Are you a MH mapper? READ THIS!!!!!

Tutorials and discussions about Mapping - Introduce your own ones!
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zacman
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Are you a MH mapper? READ THIS!!!!!

Post by zacman »

Okay, a lot of MH don't use what for some reason UT mappers call Bot Pathing, so I decided to get off my ass and write a tutorial. If anyone has anything to add (Or, god forbid, correct) just post :D Presenting...


TALES OF UNREAL: THE LOST SECRETS MH MAPPERS FORGOT
(Or, why you should use pathnodes)

Most MH maps do not contain what UT mappers have named "Bot Pathing." This name is misleading-more accurately, the Navigation Network is AI Pathing.

What does this mean? It means Monsters use AI Paths too. If you make a really good AI path, your monsters can chase your players through the entire map (If they are fast enough) What's more, there are some Navigationpoints that have special effects ONLY on monsters. Bots will treat these like pathnodes, but monsters quite differently.

ALARMPOINT:
Alarmpoints are used to make monsters do cool sequences of things, like run around in a circle then crouch and yell at every second point. They are triggered when the monster sees an enemy (Player, not sure about Bots)
Variables:
Under Events:
-Event: Called when the associated monster reaches the point
-Tag: Put whatever you put in the monster's AlarmTag or the previous Alarmpoint's nextalarm field here, to make the monster come here

-AlarmAnim: Monsters play this Animation when they reach the alarm point (E.G, have the mercenary to a backflip)
-AlarmSound: Monsters play this sound when they reach this alarm point (E.G, make a titan roar at the alarm point)
bAttackWhilePaused: if true, the creature will attack enemies for the duration of the pausetime at this point. If false, they won't (Unless shot, then base AI takes over and makes them go "OMFG I KILL U")
-BDestroyAlarmTriggerer: Allows you to make the monster vanish on the spot-good for making stuff run around a corner...
-BKillMe: FUN! Any monsters with the same tag as the alarm points event will kill the monster here, even if they are normally allied (E.G, Skaarj Warrior walks around corner and is sliced 'N' Diced by your Skaarj Lord)
-bNoFail: I will never give up! Never! if True, the monster will keep trying to get to the point, even if you knock it off a cliff. If false, then if something is in the way and there is no other easy enough route, the monster will be a lazy shit and give up, reverting to waiting AI
-BStopIfNoEnemy: If there are no longer any hostiles withing the monsters vicinity, they will just stop here.
-BStrafeto: If the monster can strafe, it will strafe to this point, and if it can fire while moving, it will fire at enemies when it has a clear shot
-ducktime: How long to stop and play the AlarmAnim/Alarmsound for, if specified.
-NextAlarm: Once the monster has finished doing what it wants at this point, it will go to the alarmpoint with the same tag as what you write here.
-PauseTime: Once the monster has done whatever you ordered it to here, it will sit and do nothing for this long before going to the next point or reverting to basic AI
-ShootTarget: fires at the actor with the tag matching what you enter here. If they can't find the actor, then they shoot whoever is nearby.

ABUSHPOINTS AND HOMEBASES
These two actors allow the mapper to use fear to pull of some awesome tricks. Place a monster with attitude set to Attitude_Fear will run to the HomeBase with the same tag as theirs when they spot the player (Unsure about Bots.) Once at the home base, they will turn the direction the HomeBase is facing and fight back. If there are AmbushPoints near the HomeBase with the same tag as the creature, they will head there and lie in wait of the player (E.G, Skaarj runs away and hides in the jungle, then bursts out of some trees and kicks the players ass when the player comes looking)

Ambushpoint's alone also work. If a creature's OrderTag is the same as an AmbushPoint's Tag, it's orders are Ambushing, and BFixedStart is False, they will start at a random AmbushPoint nearby-Good for replayability & shock factor. Also, some monsters may stop chasing the player and hide at an ambushpoint in wait of the player, and when the player comes back they will jump out and kick ass (E.G, player is running from a Mercenary, the player turns a corner, turns around, and sees the merc isn't following anymore, so they retrace their steps and the Merc explodes out of nowhere to kick ass)

