[released][u1][ut] UBS.u "Unreal Buddy System"

[Dr.Flay]

I am glad to contribute in some small way.
It makes more sense in Unreal as we have access to the advanced options as standard, but UT can also open it from the console.
Also it saves you messing with building a Umenu-GUI.
I even tweak int files for mods with menu items, just so I can access all the options this way.

The light-sabre was a moment of inspiration, as my buddy can now not only successfully defend itself when out of ammo, but also attack (although they do seem to insist on waving it at distant enemies).

[Sat42]

I had meant to drop by this thread and report on my experience with the Unreal Buddy System
[UDHQ]Jackrabbit, you probably read my post in the Aftermath thread, but here's a report solely focussed on UBS:

I think it works real good! The buddy is helpful, the commands you can use to make it follow you or stay put, change weapons or give one to you etc work as intended and I can tell some good work went into ensuring the buddy follows you onto lifts etc. I'd say it works as well as the allies in ONP but with the obvious three significant differences that, ultimately, make UBS an improvement: your buddy can change weapons and follows the same rules (ammo count...) as you; there is no bumping with your buddy (the bumping was no real prob in ONP, but it could make things a bit awkward on lifts etc); it can teleport if it really gets stuck!

About the teleportation feature: it's good from a pure gameplay perspective, however in my view this can break immersion - but UBS works so well that I have to say this feature is really non-invasive, and when playing Battle at Nyleve's Falls I really couldn't tell you if my buddy teleported more than once, and that one time was inconspicuous: I had gone for a swim in the river and sorta figured my buddy hadn't followed me - when I came out of the water and took that lift adjacent to the bridge, I still couldn't see her, and basically thought I'd run over to where I'd left her (around that hut) after getting the DP power-up; well, as I ran back in the tunnel that connects the bridge to the area where the hut is, suddenly I saw that she was actually running up to me in the tunnel; that's impossible without the teleportation feature, because there are no walkways leading back from the hut to the lift which takes you to the Vortex Rikers (you can't jump over the small cliff) and since she hadn't followed me in the river... but equally I didn't see her "pop" into my field of view, which added plausibility to the idea that she had just joined me the "legit" way. Anyhow, I don't know if that was just lucky, but throughout my entire play I never saw my buddy teleport and at the same time my buddy never really got stuck so congratulations on this mod

I hope to see more projects use this mod, there's lots of potential!

[xRedStar]

I'm not totally sure that the bot is really designed to secretly teleport to you, I'm not really sure how that is possible actually. But it is definitely important for the AI to use lifts and avoid teleporting at all costs because it really does take away a great portion of the AI's presentation as an individual player. I like to pretend that I'm playing through Unreal with a friend and not a ghost. But I've said enough, I really think this mod is great. This is something Unreal could really need in times when the player count is getting lower. I think it is imperative that there should be fully functional cooperative bots for Unreal though. One who will play like a real person, who may choose to follow you if it is lost or doesn't have path nodes in queue. Long story short, one day we wont have a great list of people left playing and I wouldn't mind seeing something like this. At least the feel of playing Coop wont go away. I've investigated AI and States and it all just seems really hairy if you want me to tell you the truth. It is like being an engineer for a car and fixing wires and all kinds of parts being assembled in proper order and style. Programming AI is just so difficult I am actually surprised anyone could had done something like the UBS.

great job!

[Dr.Flay]

You can have the bot teleport to a point outside your field of view.
This is how the TWT_Zombies were modified by Gopostal and MrLoathsome, so they don't just pop into view.
They either appear behind you or around the corner.

My only issue with UBS is the amount of errors it creates, and the huge size of my log files.
These are the 3 main culprits, but the AmmoType error is the worst

Code: Select all

ScriptWarning: UnrealBuddyItem DmUnrealCityEFX.UnrealBuddyItem0 (Function UBS.UnrealBuddyItem.Synchronize:0661) Accessed None 'AmmoType'
ScriptWarning: MaleTwoBuddy DmUnrealCityEFX.MaleTwoBuddy0 (Function UBS.UnrealBuddy.PlayCombatMove:003D) Accessed None 'Enemy'
ScriptWarning: MaleTwoBuddy DmUnrealCityEFX.MaleTwoBuddy0 (Function UBS.UnrealBuddy.FireWeapon:01F4) Accessed None 'Target'

[[UDHQ]Jackrabbit]

I also would vouch for realism over functionality, but there is indeed a balance between the two when wanting to create a fully functional follower ai (with or without paths). I know there is still room for improvement in regards to the teleporting system among other thinga and it is something I am likely to revisit in the future, but for now my work in unreal has shifted from programmer to mapper. If I had a clone tool, I'd use is about three times on myself and make them my developer slaves . Thanks for the feedback once again and I warn people who use my mod with UT that UBS is more likely to crash and this is something I will also be looking at to fix in the next version.

@dr.flay
Thanks I'll fix those bugs in the next version. How big was your log file if you don't mind me asking? If it was in the gigabytes I might consider a quick hotfix.

[Radi]

Great mod ! but to be honest, the AI buddy needs some tweaks, like some checking if player is on line of fire. Many times he just shot me from behind accidentally when he sees a monster, causing only problems. Also he grabs important items like super health when I need them, should be some command to allow him to grab some items, otherwise he should do not touch these.
It is possible to add display buddy status (health, armors, weapons, ammo) when pointing at him with crosshair ?

[xRedStar]

I did discover one bug but it isn't that important... if the AI has a shield belt, you can only see it on him if you're in behindview 1. I found that kinda odd...

But to add to the post above, I would recommend the ability to tell the bot to use or activate items too.

[Radi]

Now I tried to play Return to Napali mission pack. And its unplayable with Buddy system, on first intermission game hangs with just black screen. Also buddy looks stupid just spawning in opening and game end scenes . . .

[Dr.Flay]

Opps sorry for the delay.
Thankfully the log file did not go beyond double figures of MB, but I only played 1 game at a time, so not sure of how big it could have got.

[xRedStar]

Hey I am having some trouble starting a server with the buddy mod, the mutator is on and I pick up the buddy item but no buddy will spawn. This is on 227h, is that a problem?

[watcher_of_the_skies]

In case you'd like to download this mod:
http://unrealtournament.99.free.fr/utfi ... archMode=f

@xRedStar you should post the log file. It's almost impossible to tell what's wrong with it just by this.

[xRedStar]

Is this mod incompatible with the Linux version of Unreal 227i? It appears to crash before loading any map with the mutator.