Wirehead Studios

Well, the Q-Forcer has proven to be a great success. Frankly, I think it really is an enjoyably Quakish model. So, I decided it was time for another for the series..

(http://www.tabun.nl/tmp/gen/q2guard_01.jpg)

This time, it's a Stroggish endeavour. I'll probably give him a (somewhat) normal right hand for the Q3 player version, but otherwise it will look quite like the original..

(As with the Q-Forcer, this will not be an official part of Generations, unless we get a green light on it by all the (foxing) parties.)

And we get the 3 classic skins for him - light guard, shotgun guard, and machinegun guard?  I already think I know what taunt animation that you have in the works.  :D

Yup, I'm modelling him in such a way that all 3 versions will be skinnable. :]

To be honest, I hadn't thought about animation details yet, but come to think of it, there's lots of material to work with.. :]

(http://www.tabun.nl/tmp/gen/q2guard_02.jpg)

Oh good, another player model I won't see flying around on Central. ;)

All kidding aside, this should turn out interesting. Keep it up, Tab! :slippy_thumb:

We ever get that drowning noise fixed and Qforcer will pay a visit to Central.

Q-Forcer:
I've adapted OoPpEe's soundpack, adding that drown sound. The 'official' combination of files that, concerning the model author :thumb:, should be distributed, are these:
removed

Btw, I've also made this: installation 'overview' (http://www.tabun.nl/tools/generations_install.html), which might come in handy for those who have a hard time keeping track of all my unofficial additions to Generations.. ;]


Light Guard:
Have made some progress, but nothing worth a screenshot. I'm really looking forward to skinning this one. :]

(http://www.tabun.nl/tmp/gen/q2guard_03.jpg)

He's going to be a bit beefier than the Q2 version, otherwise he'll look downright out of place amongst the Q3 characters. That said, he'll take quite a bit of tweaking 'till I'm happy yet..

And some comparison-shots showing the original:

(http://www.tabun.nl/tmp/gen/q2guard_04.jpg)

The Q-Forcer has been updated.
Because of the swimming bug, this one and the mess of pk3s that was starting to grow, here's a complete pack. Credits are inside, but it's all you need. Consider this an official release.

Complete Q-Forcer Pack
Edit: Down until all bugs are fixed.


---------------------------------------------

(http://www.tabun.nl/tmp/gen/q2guard_05.jpg)

Happy days!! Someone else to shoot (I've already knocked up basic botfiles for all the new Major skins ;) )  :thumb:

Oh, and Tab, cheers for the props  :slippy_thumb:

Hehe, no prob - credit where due. :]

I think I'm done setting up the model. All edges made visible and turned correctly, aside from a wee bit of tweakage, this baby is now ready for unwrapping..

(http://www.tabun.nl/tmp/gen/q2guard_06.jpg)

Finally.. a Q2 model/skin worth using! ..tho I haven't seen the skin yet.. but given Tab's long line of success in that department, I have no reason to worry about that.


Side note about the ol' Q-Forcer... the swim animation seems to be fixed..somewhat. Just that now he walks instead of swims when in water. :)

Nice work on the Strogg guard!  I really like this guy so far.  I'll see about uploading old Qforcer to the Central server shortly as well.

Thanks.
I'm pretty happy with his shape, next on my worries list is 'have I correctly anticipated rigging and animation?' :]

Spawn: the waterwalking is intentional. This is why I referred to it as 'very QuakeWorldish' solution to the problem. ;]

I just tried out the Qforcer model, and I can't get it to show up in any menu at all, not even default Q3 if I put it in baseq3.  I'm not sure what's going on with that, it showed up before...

Heuuu... blast. I should have tested that, too. I just used the exact set of files you handed me in the fix, trusting that it would work if I simply re-packed those.

Hmm... fixed again.  PM again.

That's awesome now that I see the connection. Thumbs up in that regard then. :)

:]

More news on the Q-Forcer will follow later.

The Guard has been unwrapped.

(http://www.tabun.nl/tmp/gen/q2guard_07.jpg)


If anyone is interested in skinning this model, let me know and I'll release an SDK for it.

Well, I had to make some minor adjustments (a pain in the neck, but that's animation (that's animation.. life.. get it? :)). Anyway.

It's rigged!

(http://www.tabun.nl/tmp/gen/q2guard_08.jpg)

Now all it needs is a small bunch of skins and a big bunch of animation frames ...

Looking good!

Very good indeed.

I'm still waiting for someone to bake me the best cake ever.

