NewDM Revival

[MasterSplinter]

I can't speak for Monster, but, I imagine he needs help with hosting the server somewhere.



Last I heard he was trying to contact Avalanche for aid on a box that isn't in production.

If anyone wants to step up to the plate, and offer assistance, that would be cool. I'd like to see this server pick up where it left off.

[Lightning_Hunter]

I finally have some free time here to take those suggestions you gave me and modify the frikbot code, Monster. You gave me these instructions to modify Igor9's Fbx+

The random respawn code is in client.qc, and the DMM3 code is items.qc. Search for //~ random respawn start in client.qc to find where the random respawn code begins, and search for deathmatch to find the correct places where deathmatch == 3 is implemented. For the waypoint improvements I'd guess just copy and replace igor's with the default FBX ones.

However, I remembered that I did my own modifications to the Fbx+ code, mostly consisting of customized skin names and such. I think it would be easier to copy the new code from YOUR frikbots to mine. Did you do any other modifications to the offline Frikbots besides Wazat's aim offsets? I'd like to transfer all the improvements you did.

Edit: I almost forgot!

Possibly add some simple interpolation code to the frikbots aiming and movement to look more human

Can I have the code for this?

[Lightning_Hunter]

Double post!

I forgot to respond to this post:

I've made some for manson3. However, there is one part in this map which I think is impossible for the bots to reach... I wonder how you would approach this? theres a platform rotating around a pillar very fast with lava underneath, and on top of the platform is a lightning gun No matter what I've tried, I simply can't get the bots to wait for the plat at the correct time, and jump so they can land on it smoothly (without first taking a lavabath)... Then ride the plat until it completes its revolution around the pillar, so they can successfully exit the area with no scratches. Maybe you can figure this one out

The Manson maps are the absolute hardest to add waypoints for. I believe there was a similar setup in Manson2, with platforms that rotated around a pillar surrounded by lava that contained a Ring of Shadows. This was one of the few setups I was never able to get the Frikbots using correctly. They just aren't nimble enough to get onto tiny platforms that move that quickly. Plus, they are generally stupid around lava when the blind tag is used, which is mandatory in such a setup. It's basically too many harsh factors playing against the Frikbots for them to do such a thing correctly.

I've done some for Hell's Castle (castle.bsp)(originally a single player map)as well. I cannot figure out how to make them perform complex button sequences and for them to just go straight through the door that was triggered every time, instead of them always having to hit the buttons. I thought maybe a 'door flag no open' would do the trick... but no success.

Ah! Check out the waypoints for "Chapel". There is such a setup in which a button must be pressed only once for a door to be permanently opened. You can actually abuse a glitch to make them accomplish this (there is no real way to do it). You might have noticed that the bots sometimes attempt to move toward a button they cannot reach, thus getting stuck on some random wall in the way. When they realize they can't reach the button, they "reset" their path, and go toward the nearest waypoint. This is where you can abuse a certain bug in their code. Have the nearest waypoint force them on a ONE WAY path to the button. This way, they will only be forced to use this path once the entire game. If the setup is correct, they will use this path once to open the door, and never use it again. Look closely when they get stuck on the wall in Chapel. There is a lone waypoint there. No waypoints connect to this waypoint. It simply points them on a one-way path when a bot gets stuck near it. I used this method for one of the most complex setups I ever did in pk6 to allow them to perform a two button sequence:
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOu5UaCI8Eg]YouTube - Quake Frikbot Navigation Demo[/ame]

After performing this sequence, they always go straight for the RL. They only ever perform the sequence once. It's all thanks to the bug in which they reset their path once getting stuck.

The Well of Lost Souls (well.bsp) is another map that has been a pain for the bots to navigate well, without constantly falling in lava Theres plenty of catwalks that the bots have difficulty navigating.. even when using precision flags they still like to jump everywhere to reach their target.

Hmm, is blind mode on or off? They will become MUCH more careless with blind mode ON, so use it sparingly around lava. I'm an avid user of blind mode in my maps (I sometimes use it on nearly 25% of the waypoints I place), but I try not to use it too much around lava.

[bta.monster]

I have some news in terms of NewDM's progress and also of a server.

