Hi,

There are two ways to name bots in the game, and both require editing the .bin file.

The first and most commonly used method is through the MED Editor. Just go to the AI Attributes section and enter a number in the empty box next to “Name.” This number can be anything you want. Now, if you have the Bin Editor, it’s even easier. Click Add under the Items list, then create a group called ‘PeopleNames’. Under Variable, select STRNAME. Next to that, you’ll see an empty field where you enter the same number you used in the MED editor. In the dialogue box, type the name you want the bot to have. You can use up to 20 characters, and you can even add color codes, which is pretty cool.

If you’re doing it manually, copy this into your .txt file and convert it back to .bin:

‘[PeopleNames]’
STRNAME000 = “Null”;
STRNAME001 = “Sample 1”;
STRNAME002 = “Sample 2”;
STRNAME003 = “Sample 3”;
STRNAME004 = “Sample 4”;
STRNAME005 = “Sample 5”;
STRNAME006 = “<cFC8932>Bot Colored Name<-co>”;

Each STRNAME corresponds to the number you gave the bot earlier. It starts from 0 and goes up as high as the numbers you assigned in MED. Just match them exactly and you’re good to go. Hope that makes sense!

The second option is using the ssnname script in the .wac file. Some people say it doesn’t work, but it actually does. I figured this out myself recently. In fact, a lot of the Delta Force: Xtreme 1 and 2 campaign missions use this exact script to name bots and it works just fine. That said, you still need to edit the .bin file again.

To name bots this way, use a script like this in your .wac file:

//***** Friendly AI Names *****
IF never() then
ssnname(10, BLANK_NAME)
ssnname(669, BLANK_NAME)
ssnname(670, BLANK_NAME)
ssnname(668, BLACKWIDOW)
ssnname(392, ALPHA_1)
ssnname(393, ALPHA_2)
ssnname(394, ALPHA_3)
ssnname(395, ALPHA_4)
endif

After that, open the .bin file in the Bin Editor. Click Add > Group > AINAMES, and you’ll see a list of variables. These variables correspond to the names you used in the WAC script.
So for example, if you assigned bot with ssn 395 the name ALPHA_4, then in the BIN editor, you select the variable ALPHA_4 and in the dialogue box type the name you want to appear in game. Just make sure everything matches as explained.

If you’re doing it manually with the text file you can use something like this and convert it back to .bin:

‘[AINAMES]’
BLANK_NAME = ” “;
ALPHA_1 = “Alpha 1”;
Charlie_1 = “Charlie 1”;
Charlie_2 = “Charlie 2”;
Charlie_3 = “Charlie 3”;

What’s cool about this method is that it lets you have nameless friendly bots using the BLANK_NAME variable, like in the example above. Though I’m not sure if that works correctly on the client side in co-op I haven’t tested it yet. Also, there’s a limited number of names you can use with this method, unlike the first one.
You can also check some of the .bin files from the DFX campaign missions to see how they did it. That’s how I figured a lot of this out and trough experimenting and scouting forums for information.

If you make maps with only in NILE, then I recommend using NLH 6.1.1. It has the option to name bots but there are some issues from my testing like the names just reset after saving the map for whatever reason.

Hope it’s all understandable and let me know if you have questions.

Thanks for the reply,

Yeah, I’m already familiar with converting custom .wav files for Joint Ops so that they can be played in game. I even made a single-player map about a month ago that I haven’t released to the public yet, which used music and dialogue from BHD. The thing is, the .sbf files are totally different from the usual .pff files, which is probably why the music isn’t accessible through the usual tools. If I recall correctly, Novalogic was in a bit of trouble back in the 2004–2005 era, where they were fined for using unlicensed software like Windows, Photoshop, etc. and I’m guessing that’s why some of these internal tools never got released to the public. (I could be wrong, this is only speculation on my part)
Ever since I started playing DBHD a couple of months ago, I was immediately hooked. I’ve been wanting to bring some of those ideas from that game into Joint Ops, maybe even recreate a few of the original single player missions at some point which I probably will. The games are so much alike to the point where I think the only real difference is the better graphics Joint Ops has. Many features from BHD such as animations, WAC commands, buildings, sounds and other assets are present in JO.
Right now I’m working on this convoy coop map inspired by DBHD style, and I think the soundtracks from that game would fit perfectly. That’s what really got me digging into these .sbf files in the first place, because as I said, while I can find the original soundtracks from that game, there are some variations that play only during the single player missions that I wasn’t able to find anywhere online. So, I guess the only option at this point is to record them in-game and convert them in the proper format.

I know how to play wav files using wac commands, and I’ve even learned how to create custom ones. I also know that it’s possible to play multiple sounds simultaneously because as I said previously, but the only way to do this is by using sound sets defined in the .lwf files of the game. Alternatively, sounds can be played in Med using the ‘Play Dialogue’ event, which requires a .dbf file. For example, all the training missions utilize these files and play the wavs without relying on wac commands. When the game plays other sounds (like vehicle noises, gunshots, etc.), it’s using sound sets. These sound sets are defined in the LWF files of the game, which controls parameters such as volume, distance, and how many sound files are played within the set. I guess the game needs a program or something to make custom ones, just dont know how and can’t seem to find any information relevant to this.
Here is another example. Say I want a bot to play a soundset every 5 second. I can set up a wac event something like this:

if eq(v1, 1) and elapse(5) then
ss2ssn ss_GS_M16AI,11
endif

Now this sound can be heard as though the weapon is fired from that ssn and is not going to cut any wav file that might currently be playing, if it makes sense.