Anyway, some progress: animations are almost done!

(http://www.tabun.nl/tmp/gen/q2guard_09.gif)

Some tweaking needs to be done on some animations, but the model is progressing nicely.

Not what I was expecting for the taunt but I like it.

Yes, you mentioned something about expecting something specific.. was that expectation based on my earlier work, or on Quake2 animations? :]

Quake 2 animations.

I did have a long look at the animations of the original Guard, but there wasn't anything taunty enough (or simply not doable with Q3's model setup). Point me in the right direction, and if it's really cool, I might give it a try :]

The run/shoot animations on frames 118-126 have a kind of "hero" pose quality, as do the stand frames from 195-214 where he raises up the gun and racks the slide on it.  Those were the only ones that sprung to mind.

oh heck yeah, I'd love to skin that baby. <3

Go right ahead. here is that 'SDK' (http://www.tabun.nl/tmp/gen/tabun_q2guard_sdk.zip).
For the skinners hoping to see their skins in the 'official release': I won't make any promises on inclusion. If the skin is good and done in time (ie. before or shortly after I get my batch of skins done and ready for release ;)), I will consider it.

Well, I've done a lot of tweaking, simply to get the model looking at least acceptable in all standard operations of playing. Aside from his taunt and two custom (but simple) death animations, I haven't really de-Quake3-charactered this one. His motions are a bit more subdued, taking off the sharp Steed-edges.

The point is, I have an acceptable version for usage in Q3 and Generations, as far as the model itself goes:
(http://www.tabun.nl/tmp/gen/q2guard_10.jpg)

Later on, I will spend some time tweaking death animations more severely. I will attempt to recreate at least one original Quake 2 death for this one, too, but I'll have to see if that will work out..

Next stop will probably be skin number one, finally doing away with that colourful patchwork he's prancing about in, now.

Krusader remember that rocket launcher is longer than railgun, and even if it would be shorter You don't want to burn his shoulder in every shot. ^_^

His legs in that standing pose looks not like guard, even as cyborg he would get tired by standing like that.

Either you two harass me, or you are 1) ignorant of the way Q3 weapons are positioned and 2) expecting to see a Quake 2 single player monster, instead of a Quake 3 playable character.

I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and explain.

1) Weapon positioning goes as follows: Just as with the positioning of head to torso, and torso to legs, weapon position is determined by a single tag (a triangle that indicates position and direction). This is how Q3 combines running and taunting, for instance. The upper and lower half of the body animate separately, and are connected through a tag.

Now the thing is, there is exactly one tag for every point of connection. So, there is one tag for the head, one for the torso and one tag for 'weapon'. This means that every weapon (all having a tag of their own) is position according to the same tag. Since the tags of the weapons cannot be changed (for obvious reasons), an animator has to pick a wise spot for the single tag that will determine the weapon position.

An practical example: while doing the taunt, at one point the shotgun, railgun, machinegun and hyperblaster shoulder stock disappeared quite far into the model's elbow. That was no good, so I tweaked the tag. This looked fine for those weapons, but alas, in the next version, the BFG10k stuck horribly in the characters leg and waist. So, I had to tweak and reposition that tag until it looked acceptable with all weapons, in all animation frames (that's 12 weapons and 238 frames of animation).
Aside from the railgun not even intersecting with the model incorrectly anywhere in the above shot, I therefore see no problem!


2) Since Q3 is a fast-paced game, trying to get that single-player-monster look is going to have awkward results. I'm willing to live with some of them, such as in a death animation, but not in the warp and woof of combat.
Here's the story behind it (feel free to add spice to the narrative in your interpretation :p): There once was a Strogg guard who disobeyed orders from his (tank) commanders. He rebelled and ended up doing three things: a) fabricating a new right hand, releasing him from a low status on the job market, b) training and working out till he got beefier and able to jump and c) torturing prisoners of war after the Earth attack on Stroggos. The Vadrigar got wind of the latter and rewarded this guard's efforts with a place in the arena. Voila.

Ofcourse, A screenshot is a freeze-frame, and a model's bobbing up and down will obviously not be recorded by it.
Hold off on such qualms until you've seen it ingame, and compared it with Q3 models, please! :]

I didn't ment to harass you and sorry if it sounded that way.
Had thought about adding thing like "but we won't see him standing ofthen anyway" but finally i didn't do it.
 Now I think I got sugested by his poses on other posted screens, where he was standing stright.

