Valve begins AI bot testing on 'TF2'

Valve has begun testing new artificial intelligence bots able to replicate real-life player reactions on its multiplayer shooter Team Fortress 2.

Writing on the Team Fortress 2 blog, Valve developer Mike Booth revealed that the computer-controlled enemies will be unleashed on the game's King Of The Hill maps.

To try out the new "digital killing machines", Booth outlined a specific console command that PC players must input in order to add the bots to their game.

"With the success of the AI systems on Left 4 Dead, we've been continuing to develop these technologies to create new kinds of game experiences," said Booth.

"Team Fortress 2 is an excellent 'sandbox' for explorations of this sort, and we've been quietly doing so for much of this last year. Some of the results of these explorations are TF 'bots' - AI-driven player proxies with simulated humanlike senses, reaction times and tactics. Although the TF bots are not yet complete, they play a pretty decent game of King Of The Hill.

"We thought you might enjoy testing your skill against these work-in-progress digital killing machines. The bots have simulated humanlike senses, and only know what they see, hear and touch. They also have realistic reaction times and aiming limitations. They don't 'cheat' or use omniscient knowledge of the server state to make their decisions."

Valve will now take feedback from gamers about the bots, including any bugs or issues which need further tweaking.