I've recently set up a server with fatpipe, the day BEFORE they merged with Ultimate Game Servers. I'd say that's bad luck. Currently I'm paying $15/month for 10 game slots, but I am not sure if that has changed due to the merge. The server isn't running the mod yet and the darkplaces engine, I sent Fatpipe and UGS an e-mail asking them to change a few things, but haven't received a reply from either. My guess is that the merge is keeping them quite busy. If I still hear no reply my Tuesday, then I'll give them another call. I hope this server will be a nice addition to the ones I've seen popping up recently (bomber, which is great by the way, and a few new CTF servers).

As far as coding the mod goes, I have added an addbot/removebot vote system with a maximum of 3 bots. This is so the addbot/removebot feature cannot be abused and it can be relatively controlled. I may adjust the limit based upon mapsize later on. Bots no longer count towards the vote totals as well. I have been taking a C++ course at my college which has by far broadened by coding knowledge and thus inspired me to bring up this mod again.

Random powerup spawning has also been added, to adjust what I see as a gameplay flaw of ID's (having Quad respawn every minute (30 seconds of which it being active)). For example, the Quad now respawns randomly between 50 seconds to 2.5 minutes, so as to prevent over-controlling. I can adjust this interval, if anyone has some suggestions.

I've started adding a system to benefit players that are losing badly in a game (specifically by less than half of the winning player's score). If this player runs across a spawnpoint for an armor, powerup, or maybe even ammo, then that specific item will spawn much quicker for them. Currently armor is set to spawn within 2-3 seconds for a "disadvantaged" player. I have not decided on powerups or ammo (if I'll even do ammo). The way this works is actually quite complicated (working with Supa at the moment to get the bugs ironed out), when there is/are player(s) who are losing by a certain amount, they begin to do a findradius in search for armor/powerups/ammo. When they are within range of that item, a traceline is run between the two to ensure there are no obstructions (walls, other stuff), then if the traceline returns true, the item will spawn quickly for them.

There has been some more bugs I've fixed, more simple things added, next on my list is probably getting the teamplay to work better (fixing up some of the old issues from stock Quake). I already have some ideas written down on how to attempt that.

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When I receive news back from Ultimate Game Servers and the server is up and running, I will update the main thread with the DNS and information. If luck is with me and UGS ends up charging less per player slot, I may be able to bump it up to 16 players. I am aware that Baker is currently busy at the moment and will not bug him with adding it to the list once more. Perhaps Solecord?

In terms of gathering players for the server, the darkplaces server list actually has a suprising number of players that are semi-active on it (The server list capability is honestly one of my main reasons for hosting a Darkplaces server). My thoughts are that perhaps the combination of players from the darkplaces scene and the netquake scene will result in a pretty good amount on the server every day. I hope that the server will be up soon, and we can get a few games going. This is my contribution to the community and for any wrongdoings I may have done in the past. Let the fragging begin soon hopefully!

[R00k]

Randomizing game elements create a game with random skill. Gamers like the "i can beat you because I know something you dont" aspect. And this comes from experience. If you randomize powerup times this eliminates the learned skill and thus makes that aspect of control just pure luck. Instead of random time, I'd suggest a sequential placement of the powerup. This will appear to be a random time to someone waiting in the same spot for Quad, or a random place to others not knowing the sequence. But if you are trying to extinguish Quad campers, this would be an alternate path to take while still rewarding the gamers that like to own a skill set.

Using DarkPlaces is a smart choice, for an alternative mod, as it can host up to 64 players (more?) has great netcode, builtin server list, and anti hacking/spoofing capabilities.

Wrong doings? Did I miss something??

[bta.monster]

Randomizing game elements create a game with random skill. Gamers like the "i can beat you because I know something you dont" aspect. And this comes from experience. If you randomize powerup times this eliminates the learned skill and thus makes that aspect of control just pure luck. Instead of random time, I'd suggest a sequential placement of the powerup. This will appear to be a random time to someone waiting in the same spot for Quad, or a random place to others not knowing the sequence. But if you are trying to extinguish Quad campers, this would be an alternate path to take while still rewarding the gamers that like to own a skill set.

Using DarkPlaces is a smart choice, for an alternative mod, as it can host up to 64 players (more?) has great netcode, builtin server list, and anti hacking/spoofing capabilities.

Wrong doings? Did I miss something??

