now you know how to:
-# Create a script from scratch, with an impulse, condition and action.
+#Create a script from scratch, with an impulse, condition and action.
-# Convert between absolute and relative coordinates so you can create shareable scripts.
+#Convert between absolute and relative coordinates so you can create shareable scripts.
-# You've seen the calculations available for vector, double, int and string values.  Check out the bool (boolean) calculations when you need to.
+#You've seen the calculations available for vector, double, int and string values.  Check out the bool (boolean) calculations when you need to.
-# How to combine impulses and conditions.  This can be a very useful technique so you can reuse the same impulse in different buildings.  There aren't many impulses available so this can help them stretch further.
+#How to combine impulses and conditions.  This can be a very useful technique so you can reuse the same impulse in different buildings.  There aren't many impulses available so this can help them stretch further.
 If anything didn't work or didn't make sense above, please come to the discord and ask for help.

@@ Line 43: / Line 43: @@
 Time to test it!  Click the cross at the top-right of the script editor, double-check that your script is indeed enabled, then turn on the AI overlay and hit 1.  If the computer gods are smiling on us, you're now looking at the military tier screen!  Just to be sure, swap over to the workshop and try hitting 1 again.  It's likely that nothing happens, but if you're curious and like poking at things, edit your script and delete the condition by hitting the red X on the right of that line.  Now when you go back to the workshop and hit 1 it will open up the module blueprint screen.  The condition worked!
-Note that using conditions like this can be a very useful technique for extending impulses, since we have so few - using conditions, the 1 key might do something different in the mine compared to the factory, and whatever it does will make sense for that building.
+Let's recap.  Now you know how to:
 If anything didn't work or didn't make sense above, please come to the discord and ask for help.

@@ Line 42: / Line 42: @@
 Time to test it!  Click the cross at the top-right of the script editor, double-check that your script is indeed enabled, then turn on the AI overlay and hit 1.  If the computer gods are smiling on us, you're now looking at the military tier screen!  Just to be sure, swap over to the workshop and try hitting 1 again.  It's likely that nothing happens, but if you're curious and like poking at things, edit your script and delete the condition by hitting the red X on the right of that line.  Now when you go back to the workshop and hit 1 it will open up the module blueprint screen.  The condition worked!
 If anything didn't work or didn't make sense above, please come to the discord and ask for help.
-=== Going further ===
+===Going further===
 If you want to try writing your own scripts from scratch, a good place to start is the mine because it lends itself well to writing a small script and trying it, then building up more and more functionality around it:
-# Create a script that digs a cell.
+#Create a script that digs a cell.
-# Add a loop so the script digs '''all''' the cells.  What about opening a new layer first?
+#Add a loop so the script digs '''all''' the cells.  What about opening a new layer first?
-# Add another loop so you mine all the '''layers''' for one type of shard.
+#Add another loop so you mine all the '''layers''' for one type of shard.
-# Try clicking on the mine tabs so you can mine multiple types of shards.
+#Try clicking on the mine tabs so you can mine multiple types of shards.
-# Can you make it faster?  Can two dig scripts work together to dig all the cells twice as fast?  Does it scale further?
+#Can you make it faster?  Can two dig scripts work together to dig all the cells twice as fast?  Does it scale further?
 If you get stuck, try looking at someone else's mining script and see if you can figure out how they solved the same problems.  Or ask in discord for some advice.
-== AI mechanics, and AI limitations ==
+==AI mechanics, and AI limitations==
 As all-powerful as the AI can seem, happily the singularity is not yet upon us, and the AI has some (sometimes severe) constraints.  Notably...
-# There's a hard limit of 100 active scripts at a time.  If another script is started when at the limit, the AI will shut itself down to protect the rest of the game.
+#There's a hard limit of 100 active scripts at a time.  If another script is started when at the limit, the AI will shut itself down to protect the rest of the game.
-# If an action is made for a particular building, the action will do nothing unless that building screen is currently open.
+#If an action is made for a particular building, the action will do nothing unless that building screen is currently open.
-# When the AI is on, each active script will execute one action per game tick, in the order that the scripts were started (same as the order in the list of active scripts).  We can often take advantage of this determinism to ensure that multiple scripts running at the same time cooperate rather than interfere with each other.
+#When the AI is on, each active script will execute one action per game tick, in the order that the scripts were started (same as the order in the list of active scripts).  We can often take advantage of this determinism to ensure that multiple scripts running at the same time cooperate rather than interfere with each other.
-# If multiple scripts are started by the same impulse, they will be put in the active script list in the order that the scripts were created - the same relative order as the script sources in the facility AI list.
+#If multiple scripts are started by the same impulse, they will be put in the active script list in the order that the scripts were created - the same relative order as the script sources in the facility AI list.
-# When you use one of the execute commands to start a script from another script, the child script will be added to the end of the active script list, ''and will execute its first instruction in the current game tick''.
+#When you use one of the execute commands to start a script from another script, the child script will be added to the end of the active script list, ''and will execute its first instruction in the current game tick''.
-# Integer values are limited in the range of +/-2,147,483,647.  If you need larger values than that then you will need to use a double value.
+#Integer values are limited in the range of +/-2,147,483,647.  If you need larger values than that then you will need to use a double value.

