ARCHIVES TWO
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BOO REVIEW

I have just been able to see and play four new and/or to-be-released games and I thought I would share my impressions with you . . .

First, the best of the bunch is Heretic II. I honestly was not expecting much out of this game since I do not care for the "Lara Croft" type action/adventure games. (I was terribly disappointed that Raven was going to change from the traditional first-person perspective to the third-person perspective.) But this game blows Tomb Raider away! The controls are superb and the graphics are exquisite. This is a must see, must play, must have game. Now if someone will just figure out how to build a Bot for this platform. Can it be done? No one ever really tried to do a Bot for Hexen or Hexen II. Heretic II, based on the Quake II engine, deserves a Bot. This would move Bot playing into a whole new dimension! Bot authors, take notice.

Second, I also looked at Klingon Honor Guard, based upon the Unreal engine. Now, I really am not reviewing this FPS for its single player game, because this game comes with Bots! Yes, you heard correctly, this game has Klingon Bots. They, of course, are based on the Unreal Bots, but they apparently have been modified. The fact is, they simply play differently than the original Epic Bots. In a word, they are tougher. I actually had to put them on skill "0" just to get used to them. They seem to have better fighting AI. (Now, wouldn't it be funny if the MicroProse team comes out and says that they did not change a thing with regard to the Bots.) BUT, they still have some of the problems that the Unreal Bots have. (NEWS FLASH: Epic has stated that they will be releasing a patch shortly that will address some of the problems with the Unreal Bots!) Some of the problem seems to be that several of the Klingon Deathmatch levels (there are a total of twelve) are not pathed very well. I went into DR02 with UnrealEd, and completely re-pathed it; and while it played much better, it was still not quite as good as some of the better Unreal levels that have been optimized for the Unreal Bots. If you are a Star Trek fan, and would love a FPS of this genre, then you will probably enjoy the single player game. But, is this game worth buying for the Bots alone? (This is all I am interested in, by the way.) Well, perhaps not . . . but I am planning to buy this game, when it gets discounted, just for the Bots.

Third, I just got Shogo, and is it ever fantastic! I used to have Mech-Warrior and all of its clones, but I never really liked them. Shogo is everything Mech should have been. The graphics are gorgeous and the controls are smooth as silk. (To me the game controls say a lot about the quality of the game. I have played too many FPS wannabes that have lousy controls and the game usually goes downhill from there.) Shogo is an FPS in which sometimes you are a giant Mech (actually a Mobile Armor Combat Unit—you can be one of four) and sometimes you are just yourself. You are equipped with fantastic firepower and the explosions are some of the sweetest eye-candy around. In this game you actually have a kind of Helper Bot for some of the levels and the enemy AI is fairly decent. There is quite a lot of scripting for some of the levels. This means that the gameplay will be different depending upon some of the choices you make. (For instance, kill one of your own people in the second level and watch the fun.) You also have a lot of ingame help from various characters that guide you through the level and give you valuable information. In addition there are numerous ingame cut-scenes that advance the interesting story line. All in all, this is one of the first mechanized robotic games that makes the grade. I give it an "A." Oh yes, this game also has multiplayer capabilities and as an additional bonus it will soon have third-party add-ons. Let's hope that the first MOD is a Shogo-Bot!

