Howdy, it's cajunwolf from over at BFSP.

Introduce yourself and check the rules ;)
cajunwolf
Posts: 115
Joined: Tue Jul 10, 2012 2:03 am
Location: Houston, Texas
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Re: Howdy, it's cajunwolf from over at BFSP.

Post by cajunwolf »

Howdy Swaffy and thanks for the welcome. Sorry for the delayed reply, but earning a living is tuff and getting worse all the time. About the time I get home for the day, complete my final task, shower, and eat I am falling asleep. I have managed to get in a little mapping and prep work for some tutorials I am working on, but not as much as I would like.

I by no means consider you a noob, but rather a person of interest. I can already hear the question in your mind by the way LoL. Let me rephrase and explain that in better detail and you will see where I am going with this. You have to remember I am an old fart (59 Dec 14th) and learning from my screw ups these many long years has taught me a thing or two about human nature. Yes I am giving you a well earned complement, but I am also attempting to manipulate you and others into helping me with a project or two, so be warned. Also I have been involved with and run Battlefieldsingleplayer pretty much since it's inception so I know who does what and why. I think Mr fo0k knows what I mean here.

You like many others who are regular posters do what you do because you like doing it. By this I mean you enjoy modding the game and know your a bit different and of above average intelligence. You are proud of yourself when you discover something new and you like to share it with others by helping others on this and other forums. After all not many people do this sort of thing and you know what kind of reaction you get when you try to talk about this stuff in real life LoL. So these forums are our only audience among our own kind. I fondly remember the early days of bf modding as I waited, fingers poised above the keyboard, for someone, anyone to ask a question I knew the answer to in one of the many forums I monitored, around the clock sometimes. Then when one appeared I hammered away to be the first with the right solution to the issue presented and began to realize just how much I was learning in the process. This being said I am working on a project and am hoping to tap into the knowledge base of the regular posters here such as yourself, Senshi and many others here who fit the above description.

Yes I am verbose but here is a reason for the madness. I am one of those people who is a stickler for details and this of course is a double edged sword.

I have a problem. It involves tutorials, tools, and knowledge. You mentioned you interest in the "smallones" AI pathmapping files and I am working on a tutorial on that very topic at the moment because understanding the workings of these files will give you the full understanding of the pathmapping system and how bots use it. The problem here is that it is a very complex topic and therefore a complex tutorial to write. On top of this we need a comprehensive mapping tutorial as a prelude because pathmapping and mapping go hand in hand in a complex intertwined way. You first have to understand how to create a map and if you want good AI you have to create the map with ai in mind from the start. I also have been working on map tutorials for the better part of two years but this is a really involved project because there are so many variables, styles, and techniques. It's sad to say because almost all mapping tutorials to date suggest a rigid set order by which you create said map and this is just not true and hurts more than helps. I think the Battlecraft tutorial implies this and therefore started the rumor in the first place. I want to correct this and by now you see my problem is time and content, not enough time and to much content for the time I have.

My idea or project if you will is this. I want to create these tutorials by applying the collaborative project technique which always worked well within the battlefield community modding forums such as this and BFSP. Let me explain farther so hang in there, and yes I will get to the point, eventually LoL. First I am going to post a basic explanation of the smallones files with examples and see how well different people with different skill levels and battlefield modding knowledge understand it. I will do this hopefully by feed back from you and the other regulars here along with newer people trying to understand, learn and apply battlefield ai in their own maps. At the same time I would like to start a series of threads on battlefield 1942 & Battlefield Vietnam mapping to create a knowledge base from which a comprehensive mapping tutorial can be written. For instance, one of the first threads I would like to start is one on the differences, preferences, bugs, advantages, and disadvantages of Battlecraft vs ED42. I might start out the thread by briefly explaining my basic steps to start and work on a map, which editor I use, and when during the process. I then explain why I use each for different processes or stages and why I prefer one over the other in each case. Then you all follow suit and before you know it we will have some great material for content. Another good thread would be one where each mapper can share techniques, tips and tricks (properly moderated, this would be a great thread). We need good tutorials on the interface and use of features for each editor and I have a fair one already on my "Setting up and using ED42 Part 1" tutorial, but this is an old tutorial and I need to rewrite it badly.

So I guess I will close this thing now and hopefully I have tweaked some interest. I am working hard to preserve as much of the battlefield knowledge as I can before anymore of it disappears due to attrition by the loss of older modders which is happening at an alarming rate. I will try to get a brief tutorial on the smallones this weekend, time permitting.

L8trz,

Cajunwolf
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"When you're up to your butt in alligators, you forget your original intent was to drain the swamp!"
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Swaffy
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Re: Howdy, it's cajunwolf from over at BFSP.

