Waypointing

[lordbeaver]

I was just playing around with waypoiting tonite and also came aross this prob- bots do not fire at each other. this is what happened, I was trying to waypoint a map and only mapped out a small section of the map (with allies/axis dynamite plant/defuse goal set up plus bunch other camp actions). I saved the waypoint file and load up the map. add about 6 bots to each team. they go to perform actions and goals fine (allies can plant, axis defuse) but when they meet each other, they dont shoot even if in a close range except a couple bots are shooting. dont know why..?

[lordbeaver]

btw, I had only a nav file...nothing else done yet like map aiscript etc..just want to do a quick nav file test.

[CrapShoot]

try adding an aiscript with just the headers:

 bot_SightDist <dist>            // How far the highest skill bot can see on this map (2000 - 3000 normally)
spawnflag_is_priority <num>        // Should bots focus on spawnflags? (0 = No, 1 = Yes)
cmdpost_is_priority <num>        // Are cmdposts critical on this map? (0 = No, 1 = Yes)
construct_is_priority <num>        // Should engs focus more on constructibles (0 = No, 1 = Yes)
map_has_vehicle <num>            // 0 = No, 1 = Tank/Truck, 2 = Train
 vehicle_entity_number <ent>        // Vehicle "script_mover" entity num
 vehicle_team_owner <num>        // 1 = Axis, 2 = Allies

It sounds like the bot_SightDist may default to 0 if you don't have it. I never tried it, so I'm not 100% sure

[TomTom]

lordbeaver: I think Crapshoot has it, but you should also be aware that engineer behavior sometimes focuses them on building and dynamiting to the point that they avoid a fight.
- - -
FINDING ENT NUMS
stormer: if you can't find the entitiy numbers, first (after binding /viewent to a key) try moving back and forth, hitting viewent, and looking at the results in the console. Also try flying (spectating or /noclip) up, down and inside a bit.

Now If you are looking for the entity number for the trigger_objective_info you can also use /configstrings. Now configstring's console output has a lot of text, but near the end of the output are lines that begin \e\ and have the name of the objects near the end of the line, say like this from et_village;

...
787: \e\73\o\0\cix\1\cia\1\s\17\n\crypt wall\x\-448\y\4544\z\48
...

Note that the entity number follows \e\ i.e. 73
and compare that to /viewent;

Begin scan 1 for entities............
Classname: func_explosive EntNum: 191  Dist: 4418
Found a trigger_obj_info with entity #: 73
Begin scan 2 for entities............
Classname: (null) EntNum: 1023  Dist: 4418
Found a Func_explosive with entity #: 191
Completed entity scan!

And in this case hobbits tool's bsp reader for et_village matches #73 with shortname crypt wall.

(But be warned that in special cases with extra entities in custom script files Hobbits tool may be wrong, so always verify the bsp reader's output in the map with /viewent etc.)

[lordbeaver]

thanks guys. it works great after setting the bot sightdist.

one more question, how do prevent the bots from jumping around too much while shooting? because I had a few camp actions set on the edge of say cliff. when the bots start to shoot, they jumped and chased off the edge and thus all fell to death. it was fun to watch for a while but got ridiculous as they repeat the same thing. I tried to change the node flags to 9 (walk) and it was better but when they jump shoot they again fell off to death. is there a command for bots to detect the potential falling trap ahead? thanx.

[TomTom]

Wish there was, but when they fight they go off the waypoints. The way i handled it in the rafters of MML_Church was to limit the actions in the rafters to just snipers and panzers
, that way other classes would not be drawn to the risky area. Still the other classes did go to the third floor walkways sometimes and jump from there! But by the nature of that map and the waypointing less than 1 bot suicides per minute.

If you can't keep the bots to a different location you could set up a brush to block the way down but that would not be very realistic. But if you are willing to get into it further, Crapshoot has worked on a new wiki topic on how to add an (invisible) brush to block things like exploits. Check it out.

[Stormer]

Hey guys, I had a long break but now I'm back and I have more questions. First: I'm having trouble with bots shooting still. They camp and look at the aim (I made sure that the aim is on the same goal tracker so it's activated) but they don't shoot. This is only for a couple camp areas. Also, sometimes they just don't shoot at all. I know that engineers will not shoot sometimes if they are close to an objective but thats not even the case. Second: I understood the goal tracker and that actions have to be set to that goal tracker to be activated but what about action_groups. If I understand correctly if you set a action to a group lets say 1 and the goal is set on 0 then it will be activated when the goal tracker is on 0 and when it flips to 1 then it will still be activated. Thats what I got out of it and was wondering if this was correct. Third: If that is correct then same senario but it has a group number of 2 and goal 0. Will it activate on when the goal tracker is 0 and not when on 1 and then will be activated on when 2? Thanks guys

[the bindlestiff]

Do you have bot_SightDistance set to a number like 2000 or so in your aiscript?

Have you studied the Wiki Goal Tracker article here?

Action groups are used in the aiscript to manage a bunch of actions simultaneously. Groups have nothing to do with the goal tracker.

[TomTom]

I think I know where Stormer is getting confused. In Fritzbot ET the group ID is strictly a way to control action from the aiscript. This is because it is best to use the goal tracker as little as possible in most ET maps. (It can really confuse you in the testing stage when the goal tracker fights with the aiscript.) However in Fritzbot (RTCW) the action_group is tied to the goal tracker since the aiscript is more a backup to the goal tracker. The ET Wiki isn't quite at the point that we cover everything that is common between the 2 versions so we still recommend ET waypointers read the RTCW waypointing tutorial and then "unlearn" about a half dozen things that do not apply to Fritzbot ET. I have started a wiki topic comparing the different versions but it still isn't vetted yet by Mal or Crapshoot.

Definitely read the link Bindlestiff mentions. Crapshoot wrote it to help me when I confused something in one of my maps. Since then I have abandonned the goal tracker after goal 0 for ET maps.

---
Most likely the bots sight is too low, but also make certain that the bots are not simply at the camp because of a roam or altroam that over laps. A bot at a roam that does not fight may be zombied. That happens because they have chosen an active action that they can not get to because of an obstruction (wall, team door etc.) or because they are badly wounded and the path to the action involves a leap node. (they can also zombie at other places in the map because an event happens in the game causing their chosen active action to become unpathable at that point).

[Nova2001]

How's Village coming along?