To make an AI-versus-AI StarCraft tournament fair, publish one ruleset before entries open and run every bot under the same game version, interface, maps, match conditions, resource limits, and result-review process. The best choices depend on your event: documented Brood War competitions using BWAPI offer practical examples, but their rules are not universal standards.
Choose the game version and bot interface first
State the exact StarCraft game and expansion, supported operating environment, bot interface and version, packaging format, and any tournament module before teams submit entries. Version differences can affect whether a bot launches or behaves comparably, so avoid changing the environment after registration without a clear policy for every participant.
BWAPI is an open-source framework for interacting with StarCraft: Brood War. Its documentation notes that defaults can be changed and that tournament modules can enforce settings. See the BWAPI documentation.
One legacy example is SSCAIT, whose published rules specify Brood War 1.16.1, certain supported BWAPI builds, C++ modules, proxy bots or Java bots using BWMirror/JNIBWAPI, and 32-bit Windows 7 machines. Those are SSCAIT requirements, not a general recommendation for a new event. Check the rules that apply to your selected software and environment.
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Pick a format that fits the event goal
Decide whether the event is meant to produce an overall ranking, a champion, or a comparison of particular bot skills. There is no single required structure: AIIDE’s overview describes past competitions using matrix play, elimination brackets, and separate skills tests. SSCAIT has also used ladder or round-robin play alongside an elimination phase.
| Decision | Options | Fairness question |
| Format | Round robin or matrix, elimination, groups plus elimination, or skills test | Does each entry get enough comparable games for the event’s stated goal? |
| Map schedule | Fixed, rotated, round-robin, or random selection from a published pool | Do bots face comparable maps and starting positions? |
| Result policy | Forfeit, replay adjudication, timeout scoring | Are technical failures handled consistently and reviewably? |
| Bot environment | One fixed version or a defined compatibility range | Can every entry run with the same access and limits? |
| Race | Declared race or Random | Does race choice fit the event’s format and progression rules? |
For a ranking, state how standings and ties are decided and choose enough matches to reduce the influence of one unusual game. The appropriate number of games per pairing depends on the event; set it explicitly rather than implying a universal standard.
Publish maps, starting positions, and race rules
List the map pool and map versions, then explain how maps and starting positions are assigned. Random selection can be transparent if the pool and selection process are published; a fixed schedule can be easier to reproduce. SSCAIT says it selects maps randomly from its pool, while the Tournament Manager repository documents explicit map selection by round.
Where map positions create meaningful advantages, consider rotating or swapping starts so one bot does not consistently receive the favorable side. This is a fairness design choice, not a rule established by the cited competitions.
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Specify whether bots may choose Random race and whether the rule changes between stages. SSCAIT permits Random in ladder and round-robin play but not in its elimination phase. That is one event’s policy, not a default requirement.
Define match outcomes, crashes, and timeouts
Write down what counts as a win, loss, draw, crash, invalid game, stalled game, and timeout. Include the treatment of launch failures, referee or observer errors, machine outages, and apparent result misreads. Do not leave organizers to improvise technical-loss decisions once a match is underway.
SSCAIT provides concrete examples of operational rules: it treats losing all buildings, crashing, or exceeding its slowdown thresholds as an immediate loss; it says draws are not possible under its rules. It ends a game after 90 in-game minutes (86,400 frames) or five real-world minutes without a unit dying, then compares in-game kills plus razings to determine the winner. These are that event’s thresholds; use them only if they suit your game build and setup.
- More than one frame over 10 seconds.
- More than 10 frames over one second.
- More than 320 frames over 85 milliseconds.
For any timeout or slowdown policy, state how it is measured, what evidence is retained, and which outcome follows. A rule that cannot be applied consistently is not a useful fairness rule.
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Keep information and compute access consistent
Say whether bots may use complete map vision, external programs, network access, human intervention, or persistent data between games. SSCAIT explicitly prohibits 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.
If performance constraints matter, define the CPU, memory, wall-clock, client, and network conditions that apply to every bot. Do not assume a universal fair compute budget: choose and publish limits appropriate to the event, then verify that the match machines can enforce them. The Tournament Manager repository documents optional client requirements and warns that requirements must match the available clients or a tournament may not finish.
Save evidence and provide a review route
Keep match replays, result data, and records of the game, API, map, and configuration versions used. Publish the challenge window, who reviews a dispute, what evidence counts, and whether an administrator can correct the official result. That process is part of the rules, not an afterthought.
SSCAIT says it saves and publishes replays after the tournament and allows administrators to correct an incorrectly evaluated match based on replay evidence. The Tournament Manager repository also illustrates explicit bot fields such as name, race, bot type, and BWAPI version, alongside map configuration.
Test the full setup before competition day
- Freeze the configuration: Record the final game build, interface and API versions, map pack, bot packaging requirements, launch process, and match settings.
- Run a normal match: Confirm that both bots launch, the correct map and starts load, the match runs under the expected limits, and a replay is produced.
- Exercise failure handling: Test how the system records crashes, timeouts, slowdowns, and invalid launches, then apply the written rules to those cases.
- Check scheduling and clients: If using tournament-management software, verify that the selected version supports your configuration, available clients, and desired number of simultaneous lobbies. The Tournament Manager repository notes a scheduling constraint involving multiple simultaneous lobbies and limitations in some earlier BWAPI versions; consult the documentation for the software version you choose.
These checks are operational guidance; results depend on your own machines, bots, software versions, and configuration. Re-run them after a material change to the environment.
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