Installation

This mod has 3 modules:

• AIHelper, basically handles the data being sent back and forth to the game server. Everything related to pathfinding can be found here. The majority of the code here is Python 3.8.
• navigation, the UI module. Typically compiled using vuicc.
• bf3_bots_bot (previously named 'squarerfive_bots_mod'), the base mod that interfaces with the other two modules.

To install AIHelper, head to the releases page (https://github.com/SquarerFive/bf3-bots/releases) and download AIHelper-binaries-x-y-z.zip for the latest version. Extract it and then click on !start_aiserver.bat.

For bf3_bots_mod, copy that folder into your server instance path/Admin/Mods/. Then add bf3_bots_mod to your modlist.txt file. Read the documentation on Venice Unleashed if you are still unsure about installing a mod.

Start your BF3 server, then join the server using your BF3 client. You should see a navigation bar with a few options.

To spawn in bots, use the command !add_bots <num_bots>. The soldier entities for the bots will not spawn until you log in and activate a project onto the server. It is recommended to run this command before logging in.

Hold down F1 to focus all input onto the UI, then click 'Login' to Register (or login into) your account (this is done to stop random players from messing with the server settings).

You should be logged in once registered, open the menu on the top left, and then click 'Projects'. Inside each project, there is a set of nav-meshes available for each map with separate loadout configs. Click 'set active' to assign a project to the server. The navmesh should automatically load (if it's generated for the current map).

Then to get the bots moving, you'll need to start a separate task: !start_computetask.bat. This runs separately to the server so the game itself can stay synchronized with the server without any interruption. You will need to restart this when loading up a new level or updating the nav mesh.