Finally, I have seen and played Tresspasser and, while I was really looking forward to it, I am now NOT at all impressed with it. First this is not your typical and expected fast-action FPS. What is more, the controls are horrible, and the game is basically boring, unless you like to spend a lot of time just wandering around and looking at things or figuring out puzzles. And don't even play it unless you have a killer machine with a tricked-out 3D card. (I have also noticed that it seems like all the gaming magazines were raving about this game, and now that they have actually seen it, they are trashing it.) Yes, it was neat to come upon a Raptor for the first time. And, if you have a monster Pentium II and can turn up the resolution to its highest settings, the game looks great. (On the lower settings, the game looks rather pathetic. Unreal, in my opinion, still looks better overall than Tresspasser.) But, the game play was slow between Raptors. By the way, the Raptors are the ONLY dinosaur you can really kill. The others are just for looking at or turning into Raptor bait. (I only played the first two levels, and I don't know about the T-Rex.) As to the controls, well, they are rather awkward to say the least. If this were a slow and plodding game like Myst, it would be no problem. But when you are trying to fight a Raptor and have to push a button to crouch; push another button to pick up a weapon; push another to grab and hold on to the weapon; then try and use the mouse to control the arm to aim at the Raptor; and push the mouse button to fire . . . AHHHHH! The problem is, it is all too easy to drop your gun in the middle of a dino-fight. Did I tell you how amazing it is to watch a Raptor eat you? Well, I have also played through Turok and that IS what a FPS should be. (Too bad there was no multiplayer and no Bots for Turok!) I personally am going to wait for Turok II. Now, if you want to see some incredible real-time physics in a semi-action/adventure game, then this game will impress you if you have the processing power to fire it up and the 3D card to make it pretty.

I HAVE SEEN THE FUTURE!

I have just seen the Half-Life OEM (and have played most of it) and thought I would give you some of my thoughts on it. It is my understanding that the OEM version is one-fifth of the game, so my comments need to be kept in proper perspective. No one knows what the rest of the game holds for the dedicated FPS (First Person Shooter) gamer, but it ought to be great. The first thing that needs to be said is that the game has a plot! Now, you have to understand that this is one of the biggest complaints of FPS games. Basically there is NO plot to DOOM and Quake and Quake II. Unreal sort of has a plot. But, Half-Life has more of a plot than any FPS I have ever played. What makes Half-Life excel in this area is the use of scripting. While Unreal utilizes scripting throughout the game, it is rather sparse compared to Half-Life. The scripting allows for the development of the game storyline. It also contributes to the interactivity and total degree of immersion you experience on each level.

Since it seems that everything is compared to Quake, Quake II and Unreal (since those games DO set some rather impressive standards) allow me to do the same. You need to know that I played the OEM on a P200 with 32 Megs of RAM and a Monster II 3D (8 Meg) card. While the OEM was not fully optimized, it still played well—but there was slow-down throughout the game. Graphically, the game does not compare to Unreal, but it is similar to Quake II. And then there is the enemy AI. Well, for most of the OEM you are fighting alien enemies. I have to tell you that this is the low point of this demo. These aliens are dumber than any aliens I have ever seen. I was totally underwhelmed. (I understand that the aliens do get better later on in the game.) The only thing that saved the OEM was the storyline scripting and the fact that I knew the enemies just had to get better.

Most of the OEM has you up against the same old alien threat. The basic idea is that a secret experiment deep underground has gone bad, and . . . well, I don't want to give too much away. But, you can interact with the scientists and the guards. WOW! They really talk to you and help you out along the way. The guards act like Helper Bots! And they sometimes do an impressive job against the alien horde. The scientists help you in other ways: providing information and opening doors. There is even an "X-Files" type plot to the game which does keep it interesting. (Who is that "Man in Black"?) And, oh yes, there is even a little bit of humor here and there. Even though the alien AI was rather boring, the rest of game play made up for it.

What really made me sit up and take notice about the Half-Life OEM was not the aliens, but (WARNING: GAME SPOILER! DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER UNLESS YOU CAN'T HELP YOURSELF. THERAPY WILL BE PROVIDED AT THE END OF THIS POST.) the Commando Units. These Marines are fantastic and they have some of the best enemy AI that I have ever seen!!! (Yes, you read that right. These Marines are your enemies. The government is out to get you! But you knew that all along.) The AI used for these guys breaks new ground. Incredible! This is what killer AI should be in a FPS. It is too bad that when you get to the point where you fight these military men, the OEM is almost over. But it is worth it. Save the game at these points so you can savor the intensity of a real fire fight with worthy opponents. These bad boys play well together and they are out to get you. Watch your back side!

