Secrets of Bot Pathing?

Prayers work well.

My problem is that you end up reading a lot of tutorials and docs just to figure out some of the simpler parts. Pathing is one of the rare things I've found where opening a professional level is only so much good. I'm also not the best to ask, I had one level work out and another I scrapped because I got too frustrated with trying to properly path it.

But I can throw these things out, that I've found:

*The blue vs red debate is a little overhyped (IMHO). I've had the bots follow red lines perfectly and blue lines not at all
*Watching the bots in verbose mode is completely essential to debugging the path, otherwise you are just guessing
*sometimes it isn't the node you need to move. as much as you might hate it, you'll have to move the pickup or maybe even alter the level to please the bot.

Not very helpful, I'm presuming. Maybe if you can throw out some key examples of trouble spots.

I find that the only tricky part to Bot Pathing is the team orientated stuff...making them sit tight or run to trigger something (Jailbreak was the worst)...

Something that at least saved me time was running the pathode creator from the console...It saves time and you can always tweak it later.

Type:

PATHS DEFINE <enter>

and make a coffee...

Thanks...I basically did nothing there...I let the engine build all my paths and then just fiddled with it for about 10 mins. I think that running paths define from the console is the best start for a DM level at least...then add in defence points and ambushys...other than that it's not as difficult as everyone who's good at it makes out : )

Path nodes, Jesus, try and guess how long it took me to path node this SOB, 568 of them, get them right so the bots don't do stupid stuff, I often wonder why I have gone off apples...

Zone view http://www.planetunreal.com/realworld/hillbasezoneview.gif

Poly View http://www.planetunreal.com/realworld/hillbasepersview.gif

Texture view http://www.planetunreal.com/realworld/hillbasetextview.jpg

Dynamic lighting view http://www.planetunreal.com/realworld/hillbasedynaview.jpg

I hate path nodes... /infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif lol

Bastard'O

Nuh-uh. Its the goddam lift exits.

Pathnoding is fine until you need the bots to interact with movers.

WTF is up with that, even if its set up right they try to run through walls and stuff.

I don't think you can do the "Define..." thing when you have put some of your own in place all ready, but there again I never use the "Define...", I seem to remember that it will only work if none are detected in the level already... but hey give it a go...

You could highlight one and then do the select all path nodes and then delete them all, then do the define... but hey why not do them by hand... /infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif I wasn't being serious with the message above...

I was I guess tring to make a point I find noding long slopes and stairs a pain.

I think I have noding worked out now, you don't use nodes for lifts anyway... !

That is what the Lift Centers & Lift exits are for...

Bastard'O

Damn I forgot, there are two documents on noding one by EPIC and one by a noding expert , but his handle I forget at the moment...

Scan disk..... ah Randar he's the man...

bottutorial.htm is the file you want

CC I have mailed it to you, please ask Randar where this tut lives... I haven't got time to ask him now... his mail address is in the html.

General link http://www.unrealed.net/edtutes.phtml

Yiah, but technically lift centers and lift exits are nodes (they are navigation points in the purest sense) and lift exits for some reason really screw bots up (i find) if you put them to close to the lift center (like if two movers are placed near each other, both going in opposite directions.) The bots go insane, and I have no idea why. If I move the movers somewhat apart, they're happy as all hell.

I've found a very easy solution. I've made a map that is so small it would be a waste of time to add bots. They're too dumb.

When I did Fulton, the pathing that the computer put in were decent, but there were several places where the bots would get stuck, or fall, or run into a loop. It took several hours of tweaking to get rid of them. I greatly doubt that it is ever sufficient, and will probably always require a lot of tweaking.

And that is on a level with no lifts, simple doors, and a straightforward layout. I ditched another level because I could only get the bots to do one part of it. Lifts, narrow entrances, "dead ends" and spots were the bots would have to jump/use the translocator were proving way too much. I probably could have gotten it eventually (the level was destroyed with my last install of Windows /infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif ), but it didn't seem worth the trouble.

Less is more, so to speak. Too many nodes equals too many decisions for the bots to make. If they are having trouble going through doors, you may have to make the doorways wider. The red vs. blue paths are very real (from my experience). If you don't get a blue path delete all nodes around it repath, with tweaking and define again. Sometimes you have to delete the items that are close to them. Also I found that putting nodes near items is not good, as the items attract bots like nodes anyway. Less is more. Randar definately spells all this out better than I...he is the man.

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That would be me...gettin' fragged.