I want to play a couple of TF2 games with a friend to get them interested in the game, but I don't want to have them go up against human opponents as players tend to be harsh on newbies. I know that some maps have playable bot support, but others don't. Which maps of each game type (Payload, Capture the Intelligence, Control Points, King of the Hill, etc.) support bots?
-
If you haven't already, I'd also suggest taking a look at this question – Robotnik♦ Jun 6 '13 at 10:24
The currently officially supported game modes for bots (according to my reading of the official wiki) are:
- King of the Hill (KOTH)
- Payload
- Attack/Defend Control Point
- Capture the Flag
In particular, Arena is not supported, nor are unofficial deathmatch-only maps. If the bots do not see a known objective they will simply sit in spawn doing nothing.
The officially supported maps (also from the wiki) are:
- Badlands (KOTH only)
- Badwater Basin
- Barnblitz
- Dustbowl
- Gold Rush
- Gorge
- Hoodoo
- Kong King
- Lakeside
- Mann Manor
- Nucleus (KOTH only)
- Sawmill (KOTH only)
- Thunder Mountain
- Upward
- Viaduct
You can cause a navmesh to be computed for any map using the following commands, but that doesn't necessarily mean the bots will act sensibly:
map <whatever>
sv_cheats 1
nav_generate
sv_cheats 0
-
Darn, ninja'd me! Notes: Badlands, Nucleus, Sawmill, Lakeside, and Viaduct are KOTH; Dustbowl, Mann Manor, and Gorge are A/D; Badwater, Gold Rush, Hoodoo, Thunder Mountain, Upward, and Barnblitz are Payload. CTF maps do not have navmeshes by default, but if generated, the official ones should work. – Schism Jun 6 '13 at 3:22
-
Also, you could handcraft a .nav mesh for a map to force the bots to act sensibly (at least when moving). – Riking Jun 6 '13 at 6:57
To complement @Kevin Reid's answer, there's also the cooperative game mode:
Man Vs. Machine
MvM is a game mode where up to 6 players try to stop waves of robotic (A.I.) players from deploying a bomb in different Mann Co strongholds. (Source)
Whilst the gameplay (Wave defense) can be a bit different from the regular maps (King of the Hill, Attack/Defend, Payload or Capture Points), it can be a good training ground to get used to the different classes and how they operate.
-
1MvM coop is extremely fun if you're playing with people you know, or spent a voucher for a Tour of Duty. Boot camp tends to be really hit-or-miss since it's where most of the clowns and trolls gravitate to. – Shadur Jun 6 '13 at 7:44
-
1@Shadur - I usually play with 1 or 2 friends, and yes, I can admit that we come across the occaisional troll, but on the whole I've had a fairly positive experience playing MvM. I find I get way more trolls in Left 4 Dead than Tf2s MvM – Robotnik♦ Jun 6 '13 at 7:59
