If you are familiar with making waypoints for PODBot 2.5, you won't need to read the following two sections that are meant as an introduction for people who are new to waypointing. However, make sure you have a close look at the new console commands and the waypoint menu - there have been loads of changes there! Most of the waypointing is done via the menu now, and almost all console commands have disappeared entirely. You will not be able to use your old configs / binds with this editor. But you will love all the new features and possibilities!
A note on compatibility: PODBot 2.6mm can still interpret all PODBot waypoint files from earlier versions up to 2.5, but the code for camp waypoints has been corrected. If you use an older WP set with this dll, your bots will look at strange directions when camping. In order to have them look exactly where you want them to look, you must replace these old camp waypoints by new ones.
Besides, the button code has changed a lot. On maps with buttons, you may have to tweak the (formerly useless) button flags again. You can now avoid bots ringing doorbells or doing other silly stuff with unimportant buttons, but you can have them go through button-triggered doors without problems now!
Unlike humans, bots cannot see a map and analyze what they see. If you see a building with a door, you can walk straight to the door, open it and enter the building. Bots cannot do this without help! They can see and fight enemies or react if they are being attacked. These ways of behaviour work without any external help. But in order to find their way around the map and to safely navigate through all ways and passages, they do need some help. They need something that tells them where they can go and where they can't. They need something that shows them where a ladder is located or where the mission goal (escape zone / hostages / bomb spot) is. This is done by means of waypoints.
You can imagine waypoints a bit like those flags on a ski run. Each waypoint marks a point where bots can go. If two of them are connected with each other, a bot can go from one point to the other and back. So what you do when you waypoint a map is basically place a whole net of points in the map and connect them in a way that bots can proceed from one point to the other. All points must be placed in areas that are accessible for players, and if you want your bots to navigate smoothly and safely, you must also keep an eye on the connections: If connections go through walls or over a deep ravine, your bots will bump into walls or fall to their death.
There are several waypoint types that can be used to indicate map goals, rescue zones, nice camp spots, ladders etc. There are different types of connections, too: one-way or two-way connections and jump connections that will make a bot jump from point A to B instead of walking or running there. We will come back to this later.
Besides, you don't have to worry about every liitle detail. The editor that comes with this bot version will do lots of the work for you, and besides, it's graphical and easy to use (no programming / coding skills or anything required). You may very well discover that making waypoints can be fun, especially when you see bots roam through the entire map without problems - and you made it possible! ;o).
When you are playing a normal game on a waypointed map, the waypoints will of course be invisible so that they don't distract or annoy you in any way.
When waypointing is activated (see next point for instructions on how to do that), you will see waypoints as vertical bars about as high as a standing player. The colour of normal waypoints is green, but you may also see waypoints in white, purple, red, blue and cyan. These colours indicate special waypoints, some of which have already been mentioned in the last paragraph. If you see waypoints that are much smaller than the other ones: Those are crouch waypoints. They will force bots to crouch when approaching them. Such waypoints are needed to lead bots through vents or any other low and narrow passages.
Connections between waypoints are marked as horizontal lines leading from the centre of one waypoint to the other. They, too, exist in different colours. You may see yellow, white, red and brown lines. Don't worry if all these different colours sound confusing right now - it's actually very easy, but of course it helps a lot if you see some waypoints on the screen.
Now you know what waypoints and connections are, what they are for and what they look like, you may want to enter the editing mode and see for yourself. The next paragraph will explain how to activate the waypoint editor.
The waypoint editor is not a separate program; it is included in the bot dll (or .so, if you are using linux). To open it, you can create a game, select the map you want to waypoint and start the game as usual. As soon as you are in the map, you can activate the editing mode from the console - or if you have bound a key for it, simply by pressing the key. Let's have a look at all of the editor functions and console commands in the following section...