July 30, 1999
Those third-party CGF sites in full:
Quite a number of CGF related sites so take your pick really.
Cube
July 29, 1999
I'll post the latest list of CGF mission sites later (got to search through the mailbox to find all the links...). Some people have started to create their own routes for CGF. At the moment this is totally
unsupported and so any problems or questions you have regarding routing or using unofficial route-files will go unanswered from now. CGF routing is rather more complicated than routing something like the Eraser bot (it is not just a case
of running around laying nodes and defining locations) and so should you get any problems you're on your own. I have had a quick look at some of the routes out there and I can safely say they are no way near the quality William produces...
Cube
July 20, 1999
Not sure how William was going to go about this so I'll do what I think is best. Anyway several CGF related sites have begun to spring up, and while I'm not going to add them to the links page I'll do a little rundown below just so you know they're out there:
I'll post an updated list once a week until William returns (then I'm sure he'll organise something proper regarding CGF sites).
Cube
July 19, 1999
Ok JoeSatch has sent me a fix for the launcher for those who have been having trouble getting it to run. It should fix the error that causes runtime error 429, activeX component cant create object to be displayed when running the program.
You'll need the runtime files from yesterday (linked below and on the downloads page) and you'll then need to download LaunchFix.zip (214Kb).
Make sure you read the 'README!.txt' file included before installing the fix.
July 18, 1999
Cube here, taking charge while William is off holidaying. Anyway Ross 'JoeSatch' Norton has released the first version of the CGF launcher, enabling you to
set mission parameters and the like before launching the game.
There are two files available, both which are self-extracting. The first one is launcher itself which you will need to extract to your Quake II directory (it has set paths so the launcher files should go into the right directories from there).
Then there are a collection of runtime files required for the launcher, which are:
- msvbvm50.dll
- msvcrt.dll
- msvcrt20.dll
- msvcrt40.dll
If you don't have these then you also need this package, which can either be put into the launcher directory or into your windows/system directory. Placing them in the launcher directory is adviseable though.
The two file packages are available below:
Finally make sure you read the 'readme.htm' that is included with the files for the Launcher before mailing Ross with problems.
Cube
July 17, 1999
As mentioned in the previous update, I just don't have much time
for CGF this month. Because of that, the new beta 0.78 contains few
modifications, but essential modifications for the new map supported: Ruskprick's city.
However, most reported bugs haven't been fixed1.
Two small sets of missions are supplied as well: one, in which you
(as a 'counter'sniper) assist a four men attack force to clear City's
rooftops. Another, in which you just need to survive on City's streets.
You can count on the various mission sites (see the links page) to
offer new missions for City in about two days.
In case you're in doubt whether or not to download 2.3MB (or the smaller
upgrade), here's Oswald's review.
I wish you all a lot of fun with the upcoming Action Half Life (late
July).
William
1: normally I don't make more changes than I can test. Most
bug fixes just had to be postponed because I lack the time to test them:
whereas AQ2 source code is about 38,000 (38K) lines of code (LOC), CGF for
AQ2 adds 58KLOC, thus totalling 96KLOC. Every planned change should be made
in such a way that it is consistent with all assumptions made in the existing
(lines) of code. For example, 'just' reducing the vision qualities of the bot (something
that needs to be done) affects lots of other behavior (aiming, patrol behavior, etc.),
and affects just too much to test right now.
July 12, 1999
I'm really happy to see CGF being received well. The beta has been
downloaded in larger numbers than I could have imagined. More than
anything else, that should be contributed to the big Action Quake2
community, large, alive and kicking because of people like the A-Team,
Fireblade & Zucchini, the talented mappers, modellers and skinners, and
all those server ops and action gamers.
I also have received tons of useful bug reports and good feedback on
the AI. Thanks. I know what to do (an I'll try to hand over as much as
possible the non 'bot' work to speed things up).
I was very surprised about the number of people that were already able
to craft missions themselves, without having good documentation available.