I want a bunch of levels just going up against these Special Forces. I don't care about aliens. I don't even care about the storyline and plot anymore. I get bored with the single player mode in all these FPS games. (But, Half-Life still might hold my attention for a little while longer than most.) Now, if only the next generation of Bots could have this kind of killer AI!!! Of course, Bot AI and Bot DeathMatching are what I am really interested in. If the AI of these Special Units can be transferred to a Half-Life Bot, we would have a Bot far superior to anything we have seen—better than the Reaper . . . better than Omicron . . . better than Eraser. I can hardly wait.

I have said all along that I want the enemy AI in the FPS games to be as good as the third-party Bot AI . This was my complaint against Quake, Quake II and Unreal (though Unreal's enemies were a little smarter). Now with the advent of Half-Life, we should have a game that finally has decent enemy AI—at least for the soldiers. In too many FPS games the enemy AI is, well, predictable. Basically this means that there is little re-playability with the game. Thus, the need for multiplayer or Bot deathmatch, or even cooperative multiplayer. It appears that Half-Life has raised the standard for FPS enemy AI. Perhaps Quake III Arena will raise the standard even more. After all, Bots are the REAL enemy we face . . . they are our worst nightmare!

Oh yes, for therapy for those of you that have been totally devistated by the revealing of the plot of the Half-Life OEM, feel free to hug your Teddy Bear and sleep with the night light on tonight.

ONE MORE TIP

I have continued to expand my TUTORIAL: PATHING UNREAL LEVELS FOR THE UNREAL BOTS. This time I have added a very useful tip for automatically having the Bots enter the level when the deathmatch level starts up. This means that you can simply double click on the level in Windows 95/98 and load the level with BotMatch firing up as soon as the game begins! If you have a bunch of Bot-optimized levels and play a variety of maps, then open up each level in UnrealEd and make this simple modification to each map. This tip can really save BotMatch loading time! For the complete tip and Tutorial, go here.

A FOND FAREWELL

I would be remiss if I did not bid farewell to my friends Genocyde and Subhuman. Their excellent Bot pages have recently closed down (SkullPlate's also closed some time ago). They will be missed. Their work in the Bot world has been greatly appreciated. I wish them the very best in their new endeavors. Now, with the Bot community as it now stands, The Bot Epidemic is THE site for the latest and greatest news and related information about anything and everything Bots. Be sure to visit them often! For a link, go to the BOT SITES page. (While there, you will see all of the Bot related sites that are still worth visiting—even the "closed" ones.)

GROUND ZERO

I recently purchased the Quake II Mission Pack: Ground Zero and thought I would give it a brief review. Previously I have reviewed the first Mission Pack: The Reckoning, and while I enjoyed that Mission Pack, Ground Zero is probably a little better. (In fact, I think that both Mission Packs are better than the single player Quake II levels.) Ground Zero has around fifteen new levels and around fourteen new deathmatch levels; four new weapons; two new enemies and several variations on the old ones; and two totally new bosses. The level design and story line in Ground Zero is outstanding, but like The Reckoning, the deathmatch levels are some of the absolute best. The ONLY problem is, the Bots can't play these levels with the new weapons and the new killer deathmatch items. Too bad! Overall, if you really love Quake II, this MP continues the experience that only Quake can bring to the world of First Person Shooters. But, if you want something new, something different, try Unreal . . . or if you want something even better (?) wait for HalfLife!

ANOTHER UNREAL PATHING TIP

I have added another Pathing Tip for my TUTORIAL: PATHING UNREAL LEVELS FOR THE UNREAL BOTS. This one is all about pathing in water areas—one of the more challenging aspects of pathing for the Bots. For the complete tip and Tutorial, go here.

TWISTS AND TWEAKS

As most of you know, I have been busy with two projects. One is at Epidemic's Unreal Bot Map Resource. (For a link go to the bottom of the BOT LEVELS page.) The other is over at PlanetUnreal's RealCTF. (For a link go to the bottom of the BOT MODS page.) I have optimized over thirty maps for Floyd at Epidemic, and I will be helping with the pathing of the RealCTF maps. Erik will also be pathing the levels for the CTF Bots. (Erik is one of the Botters who has come up with some of the important Pathing Tips in the Unreal Tutorial.) So, if you have wondered why my site is a little "slow," please understand. In the meantime I have been tweaking the links; adding a few here and quietly deleting a few there. It is amazing how the Bot World is constantly changing.

