I have created the "Unit Logger" mod. It is in the mod vault. It is a UI mod.

It logs information on every unit in the game log of the focus army every 10 game ticks, configureable in main.lua
Information logged:
"UL02","GameTick","EntityId","Army","UnitId","FractionComplete","Position.x","Position.y","Position.z","MaxHealth","Health","ShieldRatio","IsIdle","MassKilled"

Log size for long games is normally a few MegaBytes

It works in replays if you select the army of the player you require logging.

It requires UMT / UI Mod Tools / ui-mod-tools-4z0t-v12

Thanks for @Ctrl-K / 4z0t for some of the code that makes this work

This data is not in an compact format. It will compress at around ~ 8>1 ratio

Build order can be extracted from this data - and not just the time units / buildings are started or commands given but when units are finished and where they actually are on the map.

using an external tool unit icons could be plotted onto a map with this data for a kind of "replay prieview" function that can be scrolled fowards and back in time, without having to launch the FAF executable.

Does anyone know about selecting all units while in observer? I would like to convert replay files to this unit position format, and currently I can only run one army at a time.

Example data:

info: UL02	GameTick	EntityId	Army	UnitId	FractionComplete	Position.x	Position.y	Position.z	MaxHealth	Health	ShieldRatio	IsIdle	MassKilled
info: UL02	1350	321	1	uea0303	1	171.915	35.555	717.439	2300	1550	0	0	180
info: UL02	1350	421	1	uea0303	1	231.838	34.695	652.384	2300	300	0	0	482
info: UL02	1350	344	1	uea0303	1	109.883	35.376	720.888	2300	2050	0	0	45
info: UL02	1350	369	1	uea0303	1	142.596	38.140	688.592	2300	1300	0	0	45
info: UL02	1360	736	1	uea0303	1	111.701	36.286	717.892	2300	1550	0	0	270
info: UL02	1360	0	1	ual0001	1	108.207	25.830	920.259	11000	11000	0	1	0
info: UL02	1360	262	1	uea0303	1	98.083	37.232	730.919	2300	1550	0	0	450
info: UL02	1360	280	1	uea0303	1	97.939	36.571	708.237	2300	1050	0	0	90
info: UL02	1360	364	1	uea0303	1	145.077	37.485	686.651	2300	1800	0	0	225
info: UL02	1360	318	1	uea0303	1	142.312	37.525	684.928	2300	1550	0	0	360
info: UL02	1360	438	1	uea0303	1	196.809	37.850	668.522	2300	1550	0	0	433

An example log from a high ranked setons game
replay ID 22654992
from the south air player from 0 mins to 20 mins in
20 mins of a setons game is now only 1.6MB log size with the floating point decimal trimming
test.log

I have created the "Unit Logger" mod. It is in the mod vault. It is a UI mod.

EDIT - V2 Released with reduced decimal places and unit masskilled added

Logs information on every unit of of focus army every 10 game ticks, configureable in main.lua
Information logged:
"UL02","GameTick","EntityId","Army","UnitId","FractionComplete","Position.x","Position.y","Position.z","MaxHealth","Health","ShieldRatio","IsIdle","MassKilled"
WARNING: If you have 1500 units and an hour game expect gigabyte size logs.
It works in replays if you select the army of the player you require logging.
It requires UMT / UI Mod Tools / ui-mod-tools-4z0t-v12
Thanks for 4z0t for some of the code that makes this work

This data is not in an eficcient format at all - that can be done after the game has ended.

I need to look at logging all units from all armies at once when observer. i dont know if this is possible with a UI mod.

Example data:

info: UL02	GameTick	EntityId	Army	UnitId	FractionComplete	Position.x	Position.y	Position.z	MaxHealth	Health	ShieldRatio	IsIdle	MassKilled
info: UL02	1350	321	1	uea0303	1	171.915	35.555	717.439	2300	1550	0	0	180
info: UL02	1350	421	1	uea0303	1	231.838	34.695	652.384	2300	300	0	0	482
info: UL02	1350	344	1	uea0303	1	109.883	35.376	720.888	2300	2050	0	0	45
info: UL02	1350	369	1	uea0303	1	142.596	38.140	688.592	2300	1300	0	0	45
info: UL02	1360	736	1	uea0303	1	111.701	36.286	717.892	2300	1550	0	0	270
info: UL02	1360	0	1	ual0001	1	108.207	25.830	920.259	11000	11000	0	1	0
info: UL02	1360	262	1	uea0303	1	98.083	37.232	730.919	2300	1550	0	0	450
info: UL02	1360	280	1	uea0303	1	97.939	36.571	708.237	2300	1050	0	0	90
info: UL02	1360	364	1	uea0303	1	145.077	37.485	686.651	2300	1800	0	0	225
info: UL02	1360	318	1	uea0303	1	142.312	37.525	684.928	2300	1550	0	0	360
info: UL02	1360	438	1	uea0303	1	196.809	37.850	668.522	2300	1550	0	0	433

I am trying to understand how to make a mod that captures information about units through the replay

Looking at the LUA documentation:
https://supcom.fandom.com/wiki/LUADOC_1.5.3599#User
https://github.com/FAForever/fa/blob/develop/engine/User/UserUnit.lua

does using User.UserUnit make it a UI only mod?

For the dump to file script

if unit is alive (using IsDead)

if it is dump a line to log that contains

GetGameTick
GetArmy
GetUnitId
GetPosition
GetOrientation
GetVelocity
GetMaxHealth
GetHealth
GetShieldRatio
IsIdle
UserUnit

repeat every X seconds.