LIFTCENTER & LIFTEXIT
VERY VERY IMPORTANT FOR MOVERS!!! Here's how they work:
Player is on the floor above the mercenary, and there is a lift nearby. The mercenary checks the tag of the mover, the 2 liftexits, and the liftcenter. If LiftExit A is within reach and Liftexit B attatches to a path that leads to the player, the mercenary will walk to Liftexit A and stand on/under/above the liftcenter. The lift will take the merc up and the merc will walk to Liftexit B, then go and kill the player. HOWEVER, when going back down, the stupid mercenary will jump and hurt/kill himself (Bots do the same) If No mover is associated with the lift, the mercenary will jump.

Pathnode
No extra script here-this node just tells monsters they can walk here. In theory, you can use any navigationpoint instead, but monsters and bots may act a little funky...

Patrolpoint
Similar to Alarmpoint, but more less complex. A monster with the orders PATROLLING and with the same Ordertag as the Patrolpoint's tag will cycle through the points until they end (Or infinitely if they are set up like that) If they see an enemy, they'll kill it.
VARIABLES:
-NextPatrol: The tag of the next patrolpoint to go to. If none, they'll just stop and wait.
-NumAnims: How many times to cycle through the PatrolAnim
-PatrolAnim: Animation to play when the creature stops at this point (E.G, have a mercenary stop and stretch at this point)
-PatrlSound: Sound to play the creature stops here.
-PauseTime: Must be set to a positive number. If the number is lower than the ammount of time it takes for a creature to play the PatrolAnim and PatrolSound, the creature continues after these are done, ignoring this number. if the number is larger than the ammount of time needed, the creature will stop and wait until the time is done.

QueenDest
READ THIS!!!
I am sure everyone has played a MH map with a disapointing queen fight where the queen simply teleports in place and never attacks, making it a cheap and easy kill. Why does it do this retarded and seemingly pointless behaviour? BECAUSE EPIC MADE QUEENS TO BE USED WITH QUEENDESTS. When a queen is under attack, they will periodically try teleport around the area to Queendests that are in a good strategic position. If there are no QDests in the map, it will teleport in place. Use of QueenDest's is B]ESSENTIAL[/B] if you want to make a queen fight work well!!!!!!! UNEDITED QUEENS WILL NOT FUNCTION CORRECTLY WITHOUT THESE!!!

WarpZoneMarker
Not entirely sure how this works, but I known it tells monsters where a warp zone is and how it is used. I think you just stick it in there


NOTE: Anything not included means it is not neccessary for monsters.

IN CONCLUSION:
If your map is not optimised for play with Bots, it is not optimised for play online. Pathing makes better monsters!
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Re: Are you a MH mapper? READ THIS!!!!!

Post by editor Dave »

Good tutorial :gj: It explains some functions I always puzzeld over, now I know them exactly. Thanks! So this is also important for SP mappers who want to have scripted sequences in their maps :wink:
Last edited by editor Dave on Sun Jan 24, 2010 9:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Are you a MH mapper? READ THIS!!!!!

Post by Creavion »

Good job, dude. Interesting summary, I also did not know everything from that list. :thuup:
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Re: Are you a MH mapper? READ THIS!!!!!

Post by GenMoKai »

Though i already know a lot of these things, it is very handy for other mappers who arent familiar to MH mapping
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Re: Are you a MH mapper? READ THIS!!!!!

Post by Red_Fist »

I been working on a map for a long time and have the bots get to the end all by themselves.It involves hitting 11 switches and other things.

This is what you do.
Use monster waypoints and when they touch one, they will goto the next one.(you number them in properties)
Problem, if they try to run off in a direction you don't want them to, and will have no interest in going a certain way, until they hit the waypoint you want next.

Then use a blocked path, so you guide them through a map with waypoints, and block them with blocked paths.
when the time is right, you just trigger the blocked path, and then they will continue to the next waypoint or simply unblock a path.About blocked paths, you can have a zillion path lines going to it, but the blockedpath actor must only have one path line going away from it, visa versa.(or no lines bypassing it from other nodes)

The bots will unconditionally run to the next waypoint, run into a mover door and get stuck, so you need to make sure they run into a correct waypoint numbered sequence, with the right radius to make sure they hit it, and or hit a mover switch to make it look like they are human.If they hit a waypoint and miss the one before, the bots will never go back to that part of the map, or they might just get stuck and run through the same paths over and over.

