TW-LAN-Attack-Bot / Superbot NPC Controller

After all these years I fancied playing Tribal Wars in an offline capacity and relooked at the attack bot I created some years ago. If you are still playing Tribal Wars offline using the TW LAN files and want AI-controlled NPC villages that actually behave like real players, this is the bot for you.

Tribal Wars LAN NPC Controller — simulates fully autonomous AI villages that build, research, recruit, attack, and support each other.

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Disclaimer: I did not create TW LAN. The original project can be found at https://twlan.github.io/
This should only be used in an offline, local capacity. Do not attempt to host this publicly.
The official game belongs to InnoGames™️ and can be accessed at http://tribalwars.net/
I assume no responsibility or liability for any errors or omissions in the content of TW LAN or this bot.
All scripts are provided on an "as is" basis with no guarantees of completeness, accuracy, or timeliness.

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What does this do?

Each NPC village will:

• Build — follows a min-max build plan tailored to its profile (offensive, defensive, or mixed)
• Research — unlocks units automatically in priority order (axe → spy → light cav → sword → ram etc.)
• Recruit — trains troops across barracks, stable, and workshop simultaneously with farm cap awareness
• Attack — sends attacks against the nearest player village with cooldown, strength-check, and noble support
• Support — when one of their own villages comes under attack, sibling villages send defensive reinforcements
• Profiles — each village can be set to offdeff (mixed), off (nuke), deff (wall)

The bot is controlled via a browser UI at 127.0.0.1/superbot/index.php and runs as a background AJAX tick worker.

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Files

File	Purpose
index.php	Browser UI — start/stop bot, configure settings, live dashboard
bot.php	AJAX tick worker — called every N seconds by the browser
bot_core.inc	All game logic — build plans, recruit, attack, support, research
bot_action.php	Handles start/stop/save/clear_sessions AJAX actions
bot_dashboard.php	Live village dashboard — resources, army %, buildings, status badges
bot_session.php	Maintains real HTTP sessions for each bot user via cURL
script.js	Browser-side tick timer, AJAX, UI controls

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Prerequisites

1. TW LAN installed and running

Download and install TW LAN from https://twlan.github.io/
Confirm you can access:

• http://127.0.0.1/ — the game
• http://127.0.0.1/admin — the admin panel

2. PHP with cURL enabled

The session manager (bot_session.php) logs each bot user into the game via cURL so the game engine processes their events natively. Without cURL the bot falls back to direct DB processing only.

In your php.ini ensure this line is uncommented:

extension=php_curl.dll       ; Windows (XAMPP/WAMP)
extension=curl.so             ; Linux

Then restart Apache.

3. MySQL user with write access to the lan database

The default config in bot_core.inc connects as:

$DB_HOST = 'localhost';
$DB_USER = 'root';
$DB_PASS = '';
$DB_NAME = 'lan';

Change these if your setup differs.

4. The bot_villages table

This is the most important prerequisite — the bot will not work without it. Run this SQL in phpMyAdmin or the MySQL CLI:

CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS `bot_villages` (
    `uid`                INT          NOT NULL DEFAULT 0,
    `vid`                INT          NOT NULL DEFAULT 0,
    `type`               VARCHAR(10)  NOT NULL DEFAULT 'offdeff',
    `finish_builds`      TINYINT(1)   NOT NULL DEFAULT 0,
    `finish_techs`       TINYINT(1)   NOT NULL DEFAULT 0,
    `save_ticks`         INT          NOT NULL DEFAULT 0,
    `save_target`        VARCHAR(50)  NOT NULL DEFAULT '',
    `last_attack_time`   INT          NOT NULL DEFAULT 0,
    `attack_losses`      INT          NOT NULL DEFAULT 0,
    `last_attack_ratio`  FLOAT        NOT NULL DEFAULT 0,
    `target_vid`         INT          NOT NULL DEFAULT 0,
    `last_support_time`  INT          NOT NULL DEFAULT 0,
    `support_target_vid` INT          NOT NULL DEFAULT 0,
    PRIMARY KEY (`uid`, `vid`)
) ENGINE=MyISAM DEFAULT CHARSET=utf8;

Note: The bot will attempt to ALTER TABLE to add missing columns automatically on its first tick, but creating the table upfront avoids errors.

