[emilyc44]

I am considering taking it upon myself to learn whatever programming languages I would need to know in order to write quality bots/scripts- good enough to put them on the market for sale. This of course, would take a considerable amount of time, seeing as I have next to know coding experience. I took java in high school and did well, but honestly can't remember much from that class- I am a quick learner and naturally have a good aptitude for coding. I just have a few questions before I go and make that commitment.

1. What language(s) are a MUST know to code bots for rs, and what language(s) can be beneficial- and why?

2. Say I spend on average, 8 hours a day just learning, taking courses, studying, practicing what I'm learning (through self learn websites/applications) etc etc. How far along into this commitment would it be before I am able to even write a working bot? When I say working, I'm defining it as working and does what it's supposed to, but does NOT yet have a lot of features/high proficiency nor work in a way that would have a low ban rate.
Weeks? 1 month? 3 months? A year? Of course I know the answer will be different for everyone, but a general range is what I'm looking for.

3. How much profitability is there in this market (weekly, monthly, annually)? There is of course many factors that could influence the answer to this question, such as: how well your bots work, how many bots you have on the market, how many users are on the platform you provide bots for, how long it takes you to make each bot, how well upkeep with any problems/bugs that arise with them over time... Probably other factors too. Please include examples of them in how you've come to your conclusion.

4. With that language(s) that I would be learning, outside of coding bots for OSRS, what monetary value is there from the knowledge and skills that I would have acquired (assuming I've gone through with the commitment and have the ability to write intricate and near flawless or flawless bots)? Meaning,what other kinds of work/streams of revenue could I have outside of bots? Is this knowledge enough to go and be a programmer for a company?

5. What other questions should I be asking you guys and myself?

6. What advice do you have for me?

If you've come this far into reading my post, thank you for taking the time to read. I greatly appreciate any answers you may have for me. Thanks again,

-Em

 

[watchdogaman]

He

 

[guru]

Don't do it for the money. The odds of you making enough capital from no (or almost no) coding knowledge at all is unlikely.

In order to make enough money to "live off" you would need to have made several very high quality scripts, and have built a brand around your bots that screams quality. It takes a serious amount of time to build a brand valuable enough that people will use your bots.

1.
- Java or any derivative of Java is used for Runescape bots in almost all cases due to the fact Runescape is written in Java
2.
- Honestly you can write some bots with very little knowledge, trust me I've seen a lot of really awful bots in my time. If you want to write a good bot you need to have good fundamental knowledge of both the API and Java Foundations.

3.
- Answered mostly in my pre-amble

4.
- If you learnt Java to a very high level, and applied that knowledge in the real world. You could be looking at a 6 figure salary fairly easily
5 & 6.
- The developer slack is there for help, and there is plenty of simple resources here to get you started. Try to think about your issue before asking but people are there to help with a lot of experience.

 

[cuppajava]

Yeah, I'm sorry to say but being a bot author full time really isn't a good decision financially. If you were a software developer in real life, you would have a starting salary of anywhere between 50k-100k+ depending on a lot of factors. The simple fact is that not enough money passes through the botting scene to make a ton of money. I know a few of the authors who write in teams (eg. the core RuneMate brands) net in the hundreds to low thousands per year (edit: or per month idk the exact numbers), but you're really unlikely to find a niche that isn't already filled better. And the average bot author probably nets a couple hundred dollars a year tops or much less here.

I've probably put a few hundred hours into bot authoring at a casual hobby level (writing public bots, writing a couple private bots, writing a few money making bots for personal use), and I've made less than I make in a week working full time as a software developer.

It's a fun hobby, and interesting, but not very profitable for most authors.

 

[awesome123man]

Definitely agree with all the above. I would say that this is a good hobby to make a passive income, that if done well could give you around $1k-3k annually at least (speaking from experience). And I don't have any big team. Tho I have been around for a little while now. And there are some crazed users who only use certain bots based on the brand. So branding is definitely a big one.

 

[proxi]

To start, the answers you get here are going to vary greatly. However, I'll address your questions and then give some insight to my personal experiences and any advice I can give for you moving forward.

