For the upcoming update for Quake Champions, there will be bot support for id Software’s first-person arena deathmatch revival. Technical director John Dean discussed the details for the bots being implemented into the game and how they plan to roll out the feature across a series of updates.

Dean was joined by Joshua Boyle, the community manager at id Software, who discussed the bot feature and Dean’s history in game design in an 11 minute video that was posted up over on the Quake Champions YouTube channel.

If you don’t have time to watch the whole thing, Dean explains…

“So obviously – for a lot of different reasons – it’s really nice to have bots in the game. It’s been a feature request that’s been on the docket for a really long time [and] for a good reason, a good cause. They’re really fun to play with and it’s nice to be able to play low-key games; a little less stress with friends and stuff like that.

“Now Quake is a fast-paced action game, so there’s kind of a training aspect to [the bots]. So they’re really useful where you can get into the game and get trained up.”

Dean explains that the AI in the game will be implemented seamlessly, so you won’t be able to tell the difference between playing with bots and playing against humans. He mentions that they can do trick-shots, strafe-jumps, and pull off all of the other complex moves you would expect from human players.

You can also modify the skill level for the bots, so on the easiest level they won’t do trick-shots and will play the game like newbies. On the easy skill level they’ll also avoid super power-ups and other high-tier weapons, instead focusing on lower tier weaponry and tactics.

The bot update won’t be one big update but will roll out in phases. The first phase will include bots that will take charge of all of the different champions in Quake Champions across all of the maps, but they won’t utilize the champions’ abilities. In the second phase of the update the bots will be able to utilize the champion abilities.

In future updates the bots can then be accessed in additional modes outside of Team Deathmatch, including Sacrifice and any additional modes and maps that id Software rolls out for Quake Champions.

The bots will also arrive with the new gib-filled gore system that id Software will be implementing into the game as well. A demonstration of the gore system was posted up on the Quake Champions Twitter account.

Take a peek into the development of Quake Champions’ new Gore System coming soon! #gore #quake pic.twitter.com/mAUOfiwec6

— Quake Champions (@Quake) May 4, 2018

You can learn more about the game or start playing by visiting the Steam Early Access page.