MvM bot spawning help

[phoenixwhitefire2000]

I've recently been playing a lot of MvM, and wanted to try and make my own map. I started making a basic map, following a tutorial and afterwards I compiled my map and opened it in the game, but then I noticed something wrong. The bots didn't spawn. I have a .pop file and the HUD shows the correct data (the pop file was made with old.mvm.tf), but the robots just weren't spawning after I readied up. I checked the map's compile log on https://www.interlopers.net/errors/, and there wasn't anything there (except for a missing skybox texture) so I looked in the developer console and the only thing that seemed out of the ordinary was the following error:

WaveSpawnPopulator: Can't find target entity 'wave_start_relay' for StartWaveOutput

I looked around and can't find any information on the error, what it means, how to fix it etc. Help would be appreciated.

I've attached my map's .vmf file. Sorry for the messiness.

 

[Box Of Paper]

The .pop files generated by old.mvm.tf don't always work.

Old thread with the same problem:
https://tf2maps.net/threads/mvm-bots-wont-spawn-in-my-custom-map.45021/#post-486097

The relays don't directly influence the bots spawning, they still spawn even if the error appears.

Here's a .pop file that works:

 

[phoenixwhitefire2000]

The .pop files generated by old.mvm.tf don't always work.

Old thread with the same problem:
https://tf2maps.net/threads/mvm-bots-wont-spawn-in-my-custom-map.45021/#post-486097

The relays don't directly influence the bots spawning, they still spawn even if the error appears.

Here's a .pop file that works:

Are there any alternatives to mvm.tf, other than creating the .pop file manually?

 

[Box Of Paper]

Not that I know of...

Here are some resources if you ever decide to write the .pop file by hand:

A tutorial:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1451627628

Valve's population files with example .pop file:
https://github.com/sigsegv-mvm/population

Exploiting the system (The cool stuff):
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1911160067

Every keyword that can be used in the .pop file:
https://gist.github.com/sigsegv-mvm/9ce39744fde2aa4c6156

 

[meatloaf]

You should learn to write popfiles by yourself because old.mvm.tf is terrible, bloats the hell out of it with useless templates, incorrectly places every bot in a squad which can cause messy behavior, and so much more. Potato.tf has a very helpful highlight syntax for popfiles in VSC and I have a file with useful templates (like wavespawns, waves, tanks, missions, etc.) as snippets. Add me on discord (meatloaf97#1367) for the snippet file as I cannot upload files with that extension and don't want to risk a block by bypassing it under a different extension

 

[phoenixwhitefire2000]

Not that I know of...

Here are some resources if you ever decide to write the .pop file by hand:

A tutorial:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1451627628

Valve's population