Are you a MH mapper? READ THIS!!!!!
Posted: Sat Jan 23, 2010 1:46 pm
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 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!
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!