Mapping and pathfinding system

[|MODS|RoyaltY]

Dear Reign of the Undead Community !

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This new thread aims to list the maps added in the game, gather your feedback on the potential addition of future maps. It also has an educational goal to help you understand how RotU maps work.

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Current in-game maps and more.....

We currently have 76 maps in the game, but this doesn't stop us from adding new ones. We have sorted them by size, which makes our job easier for balancing map sizes. It's thanks to your feedback that we add some of the new maps.

Small maps: 25
- mp_harbor
- mp_surv_avignon
- mp_surv_aztec
- mp_surv_deathtrap
- mp_surv_dock
- mp_surv_doomed
- mp_surv_downfall
- mp_surv_downtown
- mp_surv_flood
- mp_surv_ghosttown
- mp_surv_house
- mp_surv_labyrinth
- mp_surv_landing
- mp_surv_minister
- mp_surv_night
- mp_surv_remix
- mp_surv_shipment
- mp_surv_smallcity
- mp_surv_snowballfight
- mp_surv_store
- mp_surv_tunnel
- mp_surv_urban
- mp_surv_village
- mp_surv_walkway
- mp_surv_wintergarden
______________________________________
Medium maps: 16
- mp_carentan
- mp_chateau
- mp_depot
- mp_neuville
- mp_pavlov
- mp_stalingrad
- mp_surv_border
- mp_surv_coliseumclash
- mp_surv_corridor
- mp_surv_markplatz
- mp_surv_mogadishu
- mp_surv_swamp
- mp_surv_town
- mp_surv_vacant
- mp_surv_vieuxville
- mp_surv_zombiestown
______________________________________
Giant maps: 35
- mp_brecourt
- mp_dawnville
- mp_powcamp
- mp_railyard
- mp_rocket
- mp_surv_alcatraz
- mp_surv_axissupply
- mp_surv_base
- mp_surv_bellicourt
- mp_surv_bootcamp
- mp_surv_borisovka
- mp_surv_brest
- mp_surv_bridge
- mp_surv_brjansk
- mp_surv_cemetery
- mp_surv_duklapass
- mp_surv_dust
- mp_surv_fenneks
- mp_surv_fivepoints
- mp_surv_heldoorn
- mp_surv_insanity
- mp_surv_leninsquare
- mp_surv_midnight
- mp_surv_minifoy
- mp_surv_poker
- mp_surv_prague
- mp_surv_remagen
- mp_surv_saint
- mp_surv_scuffle
- mp_surv_shippingdock
- mp_surv_soccer
- mp_surv_sshq
- mp_surv_tenchu
- mp_surv_tigertown
- mp_surv_warehouse

some potential in-dev maps:
- mp_surv_mohstalingrad
- mp_surv_icedharbor
- mp_surv_office
- mp_surv_outfrance

The choice of maps.

One of the top priorities and important aspects close to the development team's heart is to provide a diverse map pool that can appeal to a broad audience. We place great importance on this aspect, which is why we invest a lot of effort into it.
We aim to add more maps in the future and put an end to the current rotation of Remix - Tunnel - Store. We are always attentive and open to your recommendations because it's thanks to you that certain maps come to life here. Feel free to give us ideas to modify actual maps too

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Zombies path and waypoints edition...

In this section, we'll explain the process used to allow our dear Helga to chase after you and attempt to eliminate you in wave 17. First and foremost, it's essential to understand what the A* (A-star) algorithm is and how it governs the slightest movements of the zombies. "A* is like Greedy Best-First Search in that it can use a heuristic to guide itself. (Stanford University)" In simplified terms, the A* algorithm is a pathfinding algorithm in a graph between an initial node and a final node (see the gif below).

A* search algorithm example of operation (Wikipedia:A* Search PathFinding)

Now that you have a basic understanding of how the A* algorithm works, it's important to know that Reign of the Undead use a system of nodes, also known as waypoints, which allows zombies to take the fastest path to reach the nearest player. Of course, when a player is no longer in close proximity to a waypoint, the algorithm ensures that the zombies reach the player as quickly as possible by advancing in a straight line and ignoring collisions and physics in general.

It's time to see how the waypoint system works in Reign of the Undead. To create a complete network, you first need to place a node. Of course, a single node alone is useless, so we'll need to create another one and then link them together.

In this example, we have 8 nodes that are linked to each other.

The path looks like this and you can easily understand how it works.

1-------3--------5-------7          N1 > N2 > N3 > N4

| \         /|\         /|\         /|           N2 > N1 > N3 > N4

                    |   \     /  |  \     /  |  \     /  |           N3 > N1 > N2 > N4 > N5 > N6

                    |     \ /    |    \ /    |    \ /    |           N4 > N1 > N2 > N3 > N5 > N6

                    |     / \    |    / \    |    / \    |           N5 > N3 > N4 > N6 > N7 > N8

                    |   /     \  |  /     \  |  /     \  |           N6 > N3 > N4 > N5 > N7 > N8

| /         \|/         \|/         \|           N7 > N5 > N6 > N8

2-------4--------6-------8          N8 > N5 > N6 > N7

Now imagine this path but with much more link and nodes (mp_surv_zombiestown)

These nodes are placed and linked manually, and some maps can take several hours to several days to be completed.

Here is a completed node network of mp_surv_smallcity.

Here is a completed node network of mp_surv_remix.

Here is a completed node network of mp_surv_shippingdock.

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Know that the development team is very pleased to receive feedback, and it helps us to improve the Quality of Life in Reign of the Undead with the hope of one day achieving a perfect balance. We also wanted to inform you and share our work with you. If you have suggestions for maps or any questions, don't hesitate to use this thread for that purpose.


Best Regards MODS Team

[Ashtonia]

Hi! I don't know if it would be good for it or not, but I was wondering if it were possible to get Hurtgen optimized for zombies? That was my favorite map back in the day and I'd love to see it thrown into the rotation. Thank you to all the devs for their work!

[|MODS| SubZero]

These are all good ideas for Reign of the Undead