ONGOING UNREAL TUTORIAL UPDATES

I have added an in-depth Pathing Tip on my TUTORIAL: PATHNODING UNREAL LEVELS FOR THE UNREAL BOTS. This tip explains how to actually get the Bots to "use" a button or switch. It involves placing a Trigger next to the button or switch and linking it to the button AND the object the button or switch activates. There is even another little Pathing Tip on using the elevator nodes in special ways for low gravity rooms. For the complete tip and Tutorial, go here. If you have any more Bot pathnoding tips, please let me know. I am constantly looking to add as much information to the Tutorial to make it as complete as possible.

FINAL ERASER!

The final Eraser is out! Congratulations to Ryan ("Ridah") Feltrin for a most excellent Bot. Be sure and go to the BOT PAGE to find a link to the download. The Eraser is definitely the Best of the Bots.

NEW TIPS FOR PATHNODING UNREAL BOTS

I have just updated my TUTORIAL: PATHNODING UNREAL LEVELS FOR THE UNREAL BOTS with the following tip: You can MOVE any pathnode or item to exactly where you want it (moving it in any direction; left, right, front, back, up or down) by selecting it, after you have placed it, and using a combination of the CTRL key and the left or right or left-right mouse buttons, for precise placement. This means that you can move a pathnode into an area that gives you an "Actor does not fit here" message. Or, you can put pathnodes on narrow ledges, in difficult areas, on spiral staircases, etc. You can do the same thing for the elevator nodes as well. Too many times level designers just put the nodes as close as they can get it to a certain area—but that is NOT good enough and frequently creates problems for the Bots. For the full, updated tutorial go here. (You might note that the headline above says "NEW TIPS"—the special use of the elevator nodes tip has also been updated. Go take a look. You won't believe how and where the elevator nodes can also be used!)

ACE IS WILD

In a time when it seems like quite a few Bots for Quake II are falling by the wayside, there is one Bot that has plans for the future: Steve Yeager's ACE Bot! This Bot is unique in its real player emulation physics, and it is already one Top Bot! Here is what Steve said about his project:

As for ACE I plan to pick things up again soon. My other project is done, but it being summer I've been spending most of my nights on my mountain Bike pounding up and down the local mountains. As the weather starts to turn, I'll be getting back into the Bot a little bit more. I know that the people who are still playing Bots are the real die-hards and the ones who can provide me with the feedback needed to make a better Bot. I do have plans for ACE, since id has made such a great platform for testing AI. I also hope this new Quake Arena pans out, cuz I'd love to build a Bot that can take on the Bots that are sure to come with it.....

Thanks Steve, that is fantastic news! I can hardly wait for cold weather. ACE is one Bot to keep your eye on. What? You have never tried ACE? Shame on you! Go to the BOT PAGE and immediately repent—download the ACE . . . and be sure and give Steve some constructive feedback.

UP FOR AIR

Well, Randar is still around. It is just that I have been busy working on a project with Floyd over at Epidemic's POTW. The project has to do with optimizing quality Unreal maps for the Bots. To see how that project is coming along, go to BOT SITES and check out the Epidemic page. This project has two goals: (1) To get good Bot maps out to you Botoholics, and (2) To get the word out as to how to path an Unreal level for the Bots. (Don't forget that the TUTORIAL: PATHNODING UNREAL LEVELS FOR THE UNREAL BOTS can be found below, under the Saturday, July 18 Editorial! An expanded and revised version is now found under "Features/Unreal Tutorial." Be sure and check it out! Click here to go directly to it!)

STILL LEARNING HOW TO DO IT

Over the last several weeks, I have learned a lot about pathing levels for the Bots. (And I still have a LOT to learn!) Some of the things I have learned have come from YOU. For instance, I got the following post from Erik:

Here is a great tip for bot pathnoding that I just discovered.

