This Bot AI guide will go through the main basics of Bot behaviour.
Also check the Bot pathing tutorial for more info.
Two words is all you need to know and that is Reason and Design.
If there is no reason the design is fault.
I will explain...
When starting, a bot select a destination and try to go the fastest possible way
to get there.
That means if the level has dead-ends and nothing to pick up at the end, bots will
in most cases never go there.
If two paths exist to a specific item and one is much longer than the other,
bots will use the shortest path each time.
In most cases they will get to their designated target without problems.
In some cases though, bots tend to suicide themself trying to get where they want.
Jumping across lava and fails or walking into traps or like.
Bots will never pay attention to this and kill themself each time trying to get across.
As stated, bots pick a single target and try as best as it can to get there.
Along the way it will pick up most items, if they find it useful.
If it fails to complete its route it might try again until it is successful or another
item gets more interesting.
If a bot "falls" outside the definded paths, either by falling off a ledge or after a
firefight, the bot will seek the closest pathnode and from there decide on it's next way.
If the bot fails to "see" a pathnode in the area the bot will camp, wandering around.
When bots walk across ledges (>=32 units) they will often jump out
(depends on pathnode position).
If the ledge is just barely within the safety-limit of falling damage,
bots will certainly take damage as they jump off the ledge.
Bots will never camp at spots for a longer period of time unless there is a reason for it
to do so. A bot might wait a few seconds for ammo or item to respawn,
pick it up and then continue.
In gametypes other than DM bots might stand and defend positions if needed.
When a bot gets stuck or don't know how to proceed it will either stand still
by the current pathnode or wander between two.
A bot may also get stuck by a wall.
This is because the bot thinks that it is able to walk in a straight line between
two pathnodes. If a wall is too close to this path the bot might get stuck.
In fights bots will focus on the destruction of their target.
Pathnodes is then only used as "checkpoints" to keep the bot from going
too far outside the path network.
If the target goes out of sight the bot will return to the network, possibly looking
for its target for a few seconds and then keep on with it's mission.
This means that if some areas are too big/open the bot might spend more time trying
to fight opponents rather than taking the flag or control-points.
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