5 replies to this topic

[wanda321]

Hi Heisa,

I hope you're doing well! I have a few small suggestions for improving the RL tool, as well as a few quick questions. Let’s start with the suggestions:
 

1. When we obtain a reset, it would be helpful to display a countdown in seconds showing how much time is left until it can be used. (Example: 0,67s left)
    

2. Instead of changing the color of the decal to show that we have a reset, it would be better to display a text notification - similar to the one used in the BakkesMod plugin. Changing the color doesn’t work well with every decal and also it is visible on obs (not stream-proof).
   
   Example:
   
    

3. Add an option to adjust the smoothness of the demo bot's behavior. (yes, I got reported for using demo bot xD, because when the opponent was quickly moving left and right, my car was following his car 1:1)
    

4. Include a rear-view mirror or show the distance between the opponent and the ball as a text. Alternatively, display a FOV circle when an opponent or teammate is close to my car. This circle could indicate their distance and direction relative to my current car position.
   
   Examples:
   
   
   
    

Now for the questions:
 

Back in August 2024, you mentioned that version 4.0 was around 30–40% complete. How would you rate the progress now? I hope everything is going well and progressing as planned—I really appreciate all the work you’re putting into this.
 

I’m also very excited for your future post about version 4.0. Not gonna lie, I love how you explain how everything works behind the scenes. It's fascinating that such a tool can be developed purely through calculations without using AI.

By the way, have you ever considered adding AI features to your tool? Just to clarify, I don’t mean having the AI play the game for you, but more like using AI to help analyze situations. For example, AI could detect whether a play is dangerous for our goal and then adjust the aerial bot’s interception point position to clear the ball as far as possible from the opponents. Or it could estimate the best spot to shoot at, based on the opponents’ positions (e.g., if two defenders are on the right side of the goal, it could aim for the left).
 

Sorry for the long message and if some of my ideas sound a bit out there.

Thanks again for your amazing work, Heisa!

[Heisa]

Thank you for your suggestions. I have planned already some of them such as extending the flip indication settings and an "awareness" feature which would show in some ways players.

For a rear-view mirror, not sure how doable would that be as it would require spawning a camera in-game. But I've also had plans looking into how it could be done for an old idea of mine - top down view of the whole arena acting as a "mini-map" 

 

For the demobot, I plan to completely overhaul it with much better predictions and even the ability to jump for a demo, so it will probably have such an option, but that will be done a little bit later after the new release.

For the V4 question, I will specifically post in the other thread for it, since I realized using percentages to rate progress is not an accurate measure. Mainly because the progress is a non-linear curve ( as many things in life ), saying I were 40–50% done a year ago doesn't translate into "we-re 90-100% done now". I'll simply post about for features done or "checkpoints", and use that as progress tracking.

To answer your question about considering AI, I have. But only for "some" scenarios for example orienting the car in a way to have "almost perfect" redirects, but not auto-play bots, the tool's intentions were never to be used as that, but rather as a helpful assistant while you play the game.

Other than that, you really can't "adjust" the intercept that much, you either can or cannot hit an an aerial with your current position/speed/time, which would depend on how accurately I calculate that. Such an AI would require lots of hours training for a little gain. But knowing the "best spot to shoot at" would be something useful to have.

 

The problem with that is the limitations of only having it work on a specific game mode - Soccar. Supporting each modes would all require different training files. And they can easily be detected or made obsolete by simple changes. It's extremely easy to break it, for example changing the dimensions of the car or it's physics by a bit, changing boost pads, ball radius, anything of this sort can introduce errors and break it's training. 
 

 

Appreciate your ideas, though

[wanda321]

Thank you for your suggestions. I have planned already some of them such as extending the flip indication settings and an "awareness" feature which would show in some ways players.


For a rear-view mirror, not sure how doable would that be as it would require spawning a camera in-game. But I've also had plans looking into how it could be done for an old idea of mine - top down view of the whole arena acting as a "mini-map" 

 

For the demobot, I plan to completely overhaul it with much better predictions and even the ability to jump for a demo, so it will probably have such an option, but that will be done a little bit later after the new release.