Do you ever have those spots on your level, like ledges, that need to be jumped to, that the Bots will always ignore (especially if it is narrow). It could also be a corner that they always skip over, or a door they always pass by.

Even if the "problem area" is properly pathnoded, they tend to skip over some things and stick to set routes. I have gotten around that by placing inventory at the spots, and upping the desirability factor to as high as 2.0, but sometimes that is not even enough.

I have noticed how attentive they are to elevators when the liftcenter and liftexit pathnodes are properly placed, and so I decided to use them on a non-elevator spot. It worked like a charm! They jump right up on that ledge now which most of the time that they used to go by. I placed a 'liftexit' next to the apple pathnode at the edge of the ledge they start from, a 'liftcenter' pathnode at the edge of the other ledge that I wanted them to jump to (again, next to the pathnode apple), and another 'liftexit' in the direction that I wanted them to head after jumping onto the new ledge (again, next to a pathnode apple). I am stressing that you should keep the original pathnodes that were properly placed but not working in place because it did not work as well without them there, but I have not experimented with it enough to be sure. Also, be sure to name the two or three 'lift' navigation points the same name (where you would put the movers name if this was used for an elevator).

The only drawback is that they really become attracted to that spot and will hardly ever ignore it when they go by, just as they do with elevators when those navigation points are used. All of this should be taken into account when you are trying to determine what kind of combat flow you want for your level. By tweaking the desirability of inventory to tempt them down certain paths, and by using the liftexits and liftcenters, you can really manipulate a great bot match.

I have tried some of Erik's suggestions and the novel use of the liftexits and liftcenters DOES work. In one level, I could not get the Bots to jump across a wide open space above lava, even though the human player could do so easily. What is more, the pathnodes would NOT link at all! But, when I used the liftnodes (one liftexit and one liftcenter, naming them "jump"), it worked like a charm. Erik, your unique way of using the liftnodes shows a spark of genius!

This brings me to a request: If you have found ANY tips and tricks of pathnoding for the Unreal Bots, please let me know! Thanks.

MISSING LINKS???

I have one more request. If you know of ANY Bot related links that I do NOT have on my page, please send them to me! As you know, I am in the process of moving this page away from a "news" page, to a "resource" page. (Of course, I will still have some news along with an occasional editorial, but I will no longer be doing a daily or weekly full news updates. Remember, Epidemic, Outpost, and Genocyde are the pages to go to for that.) I want to make this page as complete a resource as possible, and I need YOUR help. I am looking for any Bot or Bot related pages out there, as well as the best AI pages to link to. And of course, I am interested in any other pages that are relevant to the Botting community. So send me the "missing links"! Thanks.

EUREKA!!!

Thanks to Robert Field, of Frog Bot fame, I have been able to solve the "elevator problem" with the Unreal Bots. (Yes, let me go at this one more time!) I was about to "give up" on the Unreal Bots, because I never thought I would be able to get them to use the elevators properly. Yet, I knew that they behaved themselves on the Epic deathmatch levels. Finally, I turned to "Frog" and even though he has not gotten into Unreal yet, he still was able to give me the direction I needed to path the elevators better for the Bots. After taking his help, and scrutinizing the Epic deathmatch levels, I was able to path the elevators properly and it makes a world of difference in Bot play. Before, the Bots would jump on and off the elevators; or they would get stuck under them; or they just would not even use them at all. Now, after going into various third-party levels and re-doing the elevator nodes, the user created levels work as well as Epic's deathmatch levels! Well, enough of this . . . here is the tutorial I have written to path the levels for the Bots. Thanks again Robert ("Frog") Field!!!

TUTORIAL: PATHNODING LEVELS FOR THE UNREAL BOTS

After a level has been completely designed, pathnode the level for the Unreal Bots. In the "Browse" Menu at the right hand side of the Unreal Editor choose "Classes." Under Actor Classes choose "NavigationPoint." Under NavigationPoint you will be using "PathNode" to path the level for the Bots. And, so the Bots can use the elevators, you will also be using "LiftExit" and "LiftCenter."

