Talent

~~A framework for identifying hype.~~ Maybe someday. :smile:

For now: yet another GoldSrc parser, built with fp-ts, and some utilities built on top of it!

Packages

Applications

Name	Description	On npm?
@cgdangelo/talent-jsonify-demo	Runs the demo parser and logs to console.	✅
@cgdangelo/talent-demo-renamer	Renames a list of demo files to `YYYY-MM-DD_HHMM_{map}.dem`.
@cgdangelo/talent-example-demo-analyzer	Example of a real-time demo analysis application using the demo parser event bus.

Libraries

Name	Description	On npm?
@cgdangelo/talent-parser-goldsrc	Parser combinators for a GoldSrc demo file.	✅
@cgdangelo/talent-parser-bitbuffer	Parser combinators for bit-packed fields.	✅
@cgdangelo/talent-parser-buffer	Parser combinators for a Buffer.	✅
@cgdangelo/talent-parser	General use parser combinators.	✅
@cgdangelo/talent-observable	fp-ts bindings for rxjs observables.

What's working?

Demos can be parsed in their entirety. This includes all frame types, and all SVC_ engine messages contained with a NetworkMessages frame. User message parsing is limited to returning the message id, name, and raw data. Since the data in a message can vary between mods (e.g., DeathMsg) these parsers may have to reside in mod-specific packages.

What's coming? What's maybe coming?

The original goal of this project was to create a GoldSrc demo parser that could translate in-game events into readable data structures and emit them through observables for analysis. In particular, the ability to identify "hype" moments through some set of heuristics, such as:

Multi-kills: Multiple frags at (roughly) the same timestamp, implying only one shot fired.
Fast-paced streaks: multiple frags within a short period of time.
High survivability: High number of frags between spawn and death.
Events leading to a win condition, such as:
- (Counter-Strike) Defusing the bomb with enemy players still alive could be a ninja defuse.
- (Counter-Strike) Multiple kills in a disadvantaged situation (1v3, 1v4, 1v5) into a bomb defusal. This could be a CT retaking the bomb site and clutching the round.
- (Day of Defeat) Multiple kills into a round win. This could be a streak that leads to a cap-out.
Events that are otherwise important because of their circumstances:
- (Day of Defeat) Breaking a double cap in progress when the enemy team controls all other flags, thereby preventing a cap-out.
- A rapid change in crosshair angles followed by a kill. This could be a flick shot.

Contributing

This is a monorepo managed by Rush. You will need the Rush tool to continue:

npm install -g @microsoft/rush

Running applications

git clone https://github.com/cgdangelo/talent.git
cd talent
rush update
rush build

node ./apps/<name-of-app>/lib/index.js [app params]

Prior art

https://github.com/vinceau/project-clippi

An automation framework for Super Smash Bros. Melee.

The SSBM version of this tool that provided much of my initial inspiration.

References

https://github.com/YaLTeR/hldemo-rs

Half-Life demo format parser using nom.

This was the most comprehensive (and readable) source of demo format information that I found and was a great starting point. It also heavily inspired me to refactor the original mess I had into parser combinators (Parser combinators (#1)).
https://github.com/jpcy/coldemoplayer

compLexity Demo Player is the official Counter-Strike demo player of compLexity Gaming.

Lots of helpful examples of handling edge cases, minor differences in demo file formats, conversion and repair strategies, etc.
https://github.com/skyrim/hlviewer.js

Half-Life in WebGL.

Probably the best source of frame data information.
https://wiki.alliedmods.net/Half-Life_1_Engine_Messages

Straightforward source of frame data information re: engine messages. Often includes some much needed context alongside the actual structure.

cgdangelo / talent

readme