A couple of the first user made missions are now available from this site,
and more missions are available from other new CGF Mission sites as well
(you'll find them on the links page).
Before the release, I wasn't sure how to distribute mission files.
Meanwhile that has been decided for me, by the rapid arrival of a
few mission sites. I am both glad to receive their help, but a
bit worried about not being able to check missions before they
are distributed: badly written missions cause CGF to crash, and/or
the bots to act unnecessarily stupid. That really spoils the fun.
(Of course, CGF also crashes for less valid reasons, since it's
still a beta).
Therefor, I'm asking the mission site webmasters to check all
missions before releasing them, for the following properties:
- .zip file directory structure (the AQ2 convention of
'action' as the root dir)
- stable execution (some script constructs are more likely
to crash CGF than others); stability can be tested easily.
Even if the CGF engine is to blame, it's still not a valid
reason to release a script that's very likely to crash.
- sufficient information in the mission description; a
gamer should be able to understand his mission from that
text
- a sufficient number of variants (by having at least the
opposing forces start from different locations or with
different instructions); this keeps the player on his
toes
- do not depend on skins and models that are not part of
the AQ2 model packs (from the
Actor's Guild)
In addition, it would be nice if the (set of) scripts were
reviewed and described on the web site. It's probably not
required to discuss the missions with the style and accuracy
of [NT]Oswald's map reviews, but it wouldn't hurt either...
I'll maintain links to solely those CGF Mission sites that
perform the required 'quality assurance'.
This month, I won't have much time to work on CGF. (From August onwards,
I'll be working the 'normal hours' again). You can expect another
route file this week, with a sample mission. There's plenty of talent
in our community to craft that into hot action fights.
Be careful. Wear your kevlar :)
William
July 10, 1999
To explain how CGF and the bots are different from 'standard bots as we've known them',
I have recorded an illustrated description of a 'be a hitman: eliminate gangster boss Sabotage' single
player CGF mission (included in the download).
Gamers that already played
these missions will have similar but different experiences; even if the chances are
against you, most fights remain unpredictable due to CGF's way of scripting.
It's your task to eliminate Sabotage, some criminal leader. Sabotage is hiding
in one of the map's rooms, and is protected by
some snipers and patrolling teams. You receive assistance from some fellow bots who
will engage Sabotage's patrols. You accomplish this mission only by eliminating
Sabotage; if you don't meet the time limit, or both your buddies and you die, the mission
is a failure.
Mission information is provided to the player, (left). Both friendly and hostile force (bot)
teams apply varying team tactics and procedures (center). Individual bots apply specific
Action behavior as well, such as sniping (right).
Fight alongside the bots - the player's presence will influence their tactics - solo, the bot might
hesitate to attack, but now the player is present, he may venture to attack (left). In single player
action, AQ2 features such as ejecting shell casings no longer create much lag (center). Fights
with hard to predict outcomes occur between the opposing forces, ensuring replayability (right).
The team AI explicitly tries to acquire good positions previous to and during combat,
as the player is about to feel (center - note the third bot in the lower left corner).
The bots meet their maker (player William), and down him without further ado (center).
Sabotage, the guy to be eliminated by the player already noticed the fighting
and has become alert and curious (right). Of course, this mission resulted in a failure
for the player and his buddy bots.
(These shots have been recorded during several missions. You're also
seeing upgraded MP5 skins and AQ2 icons from the AQ2 Guild site).
William
July 9, 1999
A few (important) remarks with respect to installing the beta:
- unzip the .zip to your quake2\action subdirectory
(just like the release notes tell you!),
not your quake2 directory
(incorrectly unzipping to your quake2 directory overwrites your standard Quake2
gamex86.dll; in that case, you need to reinstall the latest Q2 3.20 upgrade
again)
- a few people experience problems in launching the bots via the batch files. A couple of work arounds:
- verify if you have an autoexec.cfg file in your action directory. if that file includes lines such as
set teamplay 0
or
set dmflags somevalue
please remove these lines from your autoexec.cfg and try again
- launch them by hand (as follows)
1. start action quake2 (the normal way)
2. start network server (from the menu, choose multiplayer)
3. increase the number of players to 16 or more
4. change the deathmatch flags, and make sure that teamplay is enabled (by skin or by model)
5. launch the network server
6. now you're just on your own in a normal teamplay game, so...
