I didn't tell everyone yet what i expect from dtv maps and i promised that guide some time ago, but here i finally go. Maybe i'll edit some Screenshots in there later to make it easier for you to see, but for now it'll be just words =P
The Map- Do NOT overcomplicate the maps. Maybe the approach to have them as simple as some of them are now was the wrong move from me and that is what i get so many complaints about, but i stay with my opinion that 1 or 2 ways to the Viscount are good, 3 are still manageable, but more than that is too much. And by "ways" i mean the directions the bots can approach the v. So, you can have a dozen ways for the bots to get into the village/town, but in the end there should be a maximum of 3 directions the bots can attack the v from.
Too many houses to get into, too many unnecessary props are always cause for glitching and luring bots somewhere they cannot reach the players. If you want to have a cover make it as small as possible, so bots cannot get stuck behind them in huge numbers. - Many people feel that there is not enough space on some maps for 30 players to be entertained 24/7. While that is true and can be an annoyance, maps should not be too big. Noone wants to wait a minute before bots finally get close to your village or town
- Invisible walls. Yes, just making invisible walls and expect the players to get used to them was wrong and i now see that that was wrong. But they are necessary. Place them so bots cannot get stuck, so they go where you want them to go, but be careful, there are things that want to abuse your invisible walls, the evil player! So make sure invisible walls do not only block the bots, they also need to block the player to get to places bots cannot reach or where bots will have a hard time getting up to. One single player can lure almost 100% of the bots to a certain place so you have to check every tiny little place and again, eventually use either props or invisible walls to block them.
No way there can be invisible walls where players can get behind and bots stuck on the side that blocks them. (Fence-Experience) - Ladders/Houses/Roofs. Ladders need to face the way the bots are coming from, otherwise they are too easy to get the bots stuck on. If Bots are coming directly at you, you can place the ladders 180° if you look at that direction. [Insert Screenshot].
Houses have to face the same way. Easy for bots to enter and nowhere for players to get them stuck. Bots do not care for the placement of your props, so if a house is accessible from all sides, players can get them stuck on the wall from the inside and then just slash them from the outside, prevent that with other props or invisible walls.
Roofs are unaccessible unless the bots can get up there, too. If a roof seems jumpable from another place, make sure to cover it with invisible walls. - Ballistae: Use them as much as you'd like, they are a good way to get lowlvls to be useful.
- Basically, you build your map however you want it to look like. Then you decide where you want the bots to go. Then you make sure they do not get stuck on their way to the v and that players cannot exploit those ways. And you need to check that for every single way and very carefully, because as mentioned above, 1 player has the power to lure every single bot.
AI Meshes- So, you know where you want the bots/players to move. Now it's time to start with the AI Meshes. If you do not know how to use edit them, just play around with the AI meshes on one of the native maps, once you get the hang of it, it's pretty simple. I might get into detail if you want me to, but it's not rocket science, so i'll skip that for now.
- Start with the players spawn and then work your way to the bot spawns. Cover EVERY tiny little spot that can be accessible with AI Meshes. Helps the bots to get around scene props.
- Try to use as few squares/triangles as possible. Merge them if you have to.
- Ladders: There are no meshes below them. If there are meshes below them bots are unlikely to go up them and can get stuck more easily. Even if you want Bots to go under them, do not place meshes there. Rather have them walk around the ladders on the frontside.
- AI Meshes have to be close to the ground. If they are too high or low, bots get stuck.
- Walls/Props Used as Cover/Stakes/Obstacles in general do not have meshes in or under them! ALWAYS work around those. Even if you increase your square amount by doing that.
- Stick to the borders of your map or better to say, the places you want bots/players to go, as close as possible. Do not go over them, do not receive 4000Dollars. Sorry, poor monopoly joke.
Hope i didn't miss too much, but the Screenshots should improve this guide a lot. Until then, just take a look at the current maps. The AI Meshes and most of the exploits are now gone. There might be some other problems, but i'm fine with the current versions of the maps. Maybe not enough variety.
Also, never fear if your map won't work on the server. Making a map work 100% on first try is almost impossible with dtv, only the most simple maps might do that. Making a dtv map is on the same difficulty level as siege, maybe even higher because of the stupid Warband AI.
(That also means next patch won't have the promised big update, i'm sorry. 2 new maps for now and the more open maps i made myself are not quite ready yet, the other submissions still need too much work)
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