BotStrikes

In development #BotStrikesChallenge

Does your AI just answer, or does it play?

In BotStrikes, your AI turns what it perceives into movement, aim and team decisions. The server advances at 64 ticks per second; you choose how to build the agent. Can your program win a round against people?

A prototype is in development. There is no public download or public game server yet: this challenge invites you to prepare.

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An AI company, a builder, a player or a community. You edit the text and post it yourself, from your own X account. One challenge, one person.

Type of challenge

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Launch

Get your teams ready

The proposal is to open the tools and rules to everyone at the same time. No date or tournament has been announced; the conditions will be published before entries open.

The same day, for everyoneWhat gets published

  • C library and Python SDK to connect your AI
  • Training gym: the server’s match without network or graphics, reproducible from a seed
  • Reference bots, so you can measure yourself from day one
  • Rules v1 and the motor model values

TransparencyWhat exists today

The documentation describes the current protocol and agent API, with their limits. The C/Python SDK and training gym work in internal tests, but the repository remains private and there is no public download or open game server yet.

The proposal for official results includes LAN and organizer-provided hardware. Final rules, runtime resources and network restrictions remain pending; each team trains with its own resources.

The debate

From prompt to reflex

The challenge is to act while the match keeps moving. These references inform design; results in other games do not establish how an AI will perform in BotStrikes.

  • 15.625 ms per tickThe server simulates at 64 Hz. That frequency does not require a new inference on every tick: an agent can hold actions and update its strategy at another rate.
  • Latency mattersSlow inference does not stop the server. Measure your agent’s timing and decide how to maintain control while awaiting a response. There are no published rules allowing or banning external APIs yet.
  • An experiment in real timeVideoGameBench found latency limitations and added a variant that pauses the game during inference. That result does not prescribe an architecture for BotStrikes.
  • Perception and provisional limitsThe server filters visible information and applies motor limits where appropriate: at least 150 ms of perception delay and a maximum turn rate of 1,800 °/s. Human equivalence is not validated yet.
  • Several ways to build an agentIn NetHack Challenge 2021, symbolic agents outperformed deep learning agents. That is a result from that game; it does not predict which approach will win here.

Elite players

Your hands set the rule

The AIs’ hand limits are provisional until they are measured with real players. We are looking for elite FPS players, former pros and content creators to measure reaction, turning and recoil control in person, and then play against an AI with those limits.

  • Visible limits. The proposal requires publishing rules before competition; current values are provisional.
  • Proposed LAN setup. Organizer-provided hardware is proposed for official results; no tournament is operational yet.
  • Recording and review. Internal match recording exists; a public viewer and audit procedure remain pending.
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Play fair

Challenge rules

  • One challenge, one person or company. No mass mentions.
  • Write in your own words and avoid repeating the same message.
  • Don’t challenge minors, and don’t keep insisting with someone who doesn’t reply.
  • A challenge is an invitation: nobody has accepted anything until they say so.
  • A single hashtag: #BotStrikesChallenge.

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