Advanced Nav Editing

← Nav Mesh

← Nav Mesh Editing

Using the OBSCURED Attribute

The OBSCURED attribute allows infected to spawn on that area even when the survivors can see it. This is used mainly in areas that are masked such as inside trees.

In VS maps, these are especially helpful in allowing player infected to spawn in more places.

This also prevents survivor bots from seeing infected through objects like bushy trees.

A nav area inside a bushy tree in the first map of the Blood Harvest campaign.

To use the OBSCURED attribute, select the nav area and use "mark OBSCURED" from the console.

Note:Cut up the nav area so that it is completely inside the masked object so that survivors won't see the infected spawn in front of them.

Conforming a drawn Nav Area to a displacement

A nav area drawn on top of a displacement.

When you draw your own nav areas, you will notice that they draw completely flat even if they are drawn on a displacement surface that is not flat.

The nav area conforming to the displacement.

You can drop the nav area to conform to the displacement heights by selecting the nav area and using nav_corner_place_on_ground, or use F2 in the default nav edit config.

It is also useful to use nav_split (Insert) to divide the area further and then use nav_corner_place_on_ground to form more closely to the displacement.

Creating a Nav Area in between two existing Nav Areas

A nav area is missing between two other nav areas.

Instead of hand-drawing a nav area in between two existing areas (that have the same width or length), you can use nav_splice to automatically draw one for you.

Selecting one existing area and moving the cursor over the next nav area.

Select one of the nav areas and then move the cursor over the one that you want to create an area in between.

A new nav area is created in between the two existing areas.

Use "nav_splice" from the console or press O.

A new area gets created in between the two existing areas.

Note:You will need to make sure the new nav area is connected to any areas on the sides. The areas that were used to create the new area will automatically be connected.

Merging Nav Areas

You can merge these two nav areas together.

Nav meshes get bigger in file size with more areas. If you find that your nav mesh file is too large and that you can optimize by merging some areas together, then you can use "nav_merge" to combine two adjacent nav areas that have the same width or length.

The ↵ Enter on the numeric keypad is the default key for nav_merge.

Select one of the nav areas and move the cursor over the other one.

Select one of the nav areas and move the cursor over the one you want to merge it with.

The two nav areas are now combined.

Press KP_Enter to perform a "nav_merge".

Raising/lowering Nav Areas manually

This nav area needs to be raised to be above the railing.

The nav area is raised to the appropriate height.

Sometimes there are thin brushes or props that the nav is difficult to generate on or draw on top of. In these cases, you can draw the nav lower or higher than it needs to be and manually match it later.

The commands "nav_corner_raise" or "nav_corner_lower" can be used to adjust the height of the selected nav areas.

The + and - keys on the numeric keypad can be used to raise and lower nav.

Mouse wheel method

The included nav_edit.cfg also contains some special bindings to move nav areas vertically using the mouse wheel.

1. Press the 5 (center) key on the numeric keypad.
2. Use the mousewheel to raise and lower the nav areas.
3. Press the 5 (center) key on the numeric keypad again to leave this mode.

Finding problems in your Nav Mesh

There are several situations you should not create in a Nav Mesh. These errors can cause AI to become stuck or just not to function properly.

These situations can be found easily by the "nav_trouble_report" command in the console. This will select the offending areas. You can zoom out in noclip mode to see them.

Running the nav_trouble_report performs the following tests:

Name of test	Command	Description
Orphan check	orphan	Nav areas that aren't connected to the rest of the nav mesh
Missing Battlefield check	battlefield	Some nav areas are missing BATTLEFIELD attribute within the BATTLEFIELD
Missing Finale check	finale	Some nav areas are missing the FINALE attribute within the FINALE
Missing Checkpoint check	checkpoint	Some nav areas are missing the CHECKPOINT attribute within the CHECKPOINT
Overlap check	overlapping_areas	Multiple nav areas occupy the same space
Corner-to-corner connection check	corner-to-corner	Nav areas are connecting at the corners
Climb links from stairs check	climb_up_from_stairs	Nav areas have two-way connections on and off the sides of stairs
Connection to overlapping area check	connection_to_overlapping_areas	Connections between nav areas are overlapping
Long horizontal connection check	long_horizontal_connections	Connections between nav areas are too long
Double connections check	multiple_connections	Nav areas are connected multiple times
Floating/interpenetrating world check	floating_or_interpenetrating_areas	Nav areas are too high or too low
Areas with non-walkable connections check	non-walkable_connections	Nav is saying that you can walk from one area to the next but you can't
Disconnected ladder check	ladder_disconnected	A ladder isn't connected to any nav areas
Overlapping ladder check	ladder_overlapping	Two or more ladders are on top of each other
Non-climbable ladder check	ladder_not_climbable	A ladder can not be climbed (a prop or brush might be blocking it)

You can also run nav_trouble_report <test_name> with individual parameters to just find errors each category. For example:

nav_trouble_report finale
nav_trouble_report orphan

See also

• Navigation Meshes
• Navigation Mesh Commands
• Nav_mode.cfg

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