7. on the console, type 'exec cgf_urban_hitman_1.cgf' or 'exec cgf_urban_streets_1.cgf'
8. enjoy!
By now, most mirror sites will have the beta as well.
We are trying to sort out problems with Ross "JoeSatchs" Norton's bot launcher and
redistributable .dll files; after that, we'll make the launcher available (probably
somewhere next week).
The launcher should assist you in starting the mission without batch files,
with your favourite weapon, and with bots at the specified skill.
William
July 8, 1999
CGF 0.77 beta has arrived. It's still a long way to accomplish what I've set
out to do, but we're getting somewhere.
You can fetch the beta here, at 1.2MB (Windows only).
Please spend your time (while waiting for the beta to be downloaded) by
reading these release notes carefully.
When you have questions, please consult the AQ2 message board first (and
read the relevant postings before submitting the questions). I'll give
priority to answering questions there (over replying my email).
William
July 7, 1999
The counting down has started (release on July 8 - see below). To keep you busy, the missions page now
lists a sample (advanced) mission file.
William
July 6, 1999
Instead of providing a beta on July 7 (as I announced in the previous
updage), I'd like to take yet another day off from work (July 8) and
put a little extra effort and testing into the beta (making it less a beta).
Later that day (thus July 8), I'll load it up.
It will be a beta (0.77) nevertheless, and limited to a single map (Gerbil!'s
Urban). (A route file and new missions for a second map will be
provided next week). I hope to receive some useful feedback based on
that beta.
Being about 1MByte in size (zipped), the download will keep you busy
for a couple of hours. The missions will include "shoot everything
that moves" missios, weapon training missions, and some more
advanced ones (but all occurring at Urban).
You'll be able to adjust skill settings for the bots, and the armament
for the bots by editing the mission file. (It is my goal to allow you
to create missions from scratch and route files for any map you choose,
but not at this time when there's plenty to debug and change).
Aside from the map limitation, the release is definitely a beta because
the bots still lack:
- a smarter way of moving (including strafing)
- close combat AI (moving during firing, as is the way to handle the
shotgun, cannon and knifes)
In addition, CGF (it's more than bots, remember) could use mission
intro's and outro's, informing the player in a better way about the
mission and the mission results. And the bot launcher won't be included
immediately (we're having some troubles getting the mission parser
component to install on other machines).
A hard to catch bug will also be present: in some cases, Q2 crashes when
using the M3/Super90 shotgun in software rendering mode. The work-around
for this problem is using the "hand 2" setting (so you don't see your
own weapon in your hands), or using your hardware accellerated graphics
board :). My debugger won't catch this bug, and I currently don't have clue where,
when and why this bug occurs.
(If you make it to here, you more or less have read the full release notes
before launching the bots. That's the way to do it :)).
Aside from all these limitations, CGF will be Action! (There's that huge
list of features that is included in the beta).
William
p.s. Many thanks to Cube for locating the source for the mysterious 'Internet
Explorer 5' crashes caused by this site (it didn't crash my IE5 though). The
culprit seems to be the use of JScript/ECMAScript definitions within a table
(the CGI script for the Telefragged banner generates JScript).
As you can see, the banner has been moved from the table to the top of the page.
Cube converted all pages to this new format, and put the .png picture format
back in place (smaller files, better pictures, but some Netscape users need to
fetch a plug-in from the link below).
Old News
![Technical CGF information [AI and design]](./graphics/aidesign.png){kind=small}
![Links to related sites [such as AQ2 or AI sites]](./graphics/links.png){kind=small}