 And i like that story, with sillynes of "b" part. :smirk:

Hehe, that must be the case, because this is one of his standing poses in Quake 2! :
(http://www.tabun.nl/tmp/gen/q2guard_11.jpg)

An alternate story if you like, and one that bridges Q2, Q3, and Q4.

After the assassination of the Makron, the Strogg realized they underestimated the human capability to adapt.  They realized they had relied too much on mechanical discipline and raw firepower, their utter technological dominance which had been their primary strength was now their primary liability.  As a result, they formulated a new and simple plan - give their troops more brains to go with their brawn.  This guard was the first of a new breed of soldier, a prototype that was superior to the original prosthetic-weapon guards.  Smarter, faster, tougher, and able to adapt and use the enemy's weapons against them.  Well, all first attempts tend to be flawed, and by their loosening of their reigns on the mind he regained too much self-awareness.  His conscious will clashed with his Strogg programming, turning him psychotic as a result, and he began slaughtering anyone and anything he could find.  This made him perfect combat material for the Arenas Eternal, and so prior to being evaporated by a supertank's rocket barrage, was claimed by the Vadrigar for eternal combat.  Eventually the Strogg overcame these flaws and developed the best balance of combat smarts and technological control over their ranks just in time to give their forces an edge against the invading Marine landing.  These are the new Strogg seen in Quake 4.

I also see no problem with the model poses, and that's actually a combat stance in martial arts.  The idea isn't standing for comfort's sake, but standing so that you can move quickly in any direction at any moment.

But Phoenix, does gun holding "marine" is standing in martial arts combat stance, when standing and waiting to react ?

Only the clever ones, Kingu! The fools (the ones dying by the dozens) don't, and hence are practically extinct..

No wonder Makron failed, not to mention others.  :)~  :rolleyes:

Looks good, Tab. Can't wait to see the skins to go along with it. :)

:offtopic: Put THAT in the next edition of Circles.

Well, since I am being more elaborate in and on the process of making this, I'll show you these in advance:
Death number two (http://www.tabun.nl/tmp/gen/q2guard_12_death2.avi)
Death number three (http://www.tabun.nl/tmp/gen/q2guard_12_death3.avi)

Don't mind the framerate, I simply didn't feel like fixing that for such quick previews. Besides, I still have to tweak the animation.cfg file for this model, so the speed of the motion isn't determined yet.

The first of those I had done before, but the second is an ode to Quake 2 (and, in a sense, to Phoenix).. :]

Nice!! Just a shame the Q3 code doesn't allow him to get that few sneaky extra shots out before he croaks :D

All the more reason for the player to stay alive then.

:offtopic: Well, were we to adapt this guy (or others) to Resurgence, maybe we can code it so that when it is supposed to die and not gib, it doesn't die, but rather reaches one health and fires several shots while the death animation is freezing him in place, THEN kill him. Of course, that might be a bit complex, and Resurgence is quite a ways off anyway...

Looking awesome, Tab! Can't wait to see this guy running around in the arenas for real, even if it'd have to be with some really crappy settings right now (stupid laptop). :slippy_thumb:

Thanks Mak - no worries, we have him running around already.. now he just needs skins..

And speaking of which; I've begun skinning, too:

(http://www.tabun.nl/tmp/gen/q2guard_12.jpg)

As always, don't bother to point out that detail is lacking, and the like. These will be Work in Progress previews, until I mention otherwise. ;]

(http://www.tabun.nl/tmp/gen/q2guard_13.jpg)

Starting to recognize the guy?

Enjoying myself muchly, so I can't resist posting those WIP shots.

(http://www.tabun.nl/tmp/gen/q2guard_14.jpg)

Merely fleshing out the basic anatomy of the arm here, so don't mind the colour too much.

Edit:
Some small progress. Backpack design layed out. I'm preparing the arm for partial damage/cybernetics stuff.

(http://www.tabun.nl/tmp/gen/q2guard_15.jpg)

Wow, I might wind up wanting to run around as one of these guys, instead of a red-and-black Grunt. ;)

Keep it up!

Looking great so far!

Thanks! :]

I intend to make more work of this one than on the Q-forcer, so expect enough skins to make it a character deserving to be pulverizing your oppenents as.

Some more work being done, another WIP screenie:

(http://www.tabun.nl/tmp/gen/q2guard_16.jpg)

Btw, for those making skins (probably only Angst ;), I know realistic arm anatomy can be difficult, so if you would prefer using mine, throw me a line and I'll get you the bitmap data for those.

