Set the rules before entries arrive, then run every bot under the same documented conditions. Specify the game and bot interface versions, match format, maps and starting positions, race policy, time and failure limits, scoring, prohibited assistance, and replay review. Brood War competitions using BWAPI offer useful examples, but their published rules are event-specific—not universal standards.
Choose the game and bot environment first
Publish the exact StarCraft edition and version, operating environment, bot interface and version, packaging requirements, and any tournament module. Version mismatches can affect whether bots run and whether they face comparable conditions. BWAPI is an open-source framework for interacting with StarCraft: Brood War; its documentation notes that defaults can be changed and tournament modules can enforce settings. See BWAPI documentation.
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SSCAIT provides a concrete legacy example, not a current universal prescription: its rules specify Brood War 1.16.1, C++ BWAPI modules, proxy bots or Java bots using BWMirror/JNIBWAPI, an allowed BWAPI.dll list, and 32-bit Windows 7 machines. Check the event’s own current rules if using a platform or copying any configuration; these requirements describe that competition. The published rules are at SSCAIT rules and its interface/version details at SSCAIT learning and participation information.
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Pick a format that matches the tournament goal
Round robin or matrix play gives participants multiple opponents; elimination is simpler but a single loss can end a run; skills tests can evaluate capabilities other than head-to-head wins. Historical AIIDE competition formats have included matrix play, an elimination bracket, and separate skills tests, illustrating that no one structure is required. See the AIIDE competition history.
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Choose and publish the format, pairing schedule, number of games per pairing, ranking method, and tie-breaks. The reviewed event examples do not establish a universally correct match count. If an overall ranking matters, schedule enough comparable games to reduce dependence on one unusual match; the precise count is an organizer decision. SSCAIT, for example, distinguishes ladder and round-robin play from its elimination phase.
Make maps, starts, and race assignments comparable
Publish the map pool, exact map versions, selection method, and starting-position policy. Options include a fixed map, a rotation, round-robin assignment, or random selection from a published pool. SSCAIT says maps are selected randomly from its pool. Tournament Manager documents a map list that can specify a map for each round; consult the Tournament Manager repository for the software version you choose.
Where map positions create meaningful advantages, consider pairing games with swapped starts or otherwise rotating positions. This is a design recommendation to balance positional effects, not a requirement established by the cited events. State how you will handle maps that do not support equivalent starts.
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1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsDecide whether bots must declare a race and whether Random is permitted throughout the event. SSCAIT allows Random in ladder and round-robin play but not in its elimination phase. That is one event’s policy; choose a policy appropriate to your structure and apply it consistently.
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Define results, time limits, and technical failures
Write down what counts as a win, loss, draw, invalid game, crash, launch failure, stall, timeout, and referee or machine outage. Explain whether a result is an automatic forfeit or can be reviewed, and what evidence decides the case.
SSCAIT’s rules illustrate how specific these terms can be. They count losing all buildings, crashing, or exceeding stated slowdown thresholds as an immediate loss, and say draws are not possible under those rules. The event ends games after 90 in-game minutes (86,400 frames) or after five real-world minutes without a unit death; at a time limit, it compares in-game kills plus razings to assign the winner. Those are SSCAIT thresholds, not generally applicable defaults.
Its slowdown-loss thresholds are more than one frame over 10 seconds, more than 10 frames over one second, or more than 320 frames over 85 milliseconds. If you adopt time or performance limits, publish how they are measured, what happens at the boundary, and whether the same conditions apply to every bot. Avoid importing a threshold without confirming that your machines and match setup can enforce it consistently.
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Set information and resource rules
State whether bots may access complete map vision, external programs, network connections, human intervention during a match, or data persisted from earlier games. SSCAIT explicitly forbids complete map vision and other cheats or flags. BWAPI’s documentation describes tournament modules as a way to enforce settings that may differ from defaults.
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If computing resources matter, specify CPU and memory limits, wall-clock allowances, client requirements, and how violations are detected. SSCAIT uses slowdown-loss rules; Tournament Manager documents optional client requirements and warns that requirements must match available clients or a tournament may not finish. There is no universal fair compute budget established by these examples, so select one suited to your event and publish it before entries are submitted.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Choose a scoring and tie-break policy
Separate match-level results from tournament standings. State whether standings use wins, points, a score differential, or another measure, and list tie-breaks in order. If a match ends on a time limit, explain the result calculation in advance; SSCAIT’s kills-plus-razings comparison is one specific example. Also state whether an adjudicated or replay-corrected result changes standings.
| Decision | Options to compare | Fairness question |
|---|---|---|
| Format | Round robin or matrix, elimination, or skills test | Does each entry receive enough comparable games for the event’s stated goal? |
| Map schedule | Fixed, rotated, round-robin, or random from a published pool | Do bots face comparable maps and starting positions? |
| Result policy | Immediate forfeits, replay adjudication, timeout scoring | Are failures and time limits handled consistently and reviewably? |
| Bot environment | Fixed versions or broader compatibility | Can all entries run with the same access and limits? |
| Race | Declared race or Random | Does race selection fit the event’s stages and rules? |
Keep match evidence and provide a review route
Save replays, result data, and the configuration used for each match, including relevant game, BWAPI, map, and bot versions. Publish the challenge deadline, reviewer, evidence considered, and whether an administrator can change an official result. SSCAIT says it saves and publishes replays after its tournament and allows administrators to correct an incorrectly evaluated match based on replay evidence. See its rules and result-review policy.
Test the complete setup before entries compete
Run a dry test with the final game build, map pack, bot packaging, launch process, and match configuration. Check an ordinary match as well as failure cases such as a bot that does not launch, crashes, stalls, or triggers a time limit. Confirm that logs and replay files are generated and that the published rules tell an administrator how to resolve each case.
Tournament Manager’s documented configuration includes bot name, race, bot type, BWAPI version, and map settings. Its repository also describes scheduling constraints involving simultaneous lobbies and limitations in some earlier BWAPI versions. Compatibility depends on the software version and available clients, so verify the documentation for the version you will operate rather than assuming an older setup applies.
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