2.2 - Setting Up StarCraft II

2.2. Setting Up the Game Environment

For your bot to run, it needs two components: the StarCraft II game itself and the specific map files used by the bot-development community. This guide will walk you through installing both and, more importantly, explain why we do it this way.

Setup Checklist

• Task 1: Install the free StarCraft II game client.
• Task 2: Understand the community's solution to game versioning.
• Task 3: Manually download and install the required community map packs.

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Step 1: Install the StarCraft II Game Client

Your bot is an AI player that operates inside the actual game, so you need it on your system.

Action	Instructions	Notes
1. Get Battle.net	Download and install the Battle.net Client.	This is Blizzard's official game launcher.
2. Install SC2	In the Battle.net client, find StarCraft II and click "Install".	The free Starter Edition is all you need. You do not need to purchase the game.
3. Location	Install the game to the default directory.	python-sc2 will automatically find the game if it's in the standard location.

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Step 2: Manually Install the Community Map Packs

This is the most critical part of the setup. There is no automatic downloader. You must manually download and place the map files. We don't use the standard maps from the live game; instead, we use specific maps to ensure stability and fair competition.

The Problem: Newer StarCraft II versions can be unstable for bots, causing "desync" errors where players see different game states. Blizzard also stopped releasing Linux versions of the game client.

The Solution: The community has adopted a clever standard to solve this.

  [ Stable Game Client (e.g., v4.10) ] --- Provides a reliable, non-desyncing engine.
               +
  [  Custom "AIE" Map Files        ] --- Injects modern unit balance into the old engine.
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  [================================]
  [ A Stable, Modern Gameplay Env. ] --- This is our target setup.

Installation To-Do List:

1. Navigate to the Map Repository: Open your web browser and go to the official StarCraft II client protocol repository's map section:

   • https://github.com/Blizzard/s2client-proto#map-packs

2. Download the Map Packs: Download the .zip files for the map packs. It is recommended to download the packs that include "AIE" maps (e.g., Ladder2017Season1AIE.zip) you can choose any option you want, but you'll need to change get("Name_your_map").

3. Find Your StarCraft II Installation Directory:

   • Default Windows: C:\Program Files (x86)\StarCraft II
   • Default macOS: /Applications/StarCraft II

4. Create the Maps Folder: Inside the main StarCraft II directory, you must manually create a new folder named Maps if it does not already exist.

5. Unzip the Maps: Extract the contents of the .zip files you downloaded directly into the StarCraft II/Maps folder. The files are password protected with the password 'iagreetotheeula'.