Files
CosmicClash/training/curriculum.py
T
Josh Creek fca6a46200 fix(training): correct stage-3 eval (locomotion-mask bugfix) and add grounded aggression stage
Re-ran stage-3 (curric-s3-no_draws vs curric-s2-defend) and the missing
stage-4 gate now that the locomotion-mask inference bugfix is in. Both
reverse or contradict the pre-fix bookkeeping: curric-s2-defend (grounded)
beats curric-s3-no_draws 60-26 and curric-s4-mechanics 57-24 when fairly
evaluated, so lifting the locomotion mask in stage 3 was a real regression
in floor play, not the improvement the buggy eval reported.

Adds a stage-5 "aggression" curriculum entry that resumes from stage 2
directly (via new resume_from_experiment/reference_experiment stage-dict
overrides in curriculum.py) instead of compounding the regression through
stages 3-4, keeps the locomotion mask on, and retunes ball-pursuit reward
weights for much more aggressive floor play. Extends train.py with the
three new --velocity-to-ball-weight/--ball-distance-penalty/--ball-touch-reward
flags needed to forward that retune to Godot's existing SHIP_AI_OVERRIDES.

curriculum_state.json and TRAINING.md are corrected/annotated in place
rather than silently rewritten, so the regression stays visible in history.
2026-07-22 12:48:45 +01:00

322 lines
14 KiB
Python

"""Orchestrate the staged curriculum (see TRAINING.md's "Curriculum training"
section): run each stage, evaluate the result against a reference bot, and
either advance to the next stage or retry the same one.
State is persisted to curriculum_state.json (committed to git) so the script
is safe to Ctrl-C and re-run — it picks up exactly where it left off. Each
attempt reuses run_training.sh (pull, train, export, commit+push) so every
attempt's checkpoint, log, and exported policy is versioned like any other
run; this script additionally evaluates the result and commits the updated
eval_history.json + curriculum_state.json.
The gate is deliberately lenient ("block only on a clear regression," not
"require improvement") — see TRAINING.md. A 40-episode eval can call a real
improvement a regression on sample noise alone (this happened with run11:
it was the first model to deliberately score, but lost its head-to-head
evals). A strict improvement-required gate would have retried that stage
forever for the wrong reason. When a stage does fail MAX_RETRIES times in a
row, the script stops and asks for a human look rather than retrying
indefinitely or silently advancing past a bad stage.
Usage:
.venv/bin/python curriculum.py # run/resume the curriculum
.venv/bin/python curriculum.py --seed-checkpoint checkpoints/run11/final.zip
.venv/bin/python curriculum.py --force-retry # after fixing something, retry the blocked stage
.venv/bin/python curriculum.py --skip-to-next-stage # human judgment call: good enough, move on anyway
Typically started via curriculum.sh, which runs this in a detached tmux
session the way start_training.sh does for a single run.
"""
import argparse
import json
import pathlib
import subprocess
import sys
TRAINING_DIR = pathlib.Path(__file__).resolve().parent
STATE_PATH = TRAINING_DIR / "curriculum_state.json"
EVAL_HISTORY_PATH = TRAINING_DIR / "eval_history.json"
ROOKIE_REFERENCE = TRAINING_DIR.parent / "Game" / "bots" / "rookie.json"
MAX_RETRIES = 2
EVAL_EPISODES = 100
# "Clear regression" = the reference beats the candidate by at least this
# many percentage points of win rate. Below this, noise in a 100-episode
# sample is a more likely explanation than the stage actually failing (see
# module docstring) — advance rather than retry.
REGRESSION_MARGIN = 0.15
# Standing flags applied to every attempt, mirroring next_run.sh: reset-std
# reopens exploration every attempt (harmless on fresh starts — train.py
# only applies it on --resume), ent-coef keeps it from re-collapsing.
STANDING_ARGS = ["--reset-std", "0.3", "--ent-coef", "0.001"]
