Anyways, the point is that (from my tests) I can tell you that mmaps are now less “stupid” in most areas (I’ve only tested instances so far), althought there are still some mistakes left, I aim to fix them soon.
Curious, does your utility improve the speed in generating the mmaps? I knew it would take a while so rather than tie up my main machine, I used an old P4 (Dell) to extract them and it took 32 hours /emoticons/default_blink.png Granted that’s old hardware but still…
Edit:
To clarify, I am talking about the existing mmaps_generator.exe
It should be somewhat faster, I haven’t really compared the two extractors, but from heuristics and logic, I’d say that MeshExtractor should at least be 35% faster.
Just a followup question, will your extractor address the issue of NPCs not jumping over fences?
I realized this bug still exists when today, while leveling up a new Hunter, the guards around Goldshire took the long way around instead of jumping over fences when I caused aggro on a hostile mob nearby.
I don’t really believe that this behavior is how it should be, but the same premise as in the issue holds true, if we increase the walkable climb in the generator then it should account for it somehow. Tho, as far as i know, creatures don’t “jump”.
This is from the DK starting area. At approx. 1:03 you can see the NPC jump the fence in the upper left (it happens quickly after the scene transition so you might miss it at first).
This one’s from Dalson’s Tears in WPL. At approx. 0:35 you can see an NPC jump over an obstacle in the upper right instead of running around it like they’re doing in Trinity:
Also, at approx. 1:49 as the player jumps over the fence, an NPC on the right side of the screen follows him over the fence (It happens pretty fast because the player is rotating the camera but if you spam pause / play you’ll see it) and also climbs over the barrels before it goes out of frame.
At any rate, this is the behavior that I remember from retail. Without it, ranged classes could easily exploit mobs by hopping over obstacles while the mob constantly tries to figure out how to get around it.
I believe the rule of thumb is (or should be) if a player can jump it than an NPC can too.
You’re thinking too literally. By “jump” I mean they dont go around.
Can you use the maximum height that a player can jump? I know players can jump onto fences so whatever this height is would be an appropriate limit, maybe add a little bit for good measure.
This might help you calculate the proper walkable height. I went to the area depicted in the second video, Dalson’s Tears and took measurements using the GPS command.
The change in elevation should give you an idea of how high the objects are which as shown by the videos is something the NPCs should be able to navigate on instead of around.
Fence
Standing next to
x: 1764.933716
y: -1583.780640
z: 61.495426
Standing on
x: 1765.286743
y: -1583.518555
z: 63.257492
Busted wheel
Standing next to
x: 1788.850586
y: -1518.460693
z: 60.146915
Standing on
x: 1789.226685
y: -1581.362793
z: 61.767513
Edit:
You might know better than me but I think WoW uses the z-axis as elevation? Some games use the y-axis and the z-axis is for depth but I can’t remember which way WoW goes.
At any rate, I’d suggest taking the largest change (ie: the taller object) and then adding a bit (maybe 0.5 to 1.0) just to give some slack in case of inaccuracy in model placement. It’s your call, it is your tool.
Just an FYI, with the current tool (mmaps_generator.exe):
If you go to Shadowglen using the GPS location in the spoiler below and perform a ranged attack on the first NPC listed, it will take a couple steps forward and then stand there locking you in combat. For whatever reason, it is unable to figure out how to path to the player.
If you perform a ranged attack on the second NPC listed, it will run to the same location as the first and also be unable to figure out how to continue pathing to the player
The strange thing is the GPS location is not a hill, valley, or obscured by an obstacle. Also note, neither NPC is evading, you can continue ranged attacks it until it dies.
GPS
x: 10646.452148
y: 767.531189
z: 1319.433472
NPC Info:
name: Mangy Nightsaber
guid: 49639
x: 10674.818359
y: 767.541931
z: 1321.231323
name: Thistle Boar
guid: 46950
x: 10669.375000
y: 745.030884
z: 1321.085449
No point in filing an official bug report since your tool will ultimately replace the current one. I just wanted to give you a heads-up so you can see if your tool can counter this problem.