Our ReVolt Pub

Hello dudes

Here, is the first free AI Nodes tutorial that contains all the required info about the AI Nodes edit mode. After the original and first release of Re-Volt Archive's tutorial, that contains the base info, RST made on RRR another tutorial that contains everything.

Knowing that no one can access it anymore, the stuff wasn't visible and no one of you can read that tutorial again. Step by step I advanced in discovering, figuring out, testing, searching things about how they work by myself. Now, after about 8 months, I opened the first tutorial about them.

Most of you, including me in the past, think and thought that they don't know how to make AI Nodes. I made correct AI Nodes but the problem appears at Track Zones. That's the thing why some guys don't know how to work with this. Actually AI Nodes and Track Zones, are the main things you need to know to make a track with a racing line.
POS is needed too, but not all the time.

So, this is a small story, now let's start learning. As most of you know, AI Nodes are in all raceable tracks, so let's start with the first steps...

1. How to enter in this mode

It's easy, just go in your Re-Volt menu, type MAKEITGOOD as your name, return back to "Select Race" and choose at 'Edit mode' - AI Nodes, then go to the race mode you want. Here are more options.

You can select 'Single Race' for normal race mode, but here you have to save right after you finished editing and restart the race to see how the AI Cars play.
Also, you can select 'Time Trial' for playing alone, but this works only if you have renamed your track's folder to a stock folder name. Usually nhood1. But if you have the latest tool called "Wolfr4", you won't need this.

You can select 'Championship' but this isn't a really good choice. And you can select 'Practice' mode, but this is bad too. I personally prefer 'Single Race' mode, to not get bored if I edit alone and no other AI Car crashes like damn in the things.

Here's a little pic that shows you the 'Select Race' menu, after entering "MAKEITGOOD" cheat and returned back to 'Select Race'.



Okay, if you have done this, we can advance to the next step.

2. Inserting the first nodes

If you followed right the last step, go to the track you want to edit, and press F4. You'll see that the things will disappear, and you'll see only the track with no other race info on your screen.

Now, press 'Insert'. You'll see a red "bubble" over a green "bubble". If you press Click and keep clicking, and you move your Mouse, you'll see that the Green "bubble" follows your Mouse. Now, if you understand your track correctly, and know the wanted racing line, place the green bubble in the left.

Then, press F6, to return to the race, and press again F4. Now put your mouse over the Red bubble and press Space. Now you can move the Red bubble like you did with the green one! Put this one in the Right.

You have to remember this! Always, when you put AI Nodes, in the Left side is the Green bubble, and in the Right side, put the Red bubble.

Now press F6, and go on with the next AI Node doing the same thing like on the first. Continue so, until you put AI Nodes over all the track. This could be a little annoying, but you have to do it. Always remember to put more nodes in the curves that in normal place when you have to go ahead. It's really needed for a smarter AI. Generally you should have a node every 2 or 3 car lengths, however that's not needed on long straightaways.

Here's a little picture showing you how it should look like.



NOTE: Please notice that there's no middle line yet.

As you can noticed the 'bubbles' are blinking. I can't show in my pic because it's not an animated image. This is because we didn't connect them yet. This we'll learn in the next step.

3. Connecting the nodes

If you did everything correct, and followed correct the last steps, you will be able to connect the AI Nodes that you inserted.

Now it's the time to connect the AI Nodes. This is quite easy. Just put again the mouse over the first node (Red or Green, whichever), and press Space. You'll see a list of info about that node. Now press again Space, and you should see the node blinking faster.

Now put the mouse over the next node and press Space. You'll see that the two nodes are now connected! If you can notice, there's a white line is in the middle. If you did correctly you got the first connected nodes! Good!

Now put the mouse again over the 2nd node, press Space, and the 2nd node should start blinking faster too. If it does, put the mouse over the next node, and press again Space. It takes longer to read and understand than to do, believe me!

Continue so until you connect all lines correctly. Check also if each node has in the Left side green bubble and Right side Red. It's very important!!! If still all nodes blinking and are connected, don't worry.