In one of the Map View screens (Mode - Textures; View - Show Moving Brushes; Actors - Full Actor View) choose the view that allows you the first person perspective so that you can move through the level.

PATHNODES: Under Classes, NavigationPoint, choose and highlight "PathNode." Place the pathnodes in the level by pointing to the location on the floor where you want the node to go, then right click the mouse and choose "Add PathNode Here." The pathnode will appear. (It is a Golden Apple.) Continue pathing the level choosing the best possible route for the Bots. All pathnodes should be placed at key points—next to weapons or items. Each pathnode should be visible to the next pathnode which is in sight of the next node, and so on. (In other words, do not separate the nodes by too great a distance.) On stairs, place one pathnode on the floor at the middle of the base of the stairs, and place the next node on the floor at the middle of the top of the stairs. The two nodes should be visible to each other. If there is a landing (that changes the direction of the stairs) place a node on that landing, and, of course, another at the top of the stairs. Continue to path the level until you have left a trail of "golden apples" throughout the entire level.

NOTE: Some areas are very difficult to path because they are too small for the Actor. (You will get a message saying: "Actor does not fit here.") Difficult areas would include ledges that are too narrow, rooms or halls that are too small, etc. One work-around is to place items in these areas, if you know that the player actually can go there. Then place a pathnode as close to this trouble spot as possible. The pathnodes will usually link to the items in and through the problem area.

ELEVATORS: Do NOT use "PathNodes" (Golden Apples) for the Elevators—they do not work! Instead use the "LiftExit" and "LiftCenter" nodes. (These nodes look like a Griffin's head.) Place the LiftExit node where you want the Bot to WAIT for (or get off) the elevator. (Use the same proceedure as you would a regular pathnode. Point at a spot on the floor just outside the elevator platform brush and right click to place the liftexit.) You must have at least TWO liftexit nodes. One for the bottom of the elevator and one for the top. (You can have more than one entry or exit nodes, but it is best to only have one for each floor.) Place the LiftCenter node in the center of the elevator area, on the floor where the elevator brush is. This is where the Bot will stand and wait until the elevator reaches the top—if you do everything else correctly. (NOTE: Do not place any nodes in "mid-air"—floating far above the ground. They must be placed at approximately "waist-high" level above the ground.)

NOTE: This next step is CRITICAL to getting the Bots to use the elevators properly. (In other words, to keep them from jumping off the elevator too early, or to keep them from standing under the elevator, etc. Each elevator MUST be given a unique name, and every "Tag" ("LiftTag") MUST be set accordingly, AND THE ELEVATOR'S MOVER PROPERTIES MUST ALSO BE SET PROPERLY!!! Each elevator node (LiftExit and LiftCenter) has its own properties sheet. Right click on them and you will find their properties. When you are in the LiftExit Properties choose "LiftExit" and then "LiftTag"—Give a name to that tag that will be used for that elevator and all its tags. (Each elevator MUST have a different name.) Do the same with the LiftCenter LiftTag—give it the same name that you gave to the LiftExit for that elevator. NOW, and this is absolutely essential if the Bots are to behave themselves on the elevator, you MUST select the elevator brush, then right click that highlighted (pink) brush and choose "Mover Properties." This will give you the Properties Sheet for the selected elevator. On this Properties Sheet choose "Event" and then "Tag." Give the elevator the same name as its LiftExits and LiftCenters. This will "link" the elevator with the LiftExits and the LiftCenter nodes. (I also believe that under "Mover" in Mover Properties, the "bDynamicLightMover" needs to be set to "True" and NOT "False." But, I am not sure about this.)

PATH DEFINE: If you have completely pathed the level and properly pathed the elevators as well, the next step is to go to "Options" and choose "Rebuild." Under Rebuild, choose the "Lighting" tab and then you will find the "Paths Define" button. Press this and the level will be processed and pathed. (This can take several minutes!) After the level is pathed, choose "Close." Then go to "File" and SAVE THE LEVEL. (Of course, you should be saving the level all along at various stages of development.)

