This page contains answers to frequent questions.

• Will there be an API like this for Starcraft II?
• When are units deleted? When do Unit pointers become invalid?
• Should I Make an AI DLL Module or an AI Client Program?
• What is a Force?
• Where is Heal Move?

Will there be an API like this for Starcraft II?

No. The BWAPI team is not interested in developing an API for Starcraft II. Some reasons are listed below.

• Blizzard Entertainment has a strict anti-hacking policy for Starcraft II.
• Creating hacks and freely moving about the binary is far more difficult than doing so with Starcraft: Broodwar.
• The Starcraft II engine is not ideal for AI development. Genetic and learning algorithms will see almost no results in comparison.
• AI/API developers will need to handle far more information than with BWAPI.
• Embarking on such a project will require an exponentially greater amount of time to develop.
• The system requirements are in another universe compared to those of Starcraft: Broodwar.

When are units deleted? When do Unit pointers become invalid?

Units are deleted only after the match ends.

Should I Make an AI DLL Module or an AI Client Program?

That depends on what you want to do. Unless you have a specific reason to write your AI as a client program, you probably want to make you AI as a DLL module. The client-server connection adds an overhead cost since the entire game state must be copied to shared memory every frame, so AIs written as client programs always run slower than AI DLL modules. On the other hand, running your AI as a client program allows you to enforce the BWAPI cheat flags by preventing the AI program from accessing Starcraft memory directly (AI DLL modules can easily bypass the BWAPI cheat flags). Any AI DLL module can be run as a client program by loading it into the AI Module Loader or a similar AI client program that just acts as a proxy between the shared memory and AI DLL module.

What is a Force?

A Force is another name for Team. In fact, the term "Team" is never used by Starcraft's Campaign Editor "StarEdit". Default team names are also called "Force #", and thus we use the most common reference.

Where is Heal Move?

You can HealMove by using either of the following calls;

 pUnit->[Unit#attack attack](position);
 pUnit->[Unit#useTech useTech]([TechTypes#Healing TechTypes::Healing], position);