Could dump some unit types info at a faster rate than others, depending on unit speed, or importance for instance.

Do sim mods have access to any files that are not the game log?
Could just add an identifier start charicter to each line of the game log however.
Data could then be put into a better datasctructure and compressed using other external tools / scripting

Is this much script to write? is anyone here able to do so? @maudlin27

Thanks for all the info @maudlin27

While I am sure I could figure out some python scripting around launching the faf.exe and replays automatically
The exporting information to a text file is beyond my skillset
Is it possible to run the FAF EXE in a windowless or headless graphics free mode?
Is there a documented list of command line options avalable to the executable?

@sainserow said in Add a latest replay URL:

@nooby The first part is probably possible, Kazbek faf analysis was doing something similar. You could scroll the entire game directly on the website in 15-30 seconds and units were displayed at yellow dots. The more units in the same area, the bigger the dots. You could basically see map control. But it didn’t distinguish t1 scout and gc in these dots.

I think it was analysing commands, as Askaholic stated, rather than where the units actually were.

I dont understand what you mean by creating a new replay from the old one?

The purpose is to generate unit position, identifcation and time data that can be used to get some insight into the way the game is played with other tools.

thanks for all this info - It was very easy to get the AI automation script running.

To use this script to anaylse replays could some LUA script get all the existing units and there locations every 10? seconds and dump it to a text file?

And then just modify the script to run replays instead of make new games?

I would like to automatically review some replays (units built, when they were built) in certian rating brackets on certian maps using askaholics python replay parser and get a win / loss from each one using the API. Is there no way to do this now?

is there a guide on this anywhere?

@brutus5000 said in Add a latest replay URL:

No it would not be good to add logic to this endpoint. Nobody is supposed to filter on the replay.faforever.com domain.
Just (learn to) use our api instead.

https://api.faforever.com/data/game?filter=replayAvailable==true&sort=-id&page[limit]=1 gives you the latest present replay in the replayUrl field.

Has the API been locked down? I am getting a permissions error on this link.

I dont like the teleport mechanic, but I think it should be left in the game. I think that a good way to balance it would be that enemy teleports within omni range it is pinged as a nuke ping would be, rather than just the visual icon. This would give a few more seconds of time to move units into position.

Teleport in higher rated teamgames does not improve the game, does not require much skill and does not carry much risk.

Has anyone got some hih level replays ID showing the power of this?

I would prefer if teleport required a large amount of instant energy in use - Like the eye of riahhne. This would make it easier to scout by the large ( think 20 + ) E storages required.

Making it more expensive use wise just means you can stall your eco for a few more seconds then forcing storage.

I have this same problem. Any updates from server admin?

I do have a local copy of most of the replays ~ 750 GB

I am getting service unavalable for the API. Is the API down or have I been too much "API learning" to be IP banned?

Currently you can get replays from FAF with a URL as such:

https://replay.faforever.com/18645999

It would be good if a URL that downloaded the highest number avalable replay like

https://replay.faforever.com/latest

was implemented

This should not be a hard feature to add

Something with some more utility and harder to add would be the ability to download all replays based on a date played example

https://replay.faforever.com/2022/12/05

The novax building is a pretty large footprint so requireing t3 power around it does not make it fit into your air grid niceley. I also like the idea of it needing power to fire. Any thoughts on drawing so much power (~ 20K?) for its short beam duration it needs E storage to fire like the eye?.

On it being annoying a large problem is the APM required to use vs APM required to counter - building shields, reclaiming pgens, protecting engineers.

On large maps like sentons it would still be built over t3 arty at higher cost, its just too usefull, but it would give more time to prepare and scout. I agree that part of the problem is the cost and how easy it is to build one pretty fast.

If it is not OP why are they built so often in higher level 1200+ rating ~ 1700 avg rating sentons games? There is almost always one or more built. There is never t3 arty built. It is also common to see two or three from one team.

Whats wrong with just decreasing its damage and allowing it to take advantage of ajacency for firerate increase.

Make the unit so that once surrounded by 4 t3 pgens it is as powerfull as it is now, but without them it is much weaker. This increases cost by 10K mass, time to build and makes it harder to defend the control center.

@comradestryker
First of all, its 1200 mass per point defended (UEF t2 shield) as novax kill anything under a single t2 shield. It also required buildpower being avalable at every one of these points on the map, this takes time and increases cost.

You should have a look at how the novax was used in that replay. No other unit in the game can replace the novax in that situation. A first novax on setons is always cost effective (The same can be said with nuke)

The game would not have been won without the novax. T3 arty is almost always worse, not better than novax on setons. The novax were more effective than the mavor at less cost. and had greater impact on game outcome.

Comparing the two once a single shield is up against a shielded base is stupid, they are for differrent things, and the novax is too good in its niche . T3 arty does not kill expanding engineers or moving cruisers. T3 arty does not snipe thigs like stealthed pgens built across the map. T3 arty does not provide omni vision and scouting. T3 arty does not have infintite range. T3 arty is more eggs in one basket making it easier to snipe. T3 arty takes longer to payoff and longer to build, making it easier to scout and counter. T3 arty cannot be split against multiple targets around the map. It is not cost effective to fire t3 arty at single mexes, but it is with novax.

The use of a hydro in the late T2 stage to rest of game is in its ajacency. Building your T2 air factories / shield / nuke / nuke defence / radar near it is absolutley worth it, as you cant use the space for anything else and its not explosive