AI Debug Draw

Overview

When debugging AI behaviors, one of the most useful console variables is ai_DebugDraw.

Setting this cvar to 1 will result in debug information being drawn above the head of any active AI. In game mode, you can also press F11 to set ai_DebugDraw to 1 or zero.

You can use ai_AgentStatsDist to set the radius within which entity debug info will be drawn.

Generally, it will look like this:

There's a lot of information here, so it's broken down below:

A) REGENERATE COVER SURFACES - This means that the cover surfaces haven't been generated. If the game that you're working on supports cover surfaces, speak to a designer about this.

B) This is the name of the Entity - The name will be green for vehicle AI (i.e. the actual vehicle. The driver and passenger names will be in white).

C) Pipe User Group ID.

D) These are cover/combat state indicators. The conditions are true when they're lit up red, false if grey:

AbbreviationDescription
MC Moving to Cover
M/ICMoving in Cover / In Cover
CCCover Compromised
ALIs Alarmed

E) Current Behavior Name.

F) Current Target Name.

G) Current Target Perception:

AbbreviationDescription
VIS Visual
MEM Memory
SND Sound
AGG Aggressive
THRThreatening
INT Interesting

H) Current Goal Pipe Name.

I ) Current Goal Op Name - If the goalop is active, it will be rendered white. If paused, it will be rendered grey.

J) Stance name and Speed.

K) Aim information and Fire mode.

More AI Debug Draw

More information on AI Debug Draw can be found here. (OLD AI SYSTEM IN LINK, NEEDS UPDATING)

Network AI Debug Draw

In multi-player sessions, AI is updated on the server. If it's a dedicated server, there may be a need to transmit AI debug draw data to the client to display. This is controlled by the following CVars:

CVar

Description

ai_NetworkDebug

Disable (0) or enable (1) the transmission of AI debug draw data to the client. To display transmission summary (on the client's display), use ai_NetworkDebug 2.

ai_NetworkDebugBytesPerSecond

Maximum transmission rate in bytes per second.

ai_NetworkDebugChannel

Network channel which the server uses to send AI debug draw data.

ai_NetworkDebugClientHost

Network address of the client.

ai_NetworkDebugMinDelay

Delay between successive transmissions.

cl_serveraddr

Server address that the client will try to connect to when the user types connect. Default is "localhost".