PyBoy•7mo ago

Help on Debugging a Bot for Pokemon Red

Hi guys, I'm new here. Also, programming is a hobby, so please don't evaluate the code as a real programmer. Attached is the code and requirements I'm using to create a bot so I can accelerate the speed of leveling up.

In summary, the code reads the flags from text files where I toggle "y" to activate the features. The main feature is the training, where the character goes from left to right in a zone where there are wild pokemon. If HP or PP are zero for the 1st pokemon in the party, then it goes to the pokemon center. The path to pokemon center was previously recorded based on X, Y and Map ID and saved in another log file.

Issue: the bot works as expected (levels up ~10 levels) until some point where it gets stuck after PP=0. Instead of going to the pokemon center, it goes left, hit the wall, and there is this infinite loop. I tried the best I could to debug what could happen, but I think it is time to get some help from experts. Any hint on what I could do different, I'll appreciate.

Disclaimer: I'm using Pyboy 1.6.9 because I got issues with other dependencies in the new version and it crashed a lot, so I gave up and focused on the version that was working.

poke_r1.zip8.8KB

Bækalfen•5/20/25, 6:46 AM

It's a thousand lines of code, so I cannot give you precise answers on what it does wrong. But I skimmed through your code and noticed a few things:

Your function is unused, but it won't work as you're sending:

Within the same frame. So the game will never notice that it was pressed.

The function doesn't exist, so your script will crash once you call .

In you don't define , so again your script will crash.

You have a lot of patterns like this:

You should put that in a function so you Don't Repeat Yourself (DRY). This will make it easier for you to spot errors, as you can exclude where the issue can be.

Bækalfen•5/20/25, 6:48 AM

I'd recommend you find a good editor like VSCode and install the Python plugins. It'll highlight many of the issues I point out. Although it's maybe not the answer you want, but it's how you best locate mistakes.

Also, learn how to set breakpoints in VSCode and step through the code at the point that you think is flawed. There's probably tutorials on YouTube that'll show you how

scudfpvOP•5/20/25, 11:40 AM

thanks for the fast response, and that is a great advice. That what I was expecting, some best practices. It wouldn't be fair to expect someone to read thousand of lines and right spot the issue. I used python for analytics, and I was using Spyder for debugging. I couldn't use Pyboy with Spyder so I was using Notepad++, but I believe VSCode will be a lot better.

Additionaly, one question regarding Pyboy fast fowarding. Is there a way to adjust speed? Also, is it possible that the speed could affect the run? e.g. some part of the code can be skipped at random due to speed? in fact, this question does not make sense for me but I noted I added some interrupts, meaning toggling "y" and "n" in bot_trained_enabled, then the issue disapear. But of course it is not robust.

Bækalfen•5/20/25, 11:45 AM

You can set the speed however you wish. The outcome is guaranteed to be the same

https://docs.pyboy.dk/#pyboy.PyBoy.set_emulation_speed

pyboy API documentation

scudfpvOP•6/8/25, 6:01 PM

@Bækalfen , I did some work using VS Code and helped a lot.Attached the updated code on 1.6.9.

Now I'm trying to move from pyboy 1.6.9 to the latest version, but I'd like to use the state file from 1.6.9. I generated a "ram" file and would like to read that using pyboy 2.6.0, as read the state file is not possible. Any hints on how to do, please? I didn't find a "load .sav/ram" in 2.6.0 documentation.

poke_r2.py43.64KB

Bækalfen•6/8/25, 7:06 PM

It automatically loads the .ram file

Bækalfen•6/8/25, 7:06 PM

It should be placed next to the ROM

scudfpvOP•6/8/25, 9:28 PM

I did the test cases from the file attached. I couldn't load the 'ram' file or 'sav' file into the pyboy emulator. However I could successfully load the state file from 1.6.9 in 2.6.0.

However, the fact that I'm not loading the 'sav' or 'ram' file, maybe it is related to the fact that I'm not being able to load it in any other emulator as I mentioned in this topic: supportIs there a way to convert a pyboy .state file to an mgba save state?

any hints?

test_cases_to_load_sav_file_in_pyboy.xlsx10.25KB

save_state_files.zip20.15KB

Bækalfen•6/10/25, 8:29 AM

I don't want to open a bunch of files from someone I don't know. Could you post your findings here?

scudfpvOP•6/18/25, 11:14 PM

I'll place the image from excel file

scudfpvOP•6/18/25, 11:16 PM

Bækalfen•6/19/25, 6:20 AM

Your mistake is in 5 and 8. Somehow you're not placing the files the right place or with the right name. Proven that it works in 1 and 2.

scudfpvOP•6/20/25, 7:49 PM

it worked in 1 and 2 because I'm reading the 'state' file and exporting to 'ram'. However, in 5 and 8, I tried to read 'sav' file in 2 different ways:

1) rename 'ram' to 'sav' and place in the same folder of the 'rom'. Load 'rom' in the emulator so it reads automatically the 'sav' file. -> failed
2) rename 'ram' to 'sav' and use use the import command from the emulator. Then I select exactly the file that I want. In this case, I can import only 'sav' or 'dat' file. 'ram is not allowed. Also, it failed.

Question: is there a way to read and compare the 'sav' file from the one I renamed from 'ram' and the other that is exported from the emulator (non-pyboy)?

scudfpvOP•6/20/25, 8:32 PM

now it worked. I was running this code:

it generated the 'ram' file, but was not read by the emulator. When I did the 'in game save' before closing the pyboy emulator, then the 'ram' file converted to 'sav' was read in the emulator.

To sum up: run pyboy -> read state -> do in-game save -> close pyboy -> rename 'ram' to 'sav' -> read in the other emulator

scudfpvOP•6/20/25, 9:52 PM

thanks for the comments @Bækalfen , they made me redo all the steps until find the solution.