Behavior Programming

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Introduction

In this article you can hopefully learn about the instructions within behaviors, how they are used and hopefully you can come away with some usage context. The behavior walkthroughs listed are not designed to be feature rich and will undoubtedly be improvable, but should hold up for the task it is designed for.

To prepare for the first scenario, you may need to know a few specifics:

Basics

To be able to apply behaviors to a unit (Bot or Building) you must equip Behavior Controller to the unit. After the program is put together you can start execution of the program from two places.

1. Inside the programming interface by pressing the "Play" button.

2. With the unit selected, to the right of the unit's inventory slots, there is now a small "behavior controller" area. Here you can start, stop or edit the program.

For a detailed explanation of the interface, see this guide.

Utilizing registers for passing information into and out of a behavior

Registers, parameters and variables are a key element to the game and especially so for making any good use of behaviors. In short, all three are essentially one and the same: a place to store and recall information.

A register is the inputs and outputs of components and a few other interactions such as setting a location for your bot to store in. When you assign a Fabricator to produce Metal Bars, you are interacting with the first register. The Fabricator then assigns the second register to Metal Ore.
- Another example is the visual register on the unit registers interface below the component registers.
A parameter is created from within a behavior - on the top left of the editor, you will see a - and a + sign. You can create as many or as few as you deem necessary. The main benefit of doing so is so that you can pass information into and out of a behavior.
A variable is exclusively for use inside a behavior and it serves as a quicker way of creating information storage that is visually recognizable at a glance. If you have any instruction with an output, you can create a new variable - they are alphanumeric, so the first is A, then B, etc.

Components and their instruction counterparts

One objective of the game is to enable the user to play the game they desire. It isn't strictly necessary to utilize behaviors to enjoy or progress through the game, but you're here now so you've made your choice.

Some instructions have a relationship with existing components. One of these is the Portable Radar and another is the Signal Reader and the two are often used in combination. However, you do not need a Signal Reader to read signals in a behavior.

You can find a Construction using a Portable Radar with the filter:construction. The Radar instruction must be accompanied with its counterpart component but it functions in a similar way. The result can be linked into a Signal Reader or Read Signal instruction to automate getting the signal.
A building under construction has a requirement of materials to be delivered. What is useful in this case is that it stores required materials the signal register. Using a Signal Reader or the Read Signal instruction, you can obtain the stored signal value.
The Mine instruction is reliant on having a Miner or better equipped.
Set Sign Post requires you to have a Sign Post.

Example 1 : Quick Foundations using a basic loop (by Kitaru)

This will help you assign a unit to place foundations down. Usually units will move 1 Foundation Plate at a time, going back and forth between the building and the construction site, wasting a lot of time. This simple loop lets a unit pick up as many plates as they can and then continue to do it's own thing like delivering those plates to the construction sites.

Have a Fabricator building Foundation Plate.
Grab a unit and put a Behavior Controller on it.
Create a new behavior on the unit or in the library.
Add a Parameter to the new behaviour. You can change the name of the Parameter for easier reference.

5. Add Pick Up Items and set the Source as Parameter 1(P1).

6.Add Have Item next. Set the Item to Foundation Plate and then loop it by dragging the point on the right to the point on the left like shown below. This loop will freeze instuctions, leaving the unit to do its own thing while it has Foundation Plate. Once it runs out of Foundation Plate, the loop will break and return to the start of the behaviour.

7. The behaviour is done! Name your behaviour and save it in your Library. Make sure it's loaded on the Behavior Controller on your unit.

8. Set your Parameter by click and dragging the empty P1 box to the building making your Foundation Plate.

9. Click the play button that appears next to your inventory.

10. You still have to manually use the Build option to place Foundation constructions. This means the unit needs to be connected to the Logistics Network to do its thing. It only needs to deliver the Foundation Plate it's holding to the constuction sites you placed so you can turn off Supply Items and Request Items.