@@ Line 5: / Line 5: @@
 https://youtu.be/JPFxJFaYcc4
-== First steps ==
+==First steps==
-# Before you can use the AI '''at all''', you need to install the "Facility AI" software in the headquarters, which you receive at military tier 4.
+#Before you can use the AI '''at all''', you need to install the "Facility AI" software in the headquarters, which you receive at military tier 4.
-# To be able to run a script in the AI, the script needs to be '''enabled'''.  If it is displayed <s>with a strikethrough</s> then it is disabled, to enable it click on the script name, then tick the enabled button on the left, then hit save.  The strikethrough should be removed to show that the script is enabled.
+#To be able to run a script in the AI, the script needs to be '''enabled'''.  If it is displayed <s>with a strikethrough</s> then it is disabled, to enable it click on the script name, then tick the enabled button on the left, then hit save.  The strikethrough should be removed to show that the script is enabled.
-# Before you can run '''any''' scripts, the AI needs to be turned on.  If you hit F4 (or whatever key you have configured in the control settings for "AI overlay") then the AI overlay will be displayed showing the running scripts on the left and the global variable with their values on the right. If you turn the AI off, all running scripts are stopped and all global variables are cleared - when you turn the AI back on, it will start from a clean slate.
+#Before you can run '''any''' scripts, the AI needs to be turned on.  If you hit F4 (or whatever key you have configured in the control settings for "AI overlay") then the AI overlay will be displayed showing the running scripts on the left and the global variable with their values on the right. If you turn the AI off, all running scripts are stopped and all global variables are cleared - when you turn the AI back on, it will start from a clean slate.
-# To '''start''' a script, you need to trigger one of its impulses.  If you edit the script, the impulses will be listed at the top of the script with a red flag on the left.  If a script doesn't have an impulse, you can't start it directly, though it can be started by another script.
+#To '''start''' a script, you need to trigger one of its impulses.  If you edit the script, the impulses will be listed at the top of the script with a red flag on the left.  If a script doesn't have an impulse, you can't start it directly, though it can be started by another script.
-# Before the script '''actually''' starts, any conditions it has must be fulfilled.  If the script has no conditions then the script is always allowed to start.
+#Before the script '''actually''' starts, any conditions it has must be fulfilled.  If the script has no conditions then the script is always allowed to start.
-== First scripts ==
+==First scripts==
 To get you started, try importing the script by the code below.  All scripts are disabled when they are first imported, this is to allow you to edit the script and see what it is trying to do before you run it, to prevent someone from giving you a malicious script that runs as soon as you turn the AI on.<blockquote><code>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</code></blockquote>You should have a script called UNIVERSAL_MOUSE_DEBUG, with a WAKE UP impulse.  If you start the AI now, you should see the script in the active list on the left, and some global variables on the right.  The variables will change whenever you move the mouse cursor, and they describe the cursor's location in the game screen as "relative coordinates".  This is a very useful technique when creating scripts that need to click on the screen, because absolute coordinates will change based on the size of the game's window.  But the relative coordinates will be the same for everyone, which makes it easier to share scripts.
-=== A second script ===
+===A second script===
 Time to make use of everything so far!
@@ Line 38: / Line 38: @@
 Finally, we want to add a condition.  It doesn't really make much sense to click a button that's found in the HQ building unless we're actually in the HQ building... in the worst case it might click on something bad like a delete button or something that spends resources that you've been painfully saving.  Click the <code>TOWN: WINDOW OPEN</code> condition which is made just for this situation.