User Guide

Delta Force Task Force Dagger - Mission Editor Manual - 06/11/02
Page 18
Section 6: Waypoints
Waypoint groups tell vehicles and soldiers where to go. Before you can assign a unit to a set of
waypoints, you have to name them. Choose Waypoints under the Edit menu to bring up the
waypoint window. You can name a waypoint group with whatever name you chose, but it should
be self-explanatory. The “Waypoint Size” show’s how many individual waypoints are part of a
waypoint group. If you check the “Waypoint does not loop” checkbox, then the unit will come to
a stop at its last waypoint. Otherwise, units reaching their last waypoint will attempt to head
directly back to their first waypoint and repeat the path. Be sure to check the appropriate red or
blue team box. When you are done click OK. To print out a list of your waypoint group names,
click Save As to save the list to a text file then print that file.
While waypoints are there to guide the players, they aren’t required to follow them. So NEVER
use “group 1 has reach waypoint…” as a trigger. Instead create a large Area Trigger (detailed
under events) which covers anywhere the player could be when you want the event to happen and
use the “group 1 in area…” trigger.
Waypoints are placed the same way as any other objects. In Insert Mode, select Markers from
the list and choose Waypoint.
Waypoint Distance
Altering the distance of the waypoint in the Items Attribute window alters its effective size.
Setting the distance to zero means that any AI trying to reach that waypoint will hit the point
exactly, even if it means lining up in a column to do it. A larger distance gives more leeway,
especially for the player who may not follow your waypoint course exactly or for NPC’s
marching shoulder to shoulder.
Numbering Waypoints
In the window in the lower left of the screen you will see two numbers, such as 1-1 or 2-5, which
designate the selected waypoint. The number before the dash indicates its Waypoint List number.
The number after the dash indicates its position in that list. Waypoints are numbered from 0 up,
not 1 up. So, to the trigger, the second waypoint in a list is “1” no matter what they numbered the
object as.
Placing waypoints:
1. First we will set down waypoints for the player. Go to Edit in the menu and then select
Waypoints
2. Select the first slot. Click in the Description box and type “Player’s Waypoints”
3. Below that is a box that determines a color for the lines connecting the waypoints. Select a
color if you feel like it (blue works well for player waypoints since they are the blue team).
Choosing different colors helps differentiate visually between groups when you have many
waypoints in a small area.
4. Below the color box is a check box. This determines whether or not your waypoints will loop.
If this is a not checked, any NPC’s following this path will return directly to the first waypoint
once the path is completed. We don’t want our first waypoint list to loop. Click on it so that it is
checked.
5. Check the box that says “Blue Team Waypoint” to specify which team it belongs to. Now click
OK.
6. Go to Insert Mode by pressing the INSERT key.