Post by Swaffy »

I like your idea about the collaborative project. It will take work, but I'm sure most of us here are already used to such work. Though I am fairly new to map-making, I have some knowledge I can put in here and there if it is needed. I understand that AI is a really big thing to tackle when it comes to teaching others about it, and it will take time. Heck, I'm surprised people wrote programs specifically for editing BF1942 files. It's amazing. And it excites me knowing that people are still modding this game, regardless of its age.
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cajunwolf
Posts: 115
Joined: Tue Jul 10, 2012 2:03 am
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Re: Howdy, it's cajunwolf from over at BFSP.

Post by cajunwolf »

Well one thing I have learned in all the forums, mod teams, and other BF activities is that everyone has a piece of the puzzle, interesting ideas, or intimate knowledge of some aspect of the game. When I say a "comprehensive" mapping tutorial I mean all inclusive and to create good maps you have to touch on all aspects of modding. I add a lot of custom objects to my maps, many don't even know how to do that, but doing so teaches you the basic file structure of battlefield. You need to know how to make custom textures, the basics of working with 3D models and the list goes on. I am thinking a about walking through the whole process, stating with creating a basic map and how this is done then build on this in layers until the final product is a professional looking map that works well in all game modes with custom objects, textures, sounds, effects, and killer AI.

We had a group many years ago in the very beginnings of BattlefieldSinglePlayer called "BIG" Battlefield Intelligence Group" notice my sig image. ;) I am the last one of that group. We would each take a submitted map and add AI to it, all the while discussing it in the forums in a collaborative way so we all learned much faster. I do miss those days and we got so much work done, and discovered so much about the BF AI that EA didn't know. Ever wonder why stock bf maps have crappy ai? Look at that pathmap for Bocage for instance. I knew Tobias Carlson, the ai guy for EA. He and Arc were good friends and and we all hung out on the FPS forums where Desert Combat and POE were born. Tobias also hung with us for a bit in the very early days of BFSP and Arc was a member of BIG. I got most of my information on the tutorials I have done so far in this way so I am hoping here I can get some good material for the rest of my tuts.
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"When you're up to your butt in alligators, you forget your original intent was to drain the swamp!"
Old Man River
Posts: 77
Joined: Mon Jul 30, 2012 5:12 am

Re: Howdy, it's cajunwolf from over at BFSP.

Post by Old Man River »

One little thing you can do to wake up the bf42 ai and make it more responsive like bfv is to add a setting to the very first line of the AIbehaviours.con file right above "aiSettings.setNBehaviuors" line. Add this "aiSettings.setBotSkill 1" and this gives 100% resources to the ai instead of the default coded .6 or .7 it was. Now when you select a coop game and set ai to full skill level you get it. This feature was set as default for bfv. It's Argument is float so you can try any setting from 0.1 to 1.0. Also in the hq.con file in the ai.rfa you can adjust the "ai.aiSystemQuotient settings, default is 0.5 and be careful here as you hit diminishing returns quickly, 0.7 works ok.
Would this work adding it SSM in a OST.con instead ie in map as the above con file is in game.rfa would be nice to make bots less dum

Also mentioned above is how someone made a mine field, we all have players who for example camp on airfields in tanks etc a mine field might solve this but spawning a landmine itself like a kit doesn't work any ideas on how to spawn mine fields SSM, damage effect etc or a simpler way to spawn mines directly
Crash

Re: Howdy, it's cajunwolf from over at BFSP.

Post by Crash »

cajunwolf wrote:Well one thing I have learned in all the forums, mod teams, and other BF activities is that everyone has a piece of the puzzle, interesting ideas, or intimate knowledge of some aspect of the game. When I say a "comprehensive" mapping tutorial I mean all inclusive and to create good maps you have to touch on all aspects of modding. I add a lot of custom objects to my maps, many don't even know how to do that, but doing so teaches you the basic file structure of battlefield. You need to know how to make custom textures, the basics of working with 3D models and the list goes on. I am thinking a about walking through the whole process, stating with creating a basic map and how this is done then build on this in layers until the final product is a professional looking map that works well in all game modes with custom objects, textures, sounds, effects, and killer AI.

We had a group many years ago in the very beginnings of BattlefieldSinglePlayer called "BIG" Battlefield Intelligence Group" notice my sig image. ;) I am the last one of that group. We would each take a submitted map and add AI to it, all the while discussing it in the forums in a collaborative way so we all learned much faster. I do miss those days and we got so much work done, and discovered so much about the BF AI that EA didn't know. Ever wonder why stock bf maps have crappy ai? Look at that pathmap for Bocage for instance. I knew Tobias Carlson, the ai guy for EA. He and Arc were good friends and and we all hung out on the FPS forums where Desert Combat and POE were born. Tobias also hung with us for a bit in the very early days of BFSP and Arc was a member of BIG. I got most of my information on the tutorials I have done so far in this way so I am hoping here I can get some good material for the rest of my tuts.
Perhaps you could invite people that know as much as you do. That would be great for the rest of us.
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