tank support?

[lordbeaver]

hi all, I thought tank support for fritzbot has already been implemented. If so, what action value/type should I use in order for the bots to mount/escort the tanks(or trucks)? I'm currently reading denny's guide but maybe someone has an updated guide ? I'm new to waypointing. thanks in advance!

[TomTom]

Great to hear another member waypointing!

Now Denny's tutorial is for RTCW which has no vehicle support. (I am porting his tutorial slowly, but the wiki went offline for a moment).

In FritzBot ET Mal reserved some action types but instead implemented a few global statements that are placed in the aiscript. See the section on aiscripts. You must include the 3 global vehicle statements to provide tank support at the start of the match. (or use the other three if the tank is unavailable until later).

. . .
Some further vehicle advice:

Now the trick is finding the correct entity number. A tank may have more than one script_mover entity (e.g. one for a gun turret and one for the body). I suggest you use Hobbit's waypoint tool to review the map's bsp file. Hobbit's tool needs .NET 2 to run, and you have to unzip the .bsp file from inside the mapper's .pk3 (that you placed in \etmain). The .bsp is in \maps inside the .pk3. Once you have done that run the waypoint tool and find the bsp reader under the util menu. Browse for the .bsp file you extracted then hit Read. A numbered list of entities will appear on the left. Use the filter options to just show script_movers then select them on the left in turn till you find the right one. The number of that list item is its entity number, and is the base to the number you enter in the aiscript commands;

vehicle_entity_number <ent>

and optionally inside script blocks

set_Vehicle_Number <entity num>

More help on Hobbit's tool can be found here.

It is best to get the tank working before adding any fake entities to the map script file. But eventually you will want to add fake tois to tell the aiscript when the tank has moved far enough that you want to advance any camps. When you are ready for that there is a wiki topic. But be forewarned adding fake tois will doubtlessly mean having to correct for entity number shifting, and the bsp reader gives the ent nums prior to these shifts. (When you get to adding fake tois ask for more help).

[lordbeaver]

Very good tips Tom. I'm gonna give it a try. Thanks.

[lordbeaver]

Hi Tom, so i've just started waypointing a map and got the tank ent_num from the bsp. now I want to see first if the tank action works, so I setup and connected about 8 nodes from spawn to the tank, set one action near the tank as tank action next to a node and assign the ent num, and the goal num was set to 0. now when I video-restart the map, the bot can't find goal. Did I forget something? sry for the noob question. your input is much appreciated.

[the bindlestiff]

Hi Beav: if you're trying to use action #20 (the tank action) you're out of luck -- it never was implemented. I believe that is mentioned in the Et Waypointing Wiki.

To get the bots to react to the tank, make paths along the tank route, placing the nodes about a bot's width outside of the tank's treads on both sides of the tank. Then place some roam actions along the route to entice the bots to pass by the tank. Then the tank should move. If the bots aren't under fire, some of them will congregate behind the tank and follow it as it moves forward. One will usually jump up to man the gun.

If the tank is disabled, the bot team that "owns" it will ignore it except for the engineers, who will run to it and begin repairs.

The tank ent_num is not used with actions. Have a look at the scripts and waypoints of some of the tank maps: Xposed, Bridges, Caen, Temple_final, Goldrush, or Bulge to get an idea of how to waypoint with tanks.

It can get complicated if you want to make certain things occur depending on the location of the tank, as TomTom alluded to above.

[TomTom]

Yes that is what I meant by "instead". Action #20 as stated in the wiki is not implemented! and I recently added an additional comment to the wiki for clarification (maybe I should use strike out font on the action_tank etc.).

If the tank is needed for an objective and is available at the start of the map your aiscript must have the global statements in order;

 map_has_vehicle  1        // 0 = No, 1 = Tank/Truck, 2 = Train
 vehicle_entity_number <ent>        // Vehicle "script_mover" entity num
 vehicle_team_owner <num>        // 1 = Axis, 2 = Allies

These must be immediately after the global priority statements at the top of the aiscript. The bindlestiff is generally correct as to how close a path of nodes need to be. However you should verify by testing that they will work both for movement and for repair. On v1rocket I found the original mapper defined area for repairing made it necessary to add a special path of restricted connections immediately behind the tank-carrier. Now if you have to make a path pass through the vehicle as I did you should provide another nearby path for the opposing team to attack from (that way when the tank is disabled they can navigate around it). In cases when you have to tweak like this you move the tank ahead by the smallest increment, then switch to the attacking teams (or spectator), go back to the tank add the next node behind it, add the connections, set any node flags, then switch teams again to the team owning the tank, nudge the tank, switch again and add the next node and so on so on etc etc etc.

Now if you want to delay the availability of the tank till after the match has been running then different commands are used inside some of the action test blocks.