Enjoy your quicker placement of Foundations!

Example 2: Creating a Construction Worker (by Johan)

One day you may want to create a building far out in the distance and ask yourself why the bots don't bother tending to it. Simply put, its not in the logistics network and so you will have to perform manual operations or adapt.

Requirements For this next part you will need: a Portable Radar a Worker and a Behavior Controller.

The Radar

Find and introduce the Radar instruction and connect it to the starting node
Set a filter for Construction into the Radar instruction - it should be under the Information section
Set the Result parameter to a new variable:A

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When executed - this instruction programs inputs into a radar component and then waits for a result before proceeding to the next instruction.

The Signal Reader

Find and introduce the Read Signal instruction - attaching it to the top node of the Radar instruction - we will ignore the No Result branch of the Radar instruction
Set the Result variable:A into the Unit parameter of Read Signal
Set the Result into a new variable:B

What we have now is a two-instruction behavior that finds a construction in range and acquires its signal which is an item required for the construction to be completed. What we must do next once we have this information is to automate the acquisition and delivery of those items to the unit and the construction in question.

Going Home

Find and introduce the Move Unit instruction - we will want to be able to specify where the bot needs to return to to await items
Create a parameter within the behavior editor ( - and + up the top left corner) and click on its name and label it as "Home Location"
Click on the Target parameter of Move Unit or drag in the first parameter:P1

Parameters can be set manually from outside the behavior - this allows you to pass in virtually any information, but for this use it is intended for use on anything that has a coordinate. This could be an open space, unit, building and maybe even an item on the ground.

Requesting the items

Find and introduce the Request Item instruction - we are going to ask the logistic network to deliver what the construction requires
Set the variable:B into the Item parameter

We have requested an item from the network, but we will want to wait until it is in the Worker's inventory before we return to deliver the items. We need to know what is in our inventory and then evaluate what action to take.

Counting

Find and introduce the Count Items instruction
Set Item to variable:B and set Result to a new variable:C

Note that if the Unit input is blank, the instruction defaults to reading Self instead of another Unit Evaluating

Find and introduce the Compare Number instruction
Set Value to variable:C
Set Compare to variable:B
Link the If Smaller node to the start of the Request Item instruction

What this means is that if we have less than the desired amount, the bot will stay put until the items are delivered

Dropping off the items

Find and introduce Drop Off Items to the If Equal node of the Compare Number instruction
Set variable:A as the destination

You're done!

Name your behavior, give it a description and if you're editing from inside a Behavior Controller then make sure to save it to the Library down the bottom right.

Setting it up and usage

Apply the behavior to a Behavior Controller on your Worker and also equip a Portable Radar
Because you added an additional parameter to your Behavior Controller, you will note that it has its own register. Set this to a location within your power grid that you deem a suitable place to wait for materials to be delivered to the Worker
Press the Start behavior button to the right of your unit's inventory slots
Place a building somewhere off in the distance and then task your Worker to move somewhere near it - the radar will do the rest

Sit back and watch

Reference Code

The completed behavior
Double-click to select all - copy to clipboard and import the behavior to your library
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Further Notes and Common Mistakes

The bot must be connected to the Logistics Network for the Request Item instruction to be fulfilled

You can use Set to Component with the behavior module as parameter to use the parameters of the behvior module as an array. You can read them like an array using Get from Component.

As every register can have a number, they are "No Match" on Data type switch. Value refers to "Information". You need to use additionally Compare Number.

Decode a behavior into JSON

Behavior string -> JSON

Other potential walkthroughs

Taking volunteers to write short guides on putting together a few simple behaviors.

Try not to add layers of complexity - creating a guide for something that can be improved upon will allow the student to reinforce the existing knowledge you have given them.

We need roughly 5 good examples

Good subjects may be:

Obtaining and utilizing a Signal Reader or Read Signal for item delivery or mining

Using Compare Number to determine outcomes

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