Hi all,
Well, I am slowly getting the hang of how to create terrain, cut out sections of walls so that one can but doors windows in empty space etc..
I have discovered (WORKING WITH THE SoF2SDK
SINGLE PLAYER package)..... that I can place
NPC characters and they are animated in their static postitions. That is, if an enemy NPC is spotted and is close enough to them they will exchange fire. For instance, I had placed Marine Blakely and a Marine Elite NPC in one area of hilly terrain, and placed a Colombian Elite soldier and regular soldier in another area. They shoot at one another.
I have been reading through the Documents provided with the SP package, such as Texturing and NPC files to name but two. However I cannot find any documents that actually show one how to
animate (control) the NPC characters for movement
such as moving as a team, such as we see in the Colombian Missions in the regular game.

The document on Navigation Points only explains theory as to how some tool can be used to make NPC's move about, jump over objects etc..
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So my question is................
Has anyone found a source of information and
perhaps examples on how to organize NPC into
team actions? For instance, a squad of Marines
moving in a prescribed area of search and destroy.
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I sense that there is a way to even have John Mullins direct orders for a NPC or group of NPC's to take a particular action, such as moving forward
in a given direction, but the methods are eluding me at present. YES, I have started to examine the KAM6 supplied map that comes with the SP tool kit. It is a bit difficult to discover how exactly NPC characters are set up, due to the extreme density of object placement and the variety of functions placed into the map.

Any feedback would be appreciated. And if anyone wants to communicate via email on how NPC control is created I am open to personal email exchanges.

cheers all,
grb

hi, this is done through icarus scripting. sorry i have never used it. -- SoF2_Scripting.doc has the info

Narc,
Thanks for feedback. Looks like between the doc on NPC, Scripting, and Navigation, one has the required documentation to attempt creating functional scripts for NPC control, for Single User
Missions. The script doc alone has 32 two pages of text with little whitespace.
Lastly, upon firing up BehavED.exe I noticed a few error messages in a status window, indicating that the program could not find certain files (in this case header files used by the C compiler), perhaps they will not be required. That is, they may have been special C Compiler Header files used by the Raven Dev. Team and hopefully will not hinder the tool from working on new files. Time will tell.

Lastly, it would appear that the Navigation Doc is academic in nature, and does not provide any information on how to actually define and place nav points etc.. It referes to a document that is not present in the SDK package. Hopefully with a little experimentation I will be able to figure out how to define and place nav points etc., to then allow one to create scripts for NPC movement and actions which require one to use the nav points, e.g. patrol a perimeter area, and take certain actions once an enemy target is spotted. Looks like a long term project is in order.

cheers,
grb

there is a sample map that is included, kam6.map

also is the uncompiled scripts for the map, you can look into those:

ambush_one.txt
ceiling_cart.txt
door_ambush.txt
el_down.txt
el_downb.txt
el_up.txt
elev_see_player.txt

i will take a look to see if i can see how it works

Hi Narc,
Thanks for the info. I have been examining the kam6.map in some detail. As you are aware it is huge. At present I do not grasp how one applies the various key values for a given entity such as the
soldiers. Unless I am a totally missing what is available in the SP SDK documentation files, I simply do not see any instructions that show one how to utilize scripting files to communicate with a given entity(s) such as a soldier, where one would like the soldier to move from x to y for instance. The document titled scripting.doc does go into a lot of detail on how to write various type scripts, BUT nowhere do I find any practical instructions as how to then use the scripts in the map. There is a BehavED tool (the script Editor) that comes with the
SP SDK. But no hints as to what to do with the
"compiled script file" one compiles using that tool.
I am going around in circles on this issue.

Thanks for the script_file.txt references you made in this thread. I see them under the scriptskam6
directory as you indicated.

Perhaps simply placing these text files with the appropriate scripting commands in the correct
mission name scripting subdir as we see here is
how one gets the scripts to run....
But then I would ask......why does the BehavED
tool have a compile button that compiles the stuff
one sees in a script_file.txt file into a script_file.
file (a compiled version)?
As you may be aware, we see mostly these compiled script files under all the mission sub script directories, that is filenames with a "" extension, which indicate that they are compiled script files from source files with the "txt" extension.

All this is still a mystery to me. I will certainly share the answer and how to do the stuff once I figure it out.

best regards,
grb (George).

they do need to be compiled, i will look into this later on tonight (im on lunch break) -- try to find websites with jk2 or elite forces tutorials since they use the same icarus scripting language and they may have some useful info.

to setup behaved you MUST do this:

take the 2 files channels.h and IGInterface.h from C:SoF2SDKspcode and put them into C:SoF2SDKbinSourceForBehavEd (you must create that folder)

Narc,
Once again, thank you for your help.
I did as instructed. I had a bad password so could not get back sooner. Eric fixed the problem.
While I was not able to respond to this thread, I have made contact with a Scott McNutty, yea, he developed the Hong Kong Missions for SOF2 and quite a bit of other things. He has indicated that he will be willing to share some methodolgy such as how to create nav points, how to script_runner entities etc., must be created. He indicated that he was not familiar with the the scripting required for the Columbian Missions...all the good stuff!
But I sense he ( you probably know of the individual), will be able to help establish the underlining rule set for us to follow.
Apparently you are rather intereseted in this facet of mission development. I hope you and others such as Foxhound and Brutus, Gee I only know your call signs at this point, can get together and
build on the knowledge you folks have been able to produce, concerning the SDKs etc.
Obviously this facet of developement would open up much fun and joy for many of us that always wanted to program a mission where we can have squads of good guys and bad guys perform warfare tactics as we see in the col series missions.

I will do my best, time permitting and intellegience level, to give to this forum help in how to accomplish these type missions once I become familiar enough to do so.
Thanks again for your help thus far.
grb (George is my real name) Please all use it if so desired.
Lastly, as indicated in earlier threads, I am open to personal email contact with any serious sof2 developers that want to share knowledge concerning above stated goals. I respect the right to only send "clean -virus checked" files and email to others. And would expect the same of anyone wanting to communicate on a personal level.

cheers,
grb (George)....hey this stuff is starting to get neat!

my name is mike, i can be reached at narc@gdconnect.com -- looking forward to any info scott comes up with. i think i know enough now to bang out a simple script but i havent any time to do so, not for a few more days :(

Narc,
Thanks for the input. As indicated in email message to you, I would like to work with all of us on this forum that want to learn how to control NPC's etc, using the scripting tools.
I am going to limit what I say in the forum until a few us get down pat how to get scripts to work
as desired and how to use the navigational system.
I will plan on more personal emailing until we as a group have a solid idea as to what to best write in the forum, that will give all the basic methods to do this things. So if you do not hear from me to much it is because I am in the process of absorbing stuff sent to me and trying the stuff out. No use writing stuff in the forum until one has this stuff under their belts.

cheers to all,
grb (George)