Shaping up really well, Tab! :thumb: I can sort out botfiles again if needs be, but if so, he'll be considerably tougher than he was in Q2 ;)

Scal, I had to write a new bot file for the Qforcer.  Your bot was rather stripped down and had several leftover gibs from Keel, and a few glaring errors like not knowing how to use the single shotgun.  It also had no bot chat.  If you're planning on submitting content for use I'd ask that you will make a more dedicated attempt this time around.

Lookin' mighty fine so far Tab! =)

Keel? Strange - I didn't actually use Keel as a base  :huh:

That said, my hands are up. It was only a VQ3 botfile. I wasn't actually aware of the revised "xxx_w.c" files in the Gen .pk3 at the time, so will try harder. I'm still learning :)

There were definitely references to Keel in there.  If you didn't use Keel as a base, perhaps whatever you based it on wasn't a "clean" botfile and hence the bugs were pre-existing.  Anyway, if you have trouble with the bot chat, or just don't feel creative in that department, or you just have a question let me know and I'll do what I can to assist.  We're all still learning.  That never ends.  :)

That's probably true regarding the Keel stuff. Also, the empty chat file was simply a creative block on my part. I've done chatfiles before, but at the time I couldn't think of anything he might say except "FREEZE!" :D Still, I have a better idea now of how to get the weapon skills sorted out properly so thanks for pointing me in the right direction. I guarantee you will notice the difference ;)

As for bots, we'll see. I will muchly rely upon Phoenix for making sure they're correct, as he did a bang up job on the Q-Forcer, but anyone is free to go give it a try. :]


Nearly.. nearly.. done:

(http://www.tabun.nl/tmp/gen/q2guard_17.jpg)


I'll need to give it a rest and look upon it afresh to make the last tweaks. After that, I can start on the other two basic versions of it!

Stuning efect  :!:

Looks the part now!

I pictured the Enforcer saying something like 'Ohhhhhhhh yea.. that feels good!' after killing someone. After all, he gets a shot of.. something after killing.. but, regardless.. is still fun. :)

As for the lowly Q2 guard.. he definately looks better overall than Grunt, Bitterman, Major, or TankJr.. so I'll probably switch and use it (when I actually play once in a blue moon anyway). :)

A "paroxysm of ecstasy" (quoted directly from the Quake manual).

Anyway, this new model looks like a great update to the old Q2 Light Guard!  Keep up the good work, Tab!

Nor does he remain alone:

His buddy the machinegun 'ss' (as indicated by Q2-filenames ;))

(http://www.tabun.nl/tmp/gen/q2guard_18.jpg)

Two down, one to go.
Well, almost, anyway. I'm done tweaking the default skin, but this one will take some adjusting before I'm happy. After that, I can modify my way into getting a decent shotgun guard skin :]

Allow me to be the first to say "omfg awesome" once again, Tab. This is exciting.

And I kind of wonder which of these the red/blue skin will be based on, or if that'll be custom... ;)

Looking good!  I imagine the red and blue skins will be something unique since they have to be teamplay, but will almost certainly have some nods to at least one of the originals.  Then again, Tab's in charge so who knows what he's scheming on those?

I rather intend to use much of the 'base' skin for those. I won't start from scratch, in any case. But I will try to make them look as good as I can without losing the effect of being instantaneously sure whether it's the blue or red version ;]

Impressive! Can't wait to see the last skin!

(BTW Started working on botfiles already. Might be jumping the gun a bit, but I want to get it RIGHT this time. Still, I've done the chat, anyway.)

KUGW as always, Tab!

Good going!
My wishes for ideal bot behaviour:

- I'd like three versions, who, in chat, each have a tendency to refer to the other two, bestowing insults upon them (as well as the player).

- I'd like the default skin (blaster guard) to prefer using the hyperblaster, the shotgun guard the shotguns and the machinegun ss bot to prefer using the chain- and machinegun, for obvious reasons.

- I'd like the machinegun ss bot to be comparatively 'intelligent', and for it to show in his chat. By comparison, the shotgun guard I would like to be the most dull.

That said, I'm happily awaiting what you come up with :]

Here's the last of the three basic skins:

(http://www.tabun.nl/tmp/gen/q2guard_19.jpg)

(edit: shows the wrong visor, but never mind that ;))

And, while I am depriving myself of well-earned sleep anyway, here's something else I whipped up. The model now has a full set of skins!

(http://www.tabun.nl/tmp/gen/q2guard_20.jpg)

I might try for one other skin, something stroggy and yet different from the above, but for now I can't think of anything specific.

