Competition description and rules

The task

The competition task is to create a computer game bot which is indistinguishable from a human player. Those entries that pass this test will share the major prize of A$7,000 cash, and will also be offered a trip to 2K Australia's studio in Canberra. If the major prize is not won, a minor prize of A$2,000 plus a trip to the studio will be awarded. A member of the winning team (either major or minor) will be invited to visit 2K Australia's studio, at 2K Australia's expense, up to an amount of A$5,000, in addition to the cash prize.

The competition will be run at Edith Cowan University in August, 2012, using bots submitted electronically by competitors. The results will be announced at the IEEE Conference on Computational Intelligence and Games, in Granada, Spain, taking place between 11-14 September, 2012.

There is no requirement to register for or attend the conference (although it would be great to see you there!), and it is not expected that competitors be present for the competition itelf.

The game used for the competition will be based on a modified version of the DeathMatch game type for the First-Person Shooter, Unreal Tournament 2004. This modified version provides a socket-based interface (called Gamebots) that allows control of bots from an external program. In addition, several extra modifications will be made especially for the competition:

  • Chatting will be disabled (this is not a chatbot competition!)
  • Some aspects of the game play will be modified to faciltate the competition (see FAQ for details)

Important dates

There is still time to enter a team for the 2012 BotPrize competition. Using Pogamut, a working bot can be created within a day. To enter your team, email me.

  • Team entry ASAP, but before Wednesday 22nd August 2012
  • Optional submission for testing Wednesday 22nd August 2012
  • Final submission for testing Wednesday 29th August 2012
  • Final judging Monday 3rd September 2012
  • Exhibition and announcement at IEEE-CIG'2012 11th-14th September 2012

To enter

Competitors must advise their intention to enter the competition on or before Wednesday 22nd August 2012, by email to the competition organisers. The competition will be decided in a series of judging sessions on Monday 3rd September 2012.

Other conditions of entry are:

  • Individuals or teams may enter.
  • No-one can enter more than one bot (either as an individual or as part of a team).
  • But more than one independent team or individual with the same affiliation may enter.
  • No-one associated with 2K or with the organisation of the competition may enter.
  • Entrants must affirm that they have intellectual rights to their entry and that it and its components comply with all artistic licenses.
  • Entrants younger than 18 years of age must provide a written statement of permission by at least one parent or guardian.
  • Entrants must be willing to allow videos/mpegs of their entries in action at the competition to be published and become public domain.

Testing protocol

Judging will be done using the same in-game judging system that was used in 2011. The mod that will be used in judging is available here.

The system is based on a modification to the Link Gun. The primary mode is intended for tagging BOTs, while the secondary mode is for tagging HUMAN-controlled opponents. During the game, when a player believes he/she has identified an opponent as a BOT (respectively a HUMAN), he/she shoots the opponent using the primary (respectively secondary) mode of the Link Gun. The shot has no effect on the opponent, but the player will see a tag "BOT" (or "HUMAN") attached to the opponent to remind them of which opponents have been judged. If the player changes his/her mind, the opponent can be shot using the other mode to reverse the judgement, as often as he/she desires.

The final tag for each opponent at the end of the round constitutes that player's judgement on that opponent. At the conclusion of all the judging rounds, each player's or bot's humanness rating will be the percentage of times it has been judged human over all the times it has been judged.

Judges will be encouraged to play the game as normal, in addition to judging. As incentives for judges to do this, there will be awards for best judge, and for the judge with the highest combined score over the judging rounds, and for the judge with the highest humanness rating.

To win

  1. To win the major prize of A$7000 cash, a bot must achieve a humanness rating equal to or above the average humanness ratings of the competition judges.
  2. If more than one bot achieves this rating, then the prize will be shared equally.
  3. If no bot achieves this rating, then the minor prize of $A2000 cash will be shared by the bots with the highest humanness rating.