The type column controls each village's behaviour:

Value	Behaviour
offdeff	Balanced mixed village — LC rush, moderate wall, noble
off	Pure offensive nuke — axe + LC + rams, minimal wall
deff	Defensive wall village — spear + sword + high wall, noble
eco	Economy focus — max pits/storage, slower military build

5. Player and AI accounts created in TW LAN

• Create one or more accounts that will be the bot-controlled NPC players
• Note their user IDs from the users table (or from the admin panel)
• These are the IDs you select in the bot UI

6. Cookie file write permission

bot_session.php stores session cookies as files named superbot_cookie_<userid>.txt in the same folder as the bot files. Ensure your web server user has write permission to that folder:

chmod 755 /path/to/superbot/

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Installation

1. Copy all bot files into a subfolder of your web root, e.g. htdocs/superbot/
2. Run the bot_villages SQL above in phpMyAdmin
3. Navigate to http://127.0.0.1/superbot/index.php
4. Tick the checkboxes next to the NPC user accounts you want the bot to control
5. Set the profile for each village using the dashboard dropdown (offdeff is a safe default)
6. Click ▶ Start Bot

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Configuration

All settings are saved automatically when you click Start or Save Settings.

Setting	Description	Default
Tick interval	Seconds between bot ticks	10
World speed	Match your TW LAN world speed setting	1000
Build every N ticks	How often the build action fires	1
Research every N ticks	How often research fires	1
Recruit every N ticks	How often the recruit action fires	1
Attack every N ticks	How often attacks are evaluated	6

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Resetting troops (useful after testing)

If you need to wipe all troops and start the armies fresh while keeping buildings intact:

-- Zero all unit counts
UPDATE unit_place SET
    unit_spear=0, unit_sword=0, unit_axe=0, unit_archer=0,
    unit_spy=0, unit_light=0, unit_marcher=0, unit_heavy=0,
    unit_ram=0, unit_catapult=0, unit_snob=0, unit_knight=0, unit_miliz=0;

-- Clear training queues
DELETE FROM recruit;

-- Clear all movements
DELETE FROM movements;
DELETE FROM events WHERE event_type = 'movement';

-- Reset population counter (bot recalculates on next tick)
UPDATE villages SET r_bh = 0;

-- Reset bot state (cooldowns, targets, stall counters)
UPDATE bot_villages SET
    last_attack_time=0, attack_losses=0, last_attack_ratio=0,
    target_vid=0, last_support_time=0, support_target_vid=0,
    save_ticks=0, save_target='';

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Village profiles

Set via the bot dashboard. Each village's profile is stored in bot_villages.type.

offdeff (default — balanced): Follows the min-max LC rush. Builds economy alongside a stable + barracks, trains light cavalry as the primary unit, moderate wall, builds a noble at end-game.

off (nuke): Rushes light cav and axemen as fast as possible. Minimal wall. Sends the most aggressive attacks. Builds a noble at end-game.

deff (wall): Prioritises wall levels and spear/sword recruitment. Still follows the LC rush path for economy but invests more in wall. Trains a noble at end-game to allow village conquest.

eco: Maximises resource income first. Storage and pits are upgraded before military buildings. Good for a village that will feed resources or support another village.

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Troubleshooting

Bot starts but nothing happens / "Bot is stopped" in the log
→ Check that superbot_config.dat was created and is writable. The folder needs write permission.

"DB connect failed"
→ Check $DB_HOST, $DB_USER, $DB_PASS, $DB_NAME at the top of bot_core.inc.

Sessions keep expiring every tick
→ cURL is working but the login is failing. Check that GAME_PASSWORD and GAME_WORLD in bot_session.php match your TW LAN install. The default password is 122407 and world is welt1.

Troops exceed farm capacity
→ Ensure you are running the latest bot_core.inc. Earlier versions did not account for troops stationed at sibling villages via support movements, causing the farm cap check to under-count population.

Villages building more than 1 nobleman
→ Ensure you are running the latest bot_core.inc. Earlier versions did not read unit_snob from unit_place, causing the "max 1 noble" guard to always pass.

Farm shows a huge number like 59000/14904
→ This is a separate village whose troops were previously stationed here and the farm level hasn't caught up. The bot will upgrade the farm automatically. You can also run UPDATE villages SET r_bh = 0; to force a recalculation on next tick.

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Compatibility

• TW LAN (any recent version from https://twlan.github.io/)
• PHP 4.4.4+ (no modern syntax used — var, mysql_*, no arrow functions, no const/let)
• MySQL 5.x / MariaDB
• Apache (XAMPP / WAMP on Windows, or standard LAMP on Linux)
• Any browser with JavaScript enabled (IE8+ compatible)