mp_motel - my first waypoint project
 

I've decided to try making waypoints for the other map that I made, mp_motel. I designed this was as a deathmatch arena I am not sure how that might affect the waypoints.

I can add nodes and paths, but the bot don't seem to want to follow them, even when they spawn on top of one. I did some reading and realized that I need to put some goals into the map, but being a deathmatch arena, there are no goals to speak of.

Then I tried putting some roam/patrol actions and that stopped the complaints about no goals, but the bots still don't follow the paths.

I had also put teleport devices into the map, in places like the floor heating vents and the toilet. The player/bot is teleported to one of several locations, randomly. Can I place a node at the destination and have it link up with a main "path"?

Any help would be appreciated. Hopefully once I get the hang of a simple map, I'll be able to work on some of my favorite ones as well.

Re: mp_motel - my first waypoint project
 

Using roam actions is the best way to get them to roam around the map - your on the right track.

Normal Wolf didn't have teleporters, so I never added logic to understand/use them. You could try connecting the nodes that lead into the teleporters and see if they work, but your results may vary - the bots calc their path based on dist between nodes, so may never use the teleporter if they consider it too long a path, and a shorter one is available.

That the destination of each teleporter is random makes things more difficult: the bots need to be able to find a direct path, and you can't do that with random movement. However, they are smart enough to realize when they've ventured off their path, and will look for a new one to their goal. It would prolly be best to minimize the bot use of teleporters as much as possible, because I'm not sure how much they'll like them.

Make sure there is a unbroken path from all nodes, to the actions your using. Also, make sure the closest node for each action is correct (use "node_drawhud 2" in the console to find out).

Re: mp_motel - my first waypoint project
 

Teleporting should work. 420Blunt has waypointed an example of this on Resurrection. By the docs on that map there is a pit that you can jump in and be teleported to a cage.

Just be sure to connect the nodes at each portal entrance to each other.

In theory, a deathmatch map should work, but it hasn't been done before. For the issues you are seeing, the best advice I can give is to double check the paths to the roam actions. Make sure they are all two way paths and have the correct flags set.

EDIT: Oops, Mal beat me to it

Re: mp_motel - my first waypoint project
 

Interesting, I would ne'er have thought of using a DM map, since there was nothing really for the bots to do.:nuke:

Re: mp_motel - my first waypoint project
 

I don't see why a DM map wouldn't work all the players do is run around and frag each other. Of course you'd need to place roam actions wherever you want the bots to visit (they won't work without actions so you need to put some in there)

You could get pretty creative even with DM maps like having bots camp at certain places (snipers, panzer, etc.) Air Strike Hints and possibly a few other specific actions too.

Being a DM map i would never have one-way only paths or team specific nodes, I just see no need whatsoever for those on a DM map.

Re: mp_motel - my first waypoint project
 

I've alreadys started waypointing a part of my map (the bathroom and closet to be exact). All the nodes are connected, most of them 2-way paths and there are a few roam/patrol actions along the path.

I added some bots to test the work so far, and it isn't as I expected. Even when the bots spawn right next to a node, sometimes they just stand there, looking around or shooting into the air. The one time I got a bot to move, it just ran back and forth between the node near where it spawned and the node closest to the roam action.

Does this have to do with the placement of the action? That particular action is at a "dead end". The bot can run into this area and leave the same way. The action is not between two nodes on a path, but it is adjacent to a node which is 2-way connected to another node.

Re: mp_motel - my first waypoint project
 

Somehow i get the feeling this is somehow related to the script system. Mal, you know how you have values for Objective/Dual Objective/Checkpoint maps that are used to tell the bots what type of map you are playing. Maybe you need to add one for Deathmatch maps because i'm thinking that they MAPTYPE value is somehow confusing the bots making them thing the map is actually a Checkpoint or Objective map when it's not so the bots play the map like what's defined in the AISCRIPT.

On a side note, you did create an AISCRIPT file for the map correct? You need to have one, even if it just has the MAPTYPE and #EOF commands in there.

Re: mp_motel - my first waypoint project
 

Yeah, I have an AISCRIPT file and I set the maptype to regular mp. After some tweaking after my previous post, I was able to get better results. I think that the problems I'm runnning into are my fault, rather than scripting or fritzbot issues.

For example, I was able to get the "bathroom" section of my map working with bots. They now roam around the bathroom floor, climb up a roll of toilet paper, hop onto the toilet and exit the bathroom.

However, I'm still having some issues with bots spawning and not going anywhere. I've placed a node right next or on top of the spawn location, but the bots still dont move. The problem areas are where the spawn locations are "isolated" and are no longer accessable once the bot/player leave it (ie. a high ledge). Thus, there is only one path from this node down to a main pathway.

Slowly, but steadily I'm making progress...

Re: mp_motel - my first waypoint project
 

You don't often get many second chances and changing an old map without the original map file is one of them. I already tried that with mp_refinery in order to fix the doors and music and that was a dead-end.

I was nearly finished waypointing mp_motel (did I mention I finally got the bots to run around and play the map like it was intended to?) when I realized that I really wanted to make some significant changes to this map as well. For instance, I wanted to lower the bedsheets that hang over the bed even more so that they provide cover and concealment. The original map has them high enough so that you could crawl underneath them.

Well, I tried using a bsp decompiler again and thank God this time the decompiler worked pretty well. All the structural elements are intact, as well as the entities like teleporters, spawn locations etc. The only minor issues are resetting the angles of the models (boots, clipboard) and fixing the scale of the textures. I think the main reason why I didn't have some of the issues that are normally associated with a decompile is that nearly all the "brushes" (structural elements like walls, floors) are MEGA sized. Hell, the width of the outer walls is like equal to 4 times the width of the player/bot.

Now I have this rare opportunity to make my map more bot-friendly and better overall, considering that I didn't have the original map file to start with. For one thing, I'm going to change the vents so that walking on them will destroy them, instead of shooting/explosives, which means I don't need the barrier removal code which I thought I would.

If it wasn't for the fact the my interest in RTCW was slighly peaked when I noticed one of my maps being waypointed, I wouldn't be back in this whole mapping/waypointing business again. I had forgotten how fun it was not only to play maps, but to make them as well!

Re: mp_motel - my first waypoint project
 

In the case of a regular DM map, it would be best to set the maptype to normal MP. This will work for DM just fine.


SA_RTCW: Its good to hear that your map is finally working! Can't wait to see your work.

Cheers!