Now go back through the level in the Unreal Editor and in the 3D view choose "View" and then "Show Paths." All of the paths will appear as blue and red lines that connect all of the nodes and items. Walk though the level and check for any "broken" (unconnected) links. If there are any, place a few more "PathNodes" (Golden Apples) and do another "Paths Define" to rebuild the paths, following the above instructions.

Please let me know if there are any corrections or additions that need to be made to this!

Randar

ANOTHER UNREAL SITE?

Contrary to popular rumors, Randar's Bots Page is NOT going to be devoted to Unreal Bots alone. I'll admit that Unreal has taken up a significant percentage of the NEWS over the last several weeks. And a great deal of time has been spent on getting the word out to the Unreal level designers about making their levels compatible with the Unreal Bots. (I think that the good word is finally being heard.) However, this page will still be devoted to ALL things that are the Bots—both Quake and Unreal Bots . . . and any Bots that the future may hold!

That brings me to my next point. Randar's Bot Page is going to move more in the direction of being a complete—well, as "complete" as I can make it—RESOURCE PAGE for Bots. I will not be attempting, and I never really have attempted to make this a daily news service. I'm sorry, but I just don't have the time. And, of course, Cube, SubHuman, and Genocyde already do this; and they do a fantastic job! To get daily news (and a ton of other stuff) be sure and go to the BOT SITES page and check out their websites. But, never fear, I still will be updating this "NEWS" page from time to time, but it will be more in the realm of EDITORIALS than that of daily news. (And yes, I will have an occasional news piece on this front page.) In fact, you will notice that the header for this section, now says "EDITORIALS." The fact is, much of what I have written over the last several months is more along this line anyway.

ONGOING UPDATES

I continue to update all of the pages on this site and check all of the links. I notice that quite a few Bots (and Bot Front Ends) for Quake2 have fallen by the wayside. Their links have quietly been deleted. Even a few projects that announced that they would have Bots in them have apparently changed their minds. And, several of the Bots have, or will soon stop being developed. It looks like the world of Quake2 Bots is being shaken and sifted. Are we already seeing the decline of the development of the Quake2 Bots and Bot MODS? Have we reached a saturation point? Maybe not. But, of course, only time will tell. (Yes, I know that there are still one or two excellent Bots currently in production for Quake. The same holds true for Quake2. And who knows if anyone will venture to build a third party Bot for Unreal.) I have read on various news sites over the last several months that there has been a steady decline of all things Quake—especially MODS and level releases. I suppose that the same things will happen to Quake2 eventually. Yet, all is not lost. The world of Bots will move on. But, it does make me wonder if there is a limit to the development of FPS Bots. I suppose that Quake Arena will make a very definite and determining impact on the future of Bots in the FPS gaming world.

THE BEST DM LEVELS FOR UNREAL

One of the updates that I have made is to the BOT DM LEVELS page. I have now added two sites for all of the Unreal deathmatch levels currently being released. First place has got to go to Snarf's Unreal Map Emporium. He makes special mention of whether or not the Unreal Bots can play a given level. I wish more map review sites for Quake, Quake2 and Unreal would do what Snarf does. Be sure and check out his site! By the way, since Snarf knows his Bots, he single-handedly will make sure that the level authors do Bots right. I guess I don't have to do any more "Bot Rants" about Unreal. Thanks Snarf!