You have to save! To save you have to press 'Left Ctrl + F4'. You'll see after this a small window that something line File saved... trackname.fan.... etc. I don't really remember. Now check the AI Nodes, and you'll see that they're not blinking anymore. If they are still blinking then you did something somewhere wrong. This happens if you didn't connect them all properly.

After this, restart the race, and you'll see that the opponents will start to follow your AI Nodes. If you did mistakes, the game will crash. So check twice.

Here's a pic that shows you the AI Nodes connected and saved.



Now, let's advance to the next step!

4. AI Nodes Properties

Now that you have the base idea down, it's time to learn how to give properties to the AI Nodes. To change the properties for the racing line press 'Right Enter' and you'll see that the line changes its color, depends of the property. If you want to move the properties reversed, press 'Left Shift + Right Enter' This is one of the most important steps when you create AI for your track. Let's start with the most used one...

A. Racing Line

It is the first property you get. If you take a look, after you connected the nodes, you'll see a white line in the middle. That is called Racing Line. It means, that it doesn't really have a property. It leaves the AI Cars to drive at their max speed. That's why in the curves you should never use this. This is recommended for the zones where you have enough space to drive faster, you and the AI.

Here's a pic that shows you the white Racing Line property.



Let's go to the next property now.


B. Pickup Route

This one is always used when you have a track with splits. If you have a track so, and the AI takes only on route and not both (if you have 2), then choose for the one they don't take, the property as Pickup Route. The AI cars that don't have any weapon ready for use, will take that route to get a weapon from the pickups.

If the car has a weapon ready it will ignore that route. As you can notice the line is now light blue. That means that it's not a simple white racing line anymore. If you want to see if it works, save then restart.

Let me show you a pic with a car that doesn't have a weapon already.



Can you see that car that used the route with the Pickup? Can you also notice the blue line? So looks the Pickup Route. This means that it doesn't have any weapon ready. Now let's pass to the next step.

C. Stairs

This is not really known. It just doesn't seem to do anything to the AI. It is always used when the AI Cars drive on stairs. I noticed that this on helps the AI stay on their wheels and not crash. The line of this property is grey. To show you what I'm meaning, look at this picture...



Now, if you understand what Stairs Property is for, and how it works, then let's go to the next step.

D. Bumpy

This one is very strange. The big cars, like Phat Slug, Panga, Bertha Ballistics and Mouse take them. It is used for tracks with normal and offroad roads. When you make AI Nodes for the offroad part, choose, like on Pickup Route, Bumpy. I don't really think it works, but it worked on some tracks. It is like Soft Suspension - another AI Nodes property that we'll learn soon. The line of this property is like a dark red.

Aeon, a good AI Nodes editor says that the Bumpy is:

Aeon wrote:Bumpy - or whatever it was called - is a route that is more likely to be chosen by cars which have a high Suspension AI setting.

I think I can show you a picture about them...



So, if you have offroad tracks, and used this property and also understood it, let's pass to the next step!

E. 25 mph Slow Down

It does what it says. It slows down the AI car to 25 mph. If the car drives faster than this, it will slow it down. It is a very good one. You'll need also Petrol Throttle or Off Throttle... I'll tell you soon why. The line of this property is yellow.

Now, let me show you a picture with this property.



Do you see the yellow lines? That is the 25 mph slow down property. See also the car? It drives now at 25 mph because it is driving through that node.

Now let's go to the next step, okay?

F. Soft Suspension

It does again what it says. It is used by the AI Cars that have soft suspension. Here are the stock ones that uses it: Phat Slug, Mouse, Bertha Ballistics, Rotor & Panga.
It is represented by a light pink line. It can be used mostly on track with splits or shortcuts.

Let me show you a picture with it and how it works.



Can you see that small car? That one is a custom one that has soft suspension. That's why it chose that line. Also the pink line is the Soft Suspension. So, now we can advance to the next step!

