For two years, the DotA AI community relied on the dedicated work of BuffMePlz, who maintained the AI maps starting from the release of Dota Allstars 6.49. Having spent significant time analyzing these map files and observing the evolution of the AI scripts, it is clear that the project was a massive undertaking. BuffMePlz has officially announced his retirement from AI development, citing the immense workload and the complexities of balancing community expectations with personal responsibilities.
BuffMePlz statement on his retirement as DotA AI developer
After much thought and consideration, I have decided to no longer continue my work on DotA AI maps. Between my increased work responsibilities, advancing on to the next stage of life, my waning interest in DotA, and the frustration from both dealing with the community's demands and the community having to deal with my absences, I believe it is best for me to let this project go and move on.
It was a fun two years, with updates on almost every version since 6.49 (we're up to 6.66b now, crazy!), but as lazyfiend/RGB said when he left, I find that working on this map is no longer enjoyable to me, and is in fact quite a burden.
I've contacted GoD-Tony (killerbee) about taking over, and if he decides to, I'll try to help him get up to speed as much as possible. If not, I hope whomever takes my place will have as much fun as I did these past two years learning the ins and outs of JASS and the WC3 engine.
My passion has always been with the Fun Taverns, and though I will not continue AI development I may occasionally release some maps on my blog with old heroes and/or original creations, so feel free to visit and leave comments for me here.Thanks for the fun times guys!
It was a fun two years, with updates on almost every version since 6.49 (we're up to 6.66b now, crazy!), but as lazyfiend/RGB said when he left, I find that working on this map is no longer enjoyable to me, and is in fact quite a burden.
I've contacted GoD-Tony (killerbee) about taking over, and if he decides to, I'll try to help him get up to speed as much as possible. If not, I hope whomever takes my place will have as much fun as I did these past two years learning the ins and outs of JASS and the WC3 engine.
My passion has always been with the Fun Taverns, and though I will not continue AI development I may occasionally release some maps on my blog with old heroes and/or original creations, so feel free to visit and leave comments for me here.Thanks for the fun times guys!
Despite the offer, GoD-Tony has declined to take over the project. His perspective highlights a recurring issue in the modding scene: the unsustainable nature of solo-developer projects. He has indicated that he would only reconsider if a collaborative team of developers were formed to share the technical burden.
God-Tony refused to continue DotA AI development
Taking this blog in a slightly different direction, I'll write a bit about my thoughts on DotA AI and the retirement of BuffMePlz.
I recently received an email from BMP informing me of his decision, as well as his offer of general guidance to lead my own AI project. My first reaction was "Why didn't I get an email like this sooner?"
I believe that if an AI project had been worked together by a team of people, then it wouldn't have come down to this. It's really too much to take on by one person.
The idea of posting my Pre-Alpha builds of RGB's AI for the newest version at the time was to spark some interest in development in an otherwise dead scene. I knew BMP wasn't interested in wasting his time with people that thought they "could help" but couldn't do anything other than offer another opinion. This was a way of proving that there were certainly people interested in helping, myself and Cipd included
That was almost a year ago when my interest for developing AI was at it's peak, and when I received no response regarding those maps, I moved on to the next idea. This was to create an Open AI for DotA that could be ported to the latest version almost instantly, and Open in the sense that it would be very easy for others to contribute (especially open source)
Even though I completed the code-base for this project, it still needed some real AI to go along with it. This was back in January, and once again with no response or input from the ones I contacted, and the continuation of BMPs' ports of RGBs' maps, I decided that it was a wasted effort.
What I'm getting at here is that it's basically too little too late. I believe DotA for Warcraft 3 is near it's death. With Heroes of Newerth released just days ago, Starcraft 2 coming out this year, and the possibility of IceFrog moving on to Valve, by the time I created a decent AI, DotA would be on a different platform.
I don't see myself working on an AI for DotA now or in the future, and the only way I could see this changing is if some very ambitious developers came forward and teamed up as it should be done.
I recently received an email from BMP informing me of his decision, as well as his offer of general guidance to lead my own AI project. My first reaction was "Why didn't I get an email like this sooner?"
I believe that if an AI project had been worked together by a team of people, then it wouldn't have come down to this. It's really too much to take on by one person.
The idea of posting my Pre-Alpha builds of RGB's AI for the newest version at the time was to spark some interest in development in an otherwise dead scene. I knew BMP wasn't interested in wasting his time with people that thought they "could help" but couldn't do anything other than offer another opinion. This was a way of proving that there were certainly people interested in helping, myself and Cipd included
That was almost a year ago when my interest for developing AI was at it's peak, and when I received no response regarding those maps, I moved on to the next idea. This was to create an Open AI for DotA that could be ported to the latest version almost instantly, and Open in the sense that it would be very easy for others to contribute (especially open source)
Even though I completed the code-base for this project, it still needed some real AI to go along with it. This was back in January, and once again with no response or input from the ones I contacted, and the continuation of BMPs' ports of RGBs' maps, I decided that it was a wasted effort.
What I'm getting at here is that it's basically too little too late. I believe DotA for Warcraft 3 is near it's death. With Heroes of Newerth released just days ago, Starcraft 2 coming out this year, and the possibility of IceFrog moving on to Valve, by the time I created a decent AI, DotA would be on a different platform.
I don't see myself working on an AI for DotA now or in the future, and the only way I could see this changing is if some very ambitious developers came forward and teamed up as it should be done.