ANOTHER KILLER UNREAL BOT LEVEL

Ever since I saw Bill "CyberGun" Spratt's DMDwan48—a quasi-remake of the old DOOM DWANGO level (and I think that it was also remade for Quake)—I knew that it had the potential to be a great Unreal arena deathmatch level. With CyberGun's permission, I added two staircases, changed the weapons placement, and pathnoded the level for Bots. Wow! Did I ever learn a lot about level creation in the process of creating just the stairs and re-compiling the level. (I could not have done this without CyberGun's patient help.) Now I know that there is a lot that I still have to learn about pathing a level, but I think that DMDwan48 is now optimized for the Unreal Bots. (Remember, what I am most concerned about is that a level—any level—is Botable! To me, looks are secondary. But CyberGun did a very good job on the initial design of this level.) It took a great deal of time to make sure that the pathnodes were correct. LESSON: Pathnoding a level for the Bots is usually NOT a simple process. You must go through a lot of "trial and error" to get it just right for the Bots. Consequently, many things about a level usually have to be tweaked for the Bots. In fact, one of the reasons for the change in the weapons and ammo placement was to correct what appears to be a bug in the Unreal Bots. Sometimes when the ammo was laid out all in a straight line (or if it was too close together), the Bots would get "hung up" on it and just run in place. By breaking up the pattern a little, the problem went away. Another problem I encountered was that occasionally the Bots camp. But, better pathnode placement almost completely eliminated this. Overall, the level now makes for one wild deathmatch experience. I have renamed the level to DMBDwan48 and it is now available for download. Try it out and see what you think. (And, don't forget about DMBfortress—another level I optimized for the Unreal Bots.) My thanks to CyberGun and Chimecaca for their respective levels! One last thing, if you have found a level that you think would be a killer deathmatch level for the Unreal Bots, but it has not been optimized (i.e., pathnoded) for the Bots, please let me know.
 

UNREAL BOT LEVELS

Well, I have been carefully testing almost every single Unreal DM level that has been released and most still fail the Bot test! There are very, very few levels that are being correctly designed for the Unreal Bots. (There are now several very good Unreal DM level review pages up, but some of them still do not accurately review whether or not the Bots can correctly play the level. It should be noted that if a level is correctly pathnoded, the Bots will almost NEVER camp; they will travel all through the level; and they will be able to use all of the stairs and elevators properly. If the Bots pretty much stay in one area, the level almost certainly has not been pathnoded correctly.)

However, all is not lost because a faithful few have learned the secret of carefully Botting out a level. Among the very best Unreal Bot Levels, first place must certainly go to DMSCURGE. The author (Gary "GrimWar" Blauvelt) has released several versions and the latest is superb. This is simply a must download for true Bot aficionados. Of course, it needs to be emphasized that I am judging this deathmatch level, and all deathmatch levels, on the sole basis of whether or not the Bots can play them easily and play them well. That means that a Bot needs to be able to go almost everywhere and get almost everything in a level. If a level is too complicated or has a lot of "water hazards," it will fail the Bot test. There are, of course a few exceptions like DMElements and DMDKeep. These levels are primarily designed for humans and their Bot design was secondary. But, the Bots play them very well. Some other levels that are worth considering are DMFoxArena, DMCeti1, DMDonut, DMShdval, DMBoxCanyon, and DMFragTemple. Also, try out DMRdc2, DMDusk and DMTemple. The following levels would be great for Bots if they were pathnoded correctly: DME1M7z, DMNakesh, DMObiW01, DMObiW03, DMRelentless1, DMPower, and DMHaste.

Quite often I come across a level that is not correctly pathnoded for Bots and I take the liberty of re-doing it. (In fact, I have pathnoded all of the levels mentioned above that were not done correctly.) Most of the time I am able to make substantial improvements. (In most levels the pathnodes are still not being included. In many levels that have the pathnodes placed, they have not been properly compiled and linked. In others, the links are broken. And, very few levels with elevators are using the liftexit and liftcenter nodes correctly. The Bots cannot use elevators with just the regular pathnodes.) So, I have included one sample for you to try out. The level is DMFORTRESS—I have changed the name to DMBFORTRESS. This level was originally designed by Darius Eftekari (aka "CHIMECACA"). This level was based upon the N64 Goldeneye DM level. (I have mentioned this level in a previous editorial.) I laid down the pathnodes for the Bots and they can now easily go everywhere and get everything in this level. And, what is more, they don't get stuck anywhere. I also changed all of the textures and weapon placements. Please understand, I am not a level designer and I don't know much about textures, lighting, and weapon placement. I was simply trying to take an existing level and make it Botable. The Bots play this level very well. Download this level and see what you think. Please feel free to give me your feedback!
 

Open ARCHIVES THREE.