BOTS slow to learn map

[osensei]

I would post this in the BUGS section but I'm not sure that this is a bug. I just waypointed one of my custom maps. Normally, my custom maps don't have a problem. I know however, that you BOT guys don't guarantee performance on custom maps. But on to the point!

The bots on this particular map exhibit the following behavior:

1) Te seems to find waypoints in a satisfactory manner. Not great! Just satisfactory.

2) CT on the other hand seldom stray far from CT spwn. They take a couple of steps in a seemingly random direction, then jump a couple of times then the pattern repeats.

3) This pattern continues w/ CT until Te finds them and kills them near CT spwn. Occasionally one CT will get on a roll and make it to the objective.

4) The CPU utilization is extemely high and the FPS is eratic as well.

I'm not sure if this is normal behavior for your BOT. Since this is a rather large map, is this the result of the BOTS trying to learn the map? The other option seems to be that the map has glitches that prevent the BOTS from behaving normally.

What's your take on this?

Sincerely

Osensei

[KWo]

Can You answer to one basic question - does it happen (this slow down server reaction and lower FPS) at the first start on this map after You waypointed it (and You can see the message "visibility table rebuilding" (or something like this)) or it happens every round You are playing this map? What is the name of the map You have problem with it? Maybe it's already waypointed by some of our l37t waypointers with high quality (just look into Waypointing forum) and You don't need to bother about it?
Hint - more waypoints on the map - CPU usage is higher (and FPS might be lower if this CPU usage is too high) - because there is a need to make more calculations for paths for bots.

[>BKA< T Wrecks]

What really makes me wonder is that the problem you described sounds similar to a map with missing/defective waypoints. The behaviour of the bots is just what they would do without any wayoints.

Would you mind telling me which map is affected, and attaching your waypoints here so that I can check out both the map and your waypoints? I think that would be the best solution.

[osensei]

Well the map with the most pronounced symptoms is de_greatassault. I have since tweaked my rates and that seems to have brought down the CPU utilization a great deal. Let's see if that turns out to be a long term solution.

The map de_greatassault continues to have problems however. I think I will attempt to waypoint it once more and see if that clears up the problem.

In the meantime, I noticed that your bots have a tendency to jump for appearently no reason. "No reason" being defined as, the BOT having no obsticle in its way. This unhuman-like behavior is a little annoying. There is also the tendency to run backwards quite a bit as well.

By the way I find this message repeated in the server console over and over for each round that is played:

Waypoint Problem! No path found!

The BOTS seem to be uneffected so I ignore it. This message persists for all my maps that have bots and waypoints. It never goes away no matter how I carefully I have waypointed my maps.

Just some ideas for imporvement.

Thanks

Osensei

[KWo]

Originally Posted by osensei

Waypoint Problem! No path found!

This one is always waypointer mistake - not bot code inside problem. It means some path for waypoints are broken. (some waypoints are unreachable or only one direction reachable).
As T Wrecks said You - attcah the pwf (as zipped) file here and he will look at it.
Yeah - they jump too much, bot for now there is no time for splorygon to fix it (he is extremally busy by school).

[>BKA< T Wrecks]

The "No path found" message can occur because of things that seem harmless and don't affect the bots' normal navigation that badly, e.g. a point where a waypoint is on top of a crate and there's a connection down from the crate to the ground, but no jump connection up. Stuff like that, you know.

However, judging such stuff blindly is really like gazing into a crystal ball; in order to tell you anything even remotely helpful, I need to see those waypoints. The map is de_greatassault, ok. I guess I will have no trouble finding that map and downloading it. If I have the waypoints you made, it won't take me more than 20 minutes to track down any errors and 20-60 minutes more to make some suggestions on how to get rid of them.