Team Fortress 2 Options

[Venom]

Hello,
Well i have been playing TF2 basicly since beta, having been release and after playing it for 3 or 4 weeks solid now, I would like to start to turn towards bot development. After previously working with the older HL version of RCbot on Natural Selection and modifing that bot to support different game types, I will be moving my efforts towards bot development with TF2.

Like all source games and mods, they all come with basic source bots any way. The only way to activate this in games like TF2, is to make sure that -console command is on before you launch the game, and simply type "sv_cheats 1" and then "bot_add". Due to the lack of development and customisation of these standard bots, the bots will not do anything even though they can be added to the game. So I will now be looking at RCBot2 to see if i can get bots into TF2.

I will keep you posted on my efforts, i am currently downloading the Windows version of the TF2 dedicated server, having a glimps at the RCbot2 forum, people seem to be having problems with dedicated server so i hope I am able to setup and install RCbots correctly.

Wish me luck

Venom

[Venom]

Just playing around with the bots which came with TF2 and it seems to have alot of commands that if you know what your doing, you might be able to get them to work.

For example, the normal release of TF2 does not come with any waypoints for any of the maps, but with the right commands, you are able to generate a waypoint automaticlly (after 10 to 15min of map analyse).

The only problem is that i was unable to get to bots to move anywhere not sure what commands are used to make bots follow waypoints or to move forward.

BTW, have you looked at any of these files:

C:\MyMod2\src\utils\serverplugin_sample\serverplugin_bot.cpp <might be of intrest
C:\MyMod2\src\dlls\sdk\sdk_bot_temp.cpp
C:\MyMod2\src\dlls\hl2mp_dll\hl2mp_bot_temp.cpp

UPDATE:
Looking at the bot sample codes which came with the source SDK, i think the serverplugin is exactly what we need, not only does it demonstrate how to write a server plugin but it also aimed at developing a bot for games and game mods which dont currently have them. I think this would be a good starting point, as it allows us to use the very advance waypoint analyse system which calculates the whole map including ladders, stairs etc...and allows you to tweak them as well.

Within any game mod, simply follow these instructions in order to get to the stage i am at atm (based on ctf_2fort):
1) sv_cheats 1
2) bot (to add a bot)
3) nav_quicksave 0
4) nav_analyse (creates a .nav file, eg ctf_2fort.nav in the map directory)
5) Move yourself out of the first respawn room into resupply room, type nav_mark_walkable
6) nav_generate (this may take 10 to 15min depending on the map and the complexity of it)
7) nav_save (just to double check its saved)

Done, thats how you create a waypoint for bots in source, very easy and no need to create your own waypoints, it will generate waypoint code for ladders, stairs and objects, the waypoint system will also generate code for possible sniper positions, hiding positions and will also generate code for dumping onto or crouching through objects such as barrels or vents

I think this is certainly the way to go for developing bots and you had the right plan all along to develop a server plugin rather than a complete mod.

By following the resources and methods i have shown here, it should be enough to get a bot into the game, choose a team, class etc... as most of the code to do that is already provided and with testing the existing bots which comes with every source mod, alot of the commands you can learn from the existing implemented AI system, although a server_plugin would be slightly better.

Any way, let me know what you think

Resources to help:
1) http://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Navigation_Meshes
2) http://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Server-Side_Bots