Editing Mission Builder (section)

==== Waypoints ====

OK, this is the tricky bit.  Waypoints tell the AI how to drive around the track - where they should turn and what speed they should be going.  They're hard to get right, particularly because it's nearly impossible to test them in the editor - the physics is just too different.  Still, you can at least test that the car tries to go around the track, even if it can't quite manage it.

Waypoints are grouped together into Car Paths.  As this is a race track, we only need one.  Wilderness maps need more, to cover every major route.  To create one, go to '''Mission Objects->Mission''', and create a '''Path'''.  Name it ''CarPath''.  Now make this the active group (alt-click), and you're ready to add waypoints.

Waypoints are '''PathMarker'''s, found just below the path object.  Create one and scale it up a bit, and it should look like this:

[[File:MB Screen20.jpg]]

One important point with waypoints - never ever rotate them.  It doesn't do anything, but the collision shape will rotate, so your track doesn't behave the way you expect.  You will need to add one dynamic field to the marker.  Call it ''speed''.  This is the speed in metres per second the AI will try to be going when it hits this waypoint.  Sam's rule of thumb:  "I use 200 for a waypoint you can take flat-out, maybe 40 for ones that can almost be done flat-out, and anything down to about 20 or 25 for tighter corners".  The sequence number sets the order of the waypoints.  It should sort itself out automatically, but you may need to edit it if you play around with the order or something.

Now try creating another waypoint.  You should see a line between them, something like this:

[[File:MB Screen21.jpg]]

This isn't exactly the path the cars will take, but it's a useful confirmation that you've got the points in the right order.  Now you should be able to add all the waypoints you need for your track.  As with checkpoints, more is better.  Inserting extras in the middle of the order is difficult, so it's better to have too many than too few.

The finished version of my carpath looks like this:

[[File:MB Screen22.jpg]]

Now you'll want to test your track.  To do this, you'll need the following file:

[[http://www.filedropper.com/bugfix bug fix]]

This makes the AI cars work in race mode, without it they only work in wilderness maps.  Unzip the file and put it in the darkwind/server/scripts folder in the mission builder.  You'll need to restart the mission builder too.  Now load up your track, drive your car a little out of the way, enter editing mode, and press 1.  An AI car should spawn and drive around the track.  They're not too bright and the physics isn't too good but if it makes it to the finish line with only a couple of helping nudges I generally consider the waypoints good.