G. Jump Wall

Another unknown property, but the title can give a clue what it does. Somehow, it makes the AI car to keep a distance between the car and the wall. It's like on Toy World 1, where you jump close to a wall, well, it makes the AI car to keep a distance between the wall and the car. It is represented by a grey line.

It's hard to tell exactly what it is, but let me just show you a picture with it.



Do you see the car that is ready to jump close to a wall? Well, this AI Nodes property makes the car to keep a distance from the wall.

If you didn't understand exactly what this property does, then just ask in this topic. If not, let's advance.

H. Title Screen S...

It's not unknown, it slows down the car. Only the 3rd name of the property is unknown, but what it does is to slow down the car. It slows most of all properties, it slows a car to 5 mph. It isn't used in any of the stock tracks and not too much at customs. It's useful for the tracks with small racing line, where the AI crashes in a lot of things. It is again represented by a grey line, please don't confuse it with the other properties.

Let's see a picture with the property...



Do you see the car? It's going very slow at about 7 mph because the racing line is very small, that's why there are also used AI Nodes wall (we'll learn soon about it).

If you understood what it is, let's go on!

I. Turbo Line

This one if for telling the AI Cars that it's a good place for using battery. If the AI car doesn't have the battery as the next ready weapon and it drives over a node with this property it'll use the battery. A tip; don't place this property along the road ahead. Only at the beginning. If not, it could use the battery only when it finished going through the AI and will be a problem. It is represented by a red line to suite its action.

Let me show a picture with a car that uses battery and an example of a good place to use this property.



Do you see Cougar that uses the battery? Well, this is because it drives over the AI Nodes with Turbo Line property. Also, do you see that it's low ahead road? No curves? So it has to be. Find the best place for battery use, and use the property there. Every track needs one.

If you have questions, I hope you know what you should do, just ask here! And now let's advance!

J. Long Pickup Route

Like 'Pickup Route' this is used to tell the AI Car where to drive to get a pickup if it hasn't one. It doesn't work every time on all tracks, but sometimes you can find workable one. The Palm Marsh track used a lot of this. There are 2 routes. One shorter and one longer. On the shorter is no pickup, and on the longer is. So, when you make AI for the longer route, use this property to tell the AI car that there's a pickup. If not, the AI will ignore that route. The cars that have a weapon already, will ignore that route. The color for this like is a black red.
Let me show you a picture with this property.



Do you see the car that uses that line? And it's also a pickup there that the car just picked up. Also, please notice that that route is longer that the other. That's why it is called 'Long Pickup Route'. Let's advance, okay?

K. Short Cut

It tells the car when there's a shorter way. If you have a track with two routes, where ever you put that property, the car will follow it. Even if you put the Short Cut for the longer route, the AI will drive only on that route, even if it's longer. The AI cars sometimes take this route for a short cut. Pretty self explanatory. If the car is close to the node it will take that line over the default racing line. Here's a picture so you can better understand what I mean.



Do you see the cars and the Skid Marks? That means that all the AI cars take that route, even if, how it seems, it's not the shortest. So, if you want the AI to follow only one route, use this property with the pink line named Short Cut. Let's skip now to the next property, right?

L. [color=00009C]Long Cut[/color]

The AI cars sometimes take this route if they accidentally drive into it. This may happen because of oil, getting shoved, or just a simple loss of control.



As you can see in the pic above, the AI car on the right lost control and swerved into the Long Cut node. It will follow that until it rejoins with the Racing Line. Moving on.

M. [color=32CD99]Barrel Block[/color]

This property is unknown, and I could not find anywhere in the stock tracks where it is used.

N. Off Throttle/Petrol Throttle

It's very important! Most of the experienced AI users place these properties before using the slow down properties. It doesn't let the AI cars to get out of control making an 180 turn, losing time. Let me show you a picture to see where to place it...



The image shows an Off Throttle. The Petrol Throttle makes the car repeatedly go off throttle and then back on quickly. The car goes go, off, go, off etc...
Depends only of you which one you'd like to use. Let's go on!