To answer your initial question, it matters what your end-goal would be in regards to what you environments you enjoy developing for. Web Development, Desktop Applications, Embedded Systems, and many more are all different focused fields you can put your focus into and have their own respective powerful languages (with some cross compatibility existing occasionally nevertheless). If you're wanting an answer specifically for making bots, the answer would be to learn either Java or Kotlin.

Question number two... Eight hours a day, every day, can get pretty exhausting. Stay ambitious! Which means take breaks! It's great to be excited to learn something new, but just don't overdo it. When you get to the point where you can make your very first bot on your own it will be a fantastic feeling of accomplishment! Take your time, don't rush it, and learn properly at a steady pace.

#3 - A decent amount. A few developers here average more than you'd expect. Just think of... there's someone working at McDonald's for you and they just hand you their entire months worth of earnings every month.

Number 4 is of course tied to your second question. The languages you learn are yours to choose; however, once you choose and get solid knowledge in that language, the vast majority of that understanding will help you master other languages.

5) Just how sexy is Proxi?

And lastly, number 6. Stay at it... it is by far worth it.
- Always attempt to tackle problems yourself first
- RuneMate has a great community and will help you with a lot of your questions when they see you put forth the effort to not be spoon-fed every 5 seconds.
- I know it sounds strange to say, but the way you naturally process things on a day to day basis generally gets better the more you understand programming logic. It is something that may appear common sense but I'm sure a lot of developers have come to the same realization.


Now a little background as to why I'm so passionate about RuneScape bots...

As I read your post, I see a little bit of my younger self. I was in your shoes.
I had no programming knowledge whatsoever and I wanted to just 'be involved' in the scene. Back in the day older Powerbot and RSBuddy days I befriended a guy handled 'ShadowMoose' and he later worked with Kiko to create a very popular bot called iDungeon. I started to hang out with these guys and talk to them daily, and to me... these were guys vastly more intelligent than me that were nice enough to hang out with some nub that they happened to think was okay. Truly, I looked up to them; and I wanted to 'invent' things like them... I tried... and failed. Several times. I watched all of the tutorials and I just Couldn't get past arrays! They just didn't make sense to me!

I faded from the scene, a year passed and then I graduated high school and had to choose a college and degree. Not knowing what I wanted to do, I thought back to my RuneScape days and how it felt for me to be involved in the circle of friends that worked on bots together. That memory is truly why I went on the get a bachelors in Computer Science and I would not have it any other way.

Ultimately, RuneScape and the botting community has genuinely impacted my life in the most positive way possible. I started developing bots halfways through my bachelors degree, specifically on the RuneMate platform (which was brand new at the time), and I have made some phenomenal friends here.

There's a great community here. Don't hesitate to be a part of it.


TL;DR -

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

Edit: I see other people mentioning this so I thought I'd mention it too... Bot development will likely turn into a hobby. Not saying it is impossible, but I'd highly advise against pursuing it as a full time job. However, the knowledge you gain here can be used to pursue a career that you could make a living off of.

 

[jhinn]

I know a few of the authors who write in teams (eg. the core RuneMate brands) net in the hundreds to low thousands per year

per month*

 

[cuppajava]

per month*

fair, I didn't want to overestimate their earnings

 

[savior]

Yea i bought a yacht last week, easy money easy life

 

[emilyc44]

Thank you all for your responses, very much appreciated. Also, Savior I'll pm you my paypal so you can quick transfer a couple stacks

After doing some thinking... I definitely may just take this up as a hobby in my spare time type of thing. I just feel like if I'm working 8-10 hour days 5 days a week, that wont leave much/enough time for me to take this up and actually get anywhere with it. Although it turly seems like something I could enjoy doing once I can make something that works- especially because I can apply my work immediately to a game I love.

<3 Y'all are great. If anyone has any recommendations on good sources for me to start learning from, like specific self learning courses or even a tutorial you would suggest, OR if you would even be willing to guide me a little bit (not to the point of being spoon fed) along the way... That would be AWESOME and I'd love to see you in my DM's




PS.... still wondering how sexy proxi really is.....

 

[cuppajava]

@Emilyc44 I personally learned all the basics from

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

a tutorial made by a bot author here

 

[proxi]

PS.... still wondering how sexy proxi really is.....

Pretty sexy. @Savior is the sexxiest of us all though.

 

[watchdogaman]

Pretty sexy. @Savior is the sexxiest of us all though.

can confirm