I mean I got these bots as if they are almost human, but takes a little adjusting, like having a pickup and adjust "max desirability" to make them goto the waypoint and simultaneously hit a mover, (if you want them to look like they know a switch exists).Too make sure they goto exit, put a shield belt with the max desirability to 10.

I use health vials to attract them to my switches and make sure they touch my waypoint.If you set a max desirability for a certain value, keep in mind to not outdo another pickup and it may mess up the bot flow.so set them a little higher, or a little lower not 10, 10 is very high, but say 2, then 3.5 an important desired spot maybe 5.5.Look at it as map wide, not just that one pickup.

But if you make a simple map using waypoints, and maybe a large radius so they have to walk through them, and goto the next one, it works very good.Then using blocked paths with a trigger you have almost total control of the map.

You will be amazed on how good it works, and looks for bots in an MH map.

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Also I was thinking, since you can make bots end a map quite good, maybe just block the last path to the map ending so it will stay on the sever for it's timeout.
Last edited by Red_Fist on Tue Sep 11, 2012 8:38 am, edited 3 times in total.
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Re: Are you a MH mapper? READ THIS!!!!!

Post by Creavion »

Your post lacks of graphical material.
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Re: Are you a MH mapper? READ THIS!!!!!

Post by Red_Fist »

Creavion wrote:Your post lacks of graphical material.
Huh ? like what exactly. :?
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Re: Are you a MH mapper? READ THIS!!!!!

Post by Creavion »

Red_Fist wrote:
Creavion wrote:Your post lacks of graphical material.
Huh ? like what exactly. :?
OK, lets call them screenshots. Really, your post is "slightly" boring too read without them. :tongue:
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Re: Are you a MH mapper? READ THIS!!!!!

Post by Red_Fist »

There is no screenshot that could enable my post to be any more informative. :o

What exactly are you so confused about.
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Re: Are you a MH mapper? READ THIS!!!!!

Post by Dr.Flay »

Maybe it seemed boring compared to the first post (which also lacks any pictures ;) ) in which the "!" key gets some abuse :D

I can see in my head what is being said, but maybe a couple of grabs of UEd showing the lines to the nodes etc. may be useful for learners.
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Re: Are you a MH mapper? READ THIS!!!!!

Post by Red_Fist »

There, :|
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Re: Are you a MH mapper? READ THIS!!!!!

Post by papercoffee »

Dr.Flay wrote:Maybe it seemed boring compared to the first post (which also lacks any pictures ;) ) in which the "!" key gets some abuse :D

I can see in my head what is being said, but maybe a couple of grabs of UEd showing the lines to the nodes etc. may be useful for learners.
Give me the shots and I can implement zacman's post with them. :mrgreen:
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Re: Are you a MH mapper? READ THIS!!!!!

Post by Red_Fist »

As I said, if you forget about the mover switches and the blocked paths and the pickups, and you want the bots to proceed through a map to the end.All you need to do is lay out the monster waypoints in the "position" order you want them to follow and then they will strive to get to the next numbered waypoint.And of course having pathnodes for them to follow and run through the waypoints.But by using blocked paths you can assure they won't hit the wrong numbered waypoint out of sequence.

One more thing, if you need to have some path but is way too far for piles of pathnode placement, or want to force a bot to go where paths won't be created from building the map.Just setup a lift exit and liftcenter, it will create the blue lines for a bot to follow.although if they stray off that blue line too far they just hang out and look stupid.

I did this one time with a mover in the air, no paths ever get created, ever, but you can complete the network by adding a temporary add-brush below the mover then add pathnodes, then build the map, delete the brush, but click off the build-paths on the last build.If anyone rebuilds the map again, those paths will be gone once again.I had a flip-down trap mover up high to drop people in some slime if you shoot or hit a switch.
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