O. [color=EE6A50]Wilderness[/color]

Not much is known on this property. Urnemanden however has developed a fitting theory that might be true. He says:

Urnemanden wrote:I think that the wilderness property was made for the AI to have a backup-line just in case that it came off-road. These backup lines could help the AI avoid all the obstacles on its way back to the racing line, and help it save important time and get further in the race. Of course you just have to set up these backup-lines the most important places.

Urnemanden's theory is very possible and I think it's correct.
Here's an image of NY54 who got shot off the racing line.

He crashed off the normal Racing Line nodes and ended up on the Wilderness nodes.

P. [color=FF3030]10/20/30 MPH Slowdowns[/color]
They do exactly what the 25 MPH Slowdown does, they slow the car to the desired speed. You really shouldn't need a screen shot to understand this one...

[color=000000]Tips and Tricks[/color]

String multiple node properties together to get the best AI.
Making decent AI involves simply moving the racing line and making slowdowns. Making great AI involves combining almost every type of node.

Use the throttle properties!
Sure slowdowns are important too, but if you really want to make good AI you have to use everything. Sometimes slowdowns aren't the best node for the job. If you have an AI line that has a sharp narrow turn in it, maybe you don't have enough space to slow the car down, and if you have them suddenly slam the brakes then you might have them crashing into each other. A better alternative would be if you set a Petrol Throttle section a while before the corner, thus slowing the car down more effectively than the wall.

Keep the line level and smooth
This may sound stupid, however please keep the line on the ground and not in the sky. How can you edit and perfect your AI when the nodes are floating?
Also, you should try and keep you line as smooth as possible. You wouldn't want a car to turn right, and then swerve left randomly. That would just make the AI horrendous.

Place racing lines near the start away from each other
I see this happen too many times and I also found a place where i made the mistake as well.
When I created Museum ZR I noticed this, but it never seemed to do it when I tested for it. It got past me because of the arrangement of the cars on the grid. I tried to do it, but didn't place the lines far enough away from each other. I'm talking about the huge crash at the start of a race.
Check this image out.



Funny right? Not so much if you're trying to avoid that huge pileup. It starts to get really annoying really fast. By simply placing the racing line and overtaking line farther apart from each other, then this huge pile of sprinters could be avoided.

[color=3300FF]Credits[/color]

This tutorial was created by Miromiro & Zipperrulez.
Special thanks to Urnemanden for his information about the Wilderness property.
This tutorial is copyrighted by Re-Volt Live but we really don't care if you use it on other sites giving credit.
We hope you learned something.

Edits and Updates will be always. And you'll know when that will happen.
Please don't post non related posts. If you do, they'll be deleted. Only feedback or questions.

This is good! Thanks! It helps to know the other side of the car behaviour, even though I personally only deal with the car-specific AI in parameters.txt.

-----
CW

I agree with Citywalker, this tutorial brings out very useful information. Some folks with slower connections might have trouble loading up the high res pictures, but the images gives a nice overview and makes the tutorial look good. (:

Thanks for the feedback guys.
This tutorial was actually made before summer. Released it on 23 July on RVL, but no one really seemed to 'like' it.

So, I was thinking that someone from ORP might use it. Enjoy.

original topic:
http://z3.invisionfree.com/Revolt_Live/ ... topic=1026
thanks for feedback guys.

Very nice

I like this tut dont say that anyone doesnt like it

miromiro @ Nov 30 2010, 10:38 PM wrote: H. Title Screen S...

It's not unknown, it slows down the car. Only the 3rd name of the property is unknown, but what it does is to slow down the car. It slows most of all properties, it slows a car to 5 mph. It isn't used in any of the stock tracks and not too much at customs. It's useful for the tracks with small racing line, where the AI crashes in a lot of things. It is again represented by a grey line, please don't confuse it with the other properties.
...

=> Title Screen Slow Down

found directly from revolt.exe