Yes, I'll have to agree with you on that aspect. scar3crow actually suggested doing something similar to what you just said, doing sequential placement so there is at least some sort of pattern. I'll jot that down on my list

yeah Darkplaces actually uses less network resources. There are still some new problems with frikbots, they now randomly like to become SOLID_NOT; run straight through you, and generally act odd sometimes =|

Well, I've went under a few aliases as you probably know, and said things that are frowned upon. Nothing terrible, but I still feel bad about it, and I plan on refraining from doing so in the future. I've apologized before, and I apologize once again to any whom I may have offended. I plan on being a nice player as I always was from now on. Taking away from the enjoyment of another's gaming experience is not productive to anything whatsoever. And that is all I have to say on that topic.

Thank you for the input r00k!

[Mindf!3ldzX]

Your right, nothing terrible! Looking forward to GG's

[bta.monster]

Good to hear. Same here, we've always been pretty tight in the past and I hope to keep it that way. I think I'll actually give Ultimate Game Servers a call today and see what's up...

[Disco]

yeah cant wait to try this. Keep us posted on the server address and when it will be up.

[bta.monster]

Figured I'd stop in to give an update on what's going on.

Called Ultimate Game servers on the 6th and asked them if they got my e-mail, they searched, found it, and said it "must've been overlooked somehow". The guy told me he would set it up that night, which hasn't happened yet. Yesterday I called again and asked what was going on, he said it was on his "to-do" list. I guess they must be really busy with the merge... So I'll give them a couple more days.

I hate to have to keep delaying the server being up and running. The odd thing about this is Phenom was telling me that bomber is a fatpipe server, and he got e-mailed by UGS the day of the merge about new login info for UGS. They also responded to his ticket immediately. I'll just conjecture that his server has been up awhile, so they were able to get to his quicker. I had made mine on Fatpipe the day before the merge.

Anyway, in better news, Supa and I have been working together a bit on the mod, and she has some Frikbots coded to work much better with DP that I might be able to throw in the mod soon. The vote-code behaves a bit strangely under Darkplaces as well (nothing that completely breaks it), and I had to develop a lame work-around for it. Supa also has redone all of Bam's vote-code to work better with Darkplaces (for RMQ purposes). So some pretty exciting stuff going on that will hopefully be implemented to NewDM soon .

And thanks Disco, will update the main thread with the new DNS and such when it's up. Glad to hear people are willing to play

Hope all is well, just wanted to give everyone a little heads-up.

[Lightning_Hunter]

and she has some Frikbots coded to work much better with DP

Does this mean anything was updated/enhanced with the Frikbot code itself, or does this just mean they work better with DP? I'm always looking for Frikbot updates, as you know!

[bta.monster]

Does this mean anything was updated/enhanced with the Frikbot code itself, or does this just mean they work better with DP? I'm always looking for Frikbot updates, as you know!

Don't know the answer to that one! I'll ask her when she gets on IRC, usually later. Wouldn't doubt if she did add some more improvements. She's working on RMQ and would not be surprised if she did add some stuff for that purpose. Long time no talk by the way... You should hop on AIM sometime

[Lightning_Hunter]

Long time no talk by the way... You should hop on AIM sometime

Hehe, I really should. I haven't logged onto AIM for ages!

[bta.monster]

So the server is finally up and running. Currently sys_ticrate .025 and maxplayers of 12. If I find out that UGS runs cheaper than fatpipe than I can possibly bump it up more

If Solecord could grant me a newdm.quakeone.com DNS and add it to the server list, that'd be great (will PM). Baker, I know you're busy, but next time you decide to shoot up a news post, mind giving a little shout out to NewDM in there? Unfortunately I don't have the software nor video editing skills to make a neat promotional video .

As far as new additions/changes to the mod, I fixed up a few more .ent files for maps that had troublesome spots (doors staying closed forever, elevators stuck), maps warp based on number of players in the map (so it doesn't warp to a huge map with only 2 players on), and the name "" exploit no longer works (gives you a random name). IPs are now marked as hidden, thanks to the Darkplaces cvar sv_status_privacy.

Once the DNS is up, I'll update the main post with the info and hopefully some games will go down!

[bta.monster]

Alright, the server now has a DNS and its up in the browser... so head over to

newdm.quakeone.com

and play a few games... let me know what you think! I know people have suggested a vote-hook option.... still considering this, as well as vote-runes (haste, strength, regen, resist) to spice things up. Yes, the bots may act a bit weird right now due to the slightly different darkplaces physics... I'm hoping this to be fixed within a week or so. Supa is gonna be kind enough to port the bots over to totally run on the DP physics rather than their own...

Be sure to download the map pack, link is in main post. Let me know how the server runs, (pings, smoothness) and have fun..!