For the V4 question, I will specifically post in the other thread for it, since I realized using percentages to rate progress is not an accurate measure. Mainly because the progress is a non-linear curve ( as many things in life ), saying I were 40–50% done a year ago doesn't translate into "we-re 90-100% done now". I'll simply post about for features done or "checkpoints", and use that as progress tracking.


To answer your question about considering AI, I have. But only for "some" scenarios for example orienting the car in a way to have "almost perfect" redirects, but not auto-play bots, the tool's intentions were never to be used as that, but rather as a helpful assistant while you play the game.


Other than that, you really can't "adjust" the intercept that much, you either can or cannot hit an an aerial with your current position/speed/time, which would depend on how accurately I calculate that. Such an AI would require lots of hours training for a little gain. But knowing the "best spot to shoot at" would be something useful to have.

 

The problem with that is the limitations of only having it work on a specific game mode - Soccar. Supporting each modes would all require different training files. And they can easily be detected or made obsolete by simple changes. It's extremely easy to break it, for example changing the dimensions of the car or it's physics by a bit, changing boost pads, ball radius, anything of this sort can introduce errors and break it's training. 
 

 

Appreciate your ideas, though

Thank you so much for your detailed response. I really appreciate it.

 

I really like the idea of the mini-map with a top-down view of the whole arena. That sounds good.

 

Regarding the percentage question, I totally understand what you mean now. What I was curious about is how you’d estimate the current overall state of the update, including any progress lost due to bugs or unexpected setbacks. I know that adding new features or tweaking values can lead to new issues and delays, so I wasn't expecting a literal 1:1 scale, more of a general feel for how far along you think things are.

 

As for the AI part, I completely agree with your point of view. I wouldn’t want anything that plays the game for me either. It would defeat the whole purpose and probably attract too much attention from Epic Games.

 

There are a few features I’m especially looking forward to, and I think they’d be real game-changers for me:

1. Native controller support

2. The ability to switch kickoff bot configs

3. The option to set different interception modes and the correction factors for each aerial bot mode

These are the ones I personally miss the most. As you know, certain interception modes are better for offense while others work better for defense, so having the ability to adjust that per mode would really improve my gameplay.
 

 

Thanks again for your hard work and dedication. Looking forward to everything that’s coming next!

[Heisa]

Thank you so much for your detailed response. I really appreciate it.

 

I really like the idea of the mini-map with a top-down view of the whole arena. That sounds good.

 

Regarding the percentage question, I totally understand what you mean now. What I was curious about is how you’d estimate the current overall state of the update, including any progress lost due to bugs or unexpected setbacks. I know that adding new features or tweaking values can lead to new issues and delays, so I wasn't expecting a literal 1:1 scale, more of a general feel for how far along you think things are.

 

As for the AI part, I completely agree with your point of view. I wouldn’t want anything that plays the game for me either. It would defeat the whole purpose and probably attract too much attention from Epic Games.

 

There are a few features I’m especially looking forward to, and I think they’d be real game-changers for me:

1. Native controller support

2. The ability to switch kickoff bot configs

3. The option to set different interception modes and the correction factors for each aerial bot mode

These are the ones I personally miss the most. As you know, certain interception modes are better for offense while others work better for defense, so having the ability to adjust that per mode would really improve my gameplay.
 

 

Thanks again for your hard work and dedication. Looking forward to everything that’s coming next!

Just keep an eye on the progress topic.

I'll be posting an update at some point 

[unkemptfiber1]

Just keep an eye on the progress topic.

I'll be posting an update at some point 

im so hyped for this, ill keep buying monthly to support you on this! You da champ!.

[Heisa]

im so hyped for this, ill keep buying monthly to support you on this! You da champ!.

Very kind of you ! Appreciate it a lot!