Like what I see!

Pointers on bots duly noted. ;) So far I've got most of the light guard's chat down, mainly inspired by Tankjr's chat, given that he's a bit dim, so expect a few humourous  "system errors" popping up in-game. As for the rest, I'll do those tonight.

"Shotgunny BLAST!!!" (ShotGun)

"Calm yourself, fool! We must wait for the proper and most opportune moment to launch our assault" (MachineGun)

"Yes, master" [sarcasm] (Blaster)

"Don't test my patience" (MG)

"No blast?" (SG)

"No! No blast!" (MG)

"Hey, Shotgun, blast Machinegun" (Blaster)

"Shotgunny BLAST!!!" (SG)

*fires a few rounds of buckshot into the machinegun guard*

Hey, Tab, IF you are doing one last skin, might I suggest the Hyperblaster or Ripper Guard from Reckoning? :shifty:

EDIT: Still working on the bots - weapon weights and characteristics in place (minus tweaking), still working on the chat.

I've added a green version (you never know when that will come in handy).

I've taken a long, hard look at the Xatrix missionpack skins for the guard, and conclude that I won't 'remake' those for this model. They look pretty boring and very dark. They have emblems that don't strike me as very stroggish, and most details are hard to impossible to reproduce on my model. Finally, the new skins don't look very Stroggy to me, mainly because they're not like id's skins. :]

Maybe I'll try something else, I do have some ideas, although I don't much feel like spending a whole lot of time redoing a skin from scratch..We'll see.

Well, it was just a thought anyway. No biggy. :)

Bots are done, and I've been testing then out using various Grunt skins to see how they shape up. Can't find any technical issues myself (Pho will be the judge of that ;) ) except that the Light Guard seems to own the other two, despite my efforts to make it the wimpiest of the three.

Cool. Can't wait to see those, and try them out!

For what it's worth, here's a promo screenie (http://www.tabun.nl/tmp/gen/preview_q2guard.jpg).
And I've added some stuff to my website as well (http://tabun.nl/3d_work_view.php?view=m_q2guard).

Looks a little like a stick figure.... er a highly evolved stick figure, yeah, highly evoloved....   :thumb:

Way to slap those ploys together... great one dude...  I like your style.:smirk:

The only thing that bothers me, bear with me Im picky... :D

The boots are a bit to shiny... it makes me want to constantly look at the feet. The feet say, "Look at me, Im a sexy hunky peice of boot booty, forget about Helmet, he's a loser..."

In case your wondering I do have intelligent conversations with pixelized virtual army boots.    :shifty:

Otherwise thats a awsome guard. If I was female polygonal guard, I'd sweep him off his feet.

Any progress on those bot-files? I'm kind of eager to get this one out there in an official and complete pack :]

They're done - I just need the model and skin names and we're good to go :)

Okido. Check your PMs. :]

Sorted! I would have PM'ed you with this, but I've nowhere to host at the mo'. Still, here it is. Any issues please let me know:

Ahem. Just found a little issue myself with the Light Guard's chat - specifically every time the word "major" is used.  :shifty:  I've corrected it and updated my last post.

Ah. I was already editing the files, so if you can tell me where to look for it, I'll adjust it in my version too. :]

In "lightguard_t.c" change the following::

"Sensors indicate major damage to reputation" - Change "major" to "critical"
"Sensors indicate total disassembly. Major repairs needed" - change "Major" to "Extensive"

and in "sgguard_t.c" there is one instance of "visor". Change it to "helmet"

That's everything (I hope :) ).

You could always preceed the word by a ~. If I did my homework correctly, that should prevent the bot Major's nicks (Like "Ms. Major, Sir") from being used in placed of 'major'.

Yes, the ~ means "explicitly this word, don't use a synonym".  I think I may have needed a few of those in Deathknight's chat since I've seen him say "Lightning Gun never strikes twice".  Synonyms can be tricky like that because you don't always know (without ripping the files apart) which words will get them and which words won't.  I think a better system for bot chat would have been to have explicit usage by default and the tilde signify "use a synonym if available", but we're stuck with what we got.

Oh, ouch, my post was disreguarded, ouch that hurts my feelings Tabun, don't you repect a man's feelings?   :smirk:

I'm better at disrespecting women's feelings. But to show that I mean to give it my best shot, I'll disregard both the first post and this one!

Bot file editing has been shoved back a little, I'm working on the combat shotgun animation for doom at the moment, but after that's done, expect some news here.