STAGES = [
{
"name": "score",
"flags": [
"--opponent-mode", "inert",
"--attack-goal-bias", "1.0",
"--no-allow-vertical", "--no-allow-pitch-roll",
],
"grounded": True,
},
{
"name": "defend",
"flags": [
"--opponent-mode", "self_play",
"--no-allow-vertical", "--no-allow-pitch-roll",
],
"grounded": True,
},
{
"name": "no_draws",
"flags": ["--draw-penalty", "5"],
"grounded": False,
},
{
"name": "mechanics",
"flags": [],
"grounded": False,
},
{
"name": "aggression",
# Deliberately resumes from stage 2 (curric-s2-defend), not stage 4
# (see resume_from_experiment/reference_experiment below) — the
# locomotion-mask inference bugfix (8c15c46) revealed that stage 3's
# full-3D unmask was a clear regression, not an improvement: fairly
# evaluated, curric-s2-defend beats both curric-s3-no_draws (26-60)
# and curric-s4-mechanics (24-57). Rather than compound that
# regression, this stage keeps the locomotion mask ON (matching
# stage 2's own regime) and just retunes ball-pursuit reward weights,
# so it can't reopen the same grounded-to-3D transition that caused
# the earlier failure. Full 3D flight is parked as a separate,
# later initiative.
"flags": [
"--opponent-mode", "self_play",
"--no-allow-vertical", "--no-allow-pitch-roll",
"--velocity-to-ball-weight", "0.05", # up from 0.02
"--ball-distance-penalty", "0.006", # up from 0.002
"--ball-touch-reward", "0.5", # up from 0.4
],
"grounded": True,
"resume_from_experiment": "curric-s2-defend",
"reference_experiment": "curric-s2-defend",
},
]
def load_state() -> dict:
if STATE_PATH.exists():
return json.loads(STATE_PATH.read_text())
return {"stage_index": 0, "attempt": 0, "status": "in_progress", "log": []}
def save_state(state: dict) -> None:
STATE_PATH.write_text(json.dumps(state, indent=2) + "\n")
def experiment_name(stage_index: int, attempt: int) -> str:
name = f"curric-s{stage_index + 1}-{STAGES[stage_index]['name']}"
return name if attempt == 0 else f"{name}-retry{attempt}"
def resume_checkpoint(stage_index: int, attempt: int, seed_checkpoint: str | None) -> str | None:
if attempt > 0:
# Retry: keep training the same stage's own last attempt.
prev = experiment_name(stage_index, attempt - 1)
return str(TRAINING_DIR / "checkpoints" / prev / "final.zip")
if stage_index == 0:
# Deliberately fresh by default: the curriculum exists because
# resuming self-play across a regime change (run10, run11) didn't
# work, so stage 1 starts from a random policy under its own
# regime unless --seed-checkpoint says otherwise.
return seed_checkpoint
prev_experiment = _resume_source_experiment(stage_index)
return str(TRAINING_DIR / "checkpoints" / prev_experiment / "final.zip")
def reference_bot(stage_index: int) -> str:
if stage_index == 0:
return str(ROOKIE_REFERENCE)
prev_experiment = _reference_source_experiment(stage_index)
return str(TRAINING_DIR.parent / "Game" / "bots" / f"{prev_experiment}.json")
# A stage normally chains off "whatever passed at the previous index," but a
# stage can instead name an explicit resume_from_experiment/reference_experiment
# to skip a since-regressed branch (see the "aggression" stage) without
# rewriting history for the stages it's skipping past.
def _resume_source_experiment(stage_index: int) -> str:
override = STAGES[stage_index].get("resume_from_experiment")
return override if override else _passing_experiment_for_stage(stage_index - 1)
def _reference_source_experiment(stage_index: int) -> str:
override = STAGES[stage_index].get("reference_experiment")
return override if override else _passing_experiment_for_stage(stage_index - 1)
def _passing_experiment_for_stage(stage_index: int) -> str:
state = load_state()
for entry in state["log"]:
if entry["stage_index"] == stage_index and entry["decision"] == "pass":
return entry["experiment"]
raise RuntimeError(f"No passing attempt recorded for stage {stage_index} ({STAGES[stage_index]['name']})")
def _grounded_for_experiment(experiment: str) -> bool:
if experiment == "rookie":
return False
for index, stage in enumerate(STAGES):
if experiment_name(index, 0) == experiment:
return stage["grounded"]
raise ValueError(f"Unknown experiment for groundedness lookup: {experiment}")
def run_stage_attempt(stage_index: int, attempt: int, args) -> str:
exp = experiment_name(stage_index, attempt)
resume = resume_checkpoint(stage_index, attempt, args.seed_checkpoint)
cmd = [
"./run_training.sh", exp,
"--timesteps", str(args.timesteps),
"--n-parallel", str(args.n_parallel),
"--speedup", str(args.speedup),
*STANDING_ARGS,
*STAGES[stage_index]["flags"],
]
if resume:
cmd += ["--resume", resume]
print(f"\n=== Stage {stage_index + 1}/{len(STAGES)} ({STAGES[stage_index]['name']}), "
f"attempt {attempt + 1}/{MAX_RETRIES + 1}: {exp} ===")
print(" ".join(cmd))
subprocess.run(cmd, cwd=TRAINING_DIR, check=True)
return exp
def reference_grounded(stage_index: int) -> bool:
if stage_index == 0:
# rookie.json predates the locomotion mask entirely — always full 3D.
return False
return _grounded_for_experiment(_reference_source_experiment(stage_index))
def evaluate_attempt(experiment: str, reference: str, episodes: int, stage_index: int) -> dict:
candidate = TRAINING_DIR.parent / "Game" / "bots" / f"{experiment}.json"
cmd = [".venv/bin/python", "evaluate.py", str(candidate), reference, "--episodes", str(episodes)]
# Must match how each side was actually trained — see ai_ship_controller.gd's
# allow_vertical/allow_pitch_roll and evaluate.py's --grounded-a/-b.
if STAGES[stage_index]["grounded"]:
cmd.append("--grounded-a")
if reference_grounded(stage_index):
cmd.append("--grounded-b")
print(" ".join(cmd))
subprocess.run(cmd, cwd=TRAINING_DIR, check=True)
history = json.loads(EVAL_HISTORY_PATH.read_text())
return history[-1]
def decide(record: dict) -> str:
win_rate_candidate = record["wins_a"] / record["episodes"]
win_rate_reference = record["wins_b"] / record["episodes"]
if win_rate_reference - win_rate_candidate >= REGRESSION_MARGIN:
return "fail"
return "pass"
def commit_progress(experiment: str) -> None:
subprocess.run(["git", "add", "curriculum_state.json", "eval_history.json"], cwd=TRAINING_DIR, check=True)
result = subprocess.run(["git", "diff", "--cached", "--quiet"], cwd=TRAINING_DIR)
if result.returncode == 0:
return
subprocess.run(
["git", "commit", "-m", f"chore(training): curriculum progress after {experiment}"],
cwd=TRAINING_DIR, check=True,
)
subprocess.run(["git", "push"], cwd=TRAINING_DIR, check=True)
def main():
parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description=__doc__, formatter_class=argparse.RawDescriptionHelpFormatter)
parser.add_argument("--timesteps", type=int, default=20_000_000)
parser.add_argument("--n-parallel", type=int, default=14)
parser.add_argument("--speedup", type=int, default=16)
parser.add_argument("--seed-checkpoint", default=None, help="Resume stage 1 from this checkpoint instead of a fresh policy")
parser.add_argument("--force-retry", action="store_true", help="Retry a blocked stage after human review")
parser.add_argument("--skip-to-next-stage", action="store_true", help="Human judgment call: treat the blocked stage as good enough, advance anyway")
args = parser.parse_args()
state = load_state()
if state["status"] == "blocked":
if args.skip_to_next_stage:
print(f"Human override: advancing past stage {state['stage_index'] + 1} "
f"({STAGES[state['stage_index']]['name']}) despite exhausted retries.")
state["log"].append({
"stage_index": state["stage_index"], "experiment": experiment_name(state["stage_index"], state["attempt"]),
"attempt": state["attempt"], "decision": "pass", "override": "skip_to_next_stage",
})
state["stage_index"] += 1
state["attempt"] = 0
state["status"] = "in_progress"
save_state(state)
elif args.force_retry:
print(f"Human override: retrying stage {state['stage_index'] + 1} "
f"({STAGES[state['stage_index']]['name']}) after review.")
state["attempt"] += 1
state["status"] = "in_progress"
save_state(state)
else:
print(f"BLOCKED at stage {state['stage_index'] + 1} ({STAGES[state['stage_index']]['name']}) "
f"after {MAX_RETRIES + 1} attempts — see curriculum_state.json's log for eval results.")
print("Re-run with --force-retry (after adjusting flags/timesteps) or "
"--skip-to-next-stage (advance anyway) once you've looked at why.")
sys.exit(1)
while state["stage_index"] < len(STAGES):
stage_index = state["stage_index"]
attempt = state["attempt"]
experiment = run_stage_attempt(stage_index, attempt, args)
reference = reference_bot(stage_index)
record = evaluate_attempt(experiment, reference, EVAL_EPISODES, stage_index)
decision = decide(record)
print(f"{experiment}: candidate {record['wins_a']}-{record['wins_b']} reference "
f"({record['draws']} draws) over {record['episodes']} episodes -> {decision}")
state["log"].append({
"stage_index": stage_index, "experiment": experiment, "attempt": attempt,
"eval": record, "decision": decision,
})
if decision == "pass":
state["stage_index"] += 1
state["attempt"] = 0
state["status"] = "in_progress"
save_state(state)
commit_progress(experiment)
continue
if attempt >= MAX_RETRIES:
state["status"] = "blocked"
save_state(state)
commit_progress(experiment)
print(f"\nBLOCKED: stage {stage_index + 1} ({STAGES[stage_index]['name']}) failed "
f"{MAX_RETRIES + 1} attempts in a row. Stopping for human review — see "
f"curriculum_state.json. Re-run with --force-retry or --skip-to-next-stage.")
sys.exit(1)
state["attempt"] += 1
save_state(state)
commit_progress(experiment)
print("\nCurriculum complete — all stages passed.")
state["status"] = "done"
save_state(state)
if __name__ == "__main__":
main()