YESSSSSSS! Animated Doom double shotty!!! Even tho I suck with Doom, that's the animation I've been waiting to see the most (2nd would be Slippy's axe swinging action). :D

Too bad you're all mean and evil and going to make us wait to see it (kidding about the mean and evil part, of course).

Shut up your're ugly, go back in your corner.  :surprise:

"BOOOM!! click-click ..." ;)

Once again an awesome model and skin you made there, Tabun. I salute you!  :thumb:

* goes back into hibernation *

Thanks mate.

Argh!  Tab, pm!

Grm. Well, it's official. I'm getting old and sloppy. If you downloaded it before Phoenix posted, you downloaded a version with defective bot-files. Sigh. Sit tight.

???

We had done some testing and tweaking, and it was the non-tweaked versions that were in the above pk3.

Well, the model isn't perfect, but it's good enough for me. This time, there are no quirks with the pk3, so you'll be able to select the model through the menu. Hurrah!
I had first intended to make a few more skins for it, while I was at it, but those will not be part of the model release package (I don't have time to make them, and the release has been delayed too long already). The same goes for Angst, if he is still working on his skin, additions will have to be released separately.

The package features three colour skins, three character skins and three bots for your SP enjoyment.

So, without further ado, here is the official Q2 Guard for Q3A and Generations Arena.

Q2 Guard Model for Q3A (http://www.tabun.nl/dl/tabun_q2guard.zip)


Enjoy.

Our three new combatants have assimilated the Central server.  Anyone have the guts to take them on and liberate it?

I did and kicked their asses...

Me too.  :evil:

Depending on the map, I was able to.. some maps just royally suck tho (bias). Then Kingu joined and added to the fun.

Some things no amount of implants can ever change.

Aw, you guys are never around when I am :(

The Guards have been running around on the server since 6:00 am.  That was 21 hours ago.

hey guys what's the line to stick them on

you know it's normally /addbot (then the bots name) (then the skill level)

as i have tried

q2 guard, light guard, shotgun guard, machinegun guard

and can't seem to get them to appear

any idea what i'm missing?

I think it is  mgguard, sgguard, lightguard.
And if it's not working you can check what it's writen in bot files.

Kingu is correct.  Just be aware that if you want to kick the Light Guard off the server you have to type /kick "Light Guard" since his name has a space after spawning in, or else do a clientkick.

After watching some TV for the first time in quite a while, I saw a commercial about some GI Joe movie... that's when it hit me. The guard would probably make for a decent Cobra Commander, save for his backpack anyway.

I would put that differently: "The guard's head would probably make for a decent Cobra Commander head."
With which I agree. The rest of the body? Nope.

BUG REPORT FOR THE BOT FILE

you may have notice this or not

but having given the bots preffered weapons

if the said weapons run out of ammo and it's clear there carrying other weaponary

they won't use it they just run around aimlessly  :zzz:

escepecially the SG Guard whn he runs out of shells he just stands there and does nothing

what's particuarly funny though is if there is no hyper blaster on a level for the light guard, then he trys to kill everything with just his blaster  :D

overall though the i'm most impressed with the skills of the MG Guard on nightmare level it was very close

but all in all  :ownage:  against the others

any chance in fixing the botfiles so even if there prefferred weapon isn't available, they'll use something else

cause standing targets are too easy to kill with just the blaster (HEH HEH)

Actually the "not shooting" isn't a botfile bug, it's a bug in how Generations has the blaster weapon assigned.  That's been fixed in the non-public version that's in development.  Same with the out of ammo behavior.

The Light Guard will prefer the hyperblaster and blaster, but he will use other guns, he just avoids shotgun and bullet-based weapons.  Watch out if he gets near a railgun.  The Shotgun Guard has a few surprises of his own as well.

Mayby not a Guard thing, but: What about Doom class bots sawing air with chainsaw insted of  using pistol every once in a while :huh:

Like Leatherface of cinema fame, the doom bots will occasionally saw madly at emtpy air.

This serves no purpose beyond letting you know there's a madman with a chainsaw-turned-quisinart after you.

Actually it's called I haven't really torn into the bot code to make them understand their weapons.  I did get the chainsaw-wielding bots to actually charge at you, but I haven't trained them that chainsaws aren't ranged* weapons and that the pistol is better from a distance.

*Angst, of course, will prove otherwise should you play him, hence his signature.

Cool model!  <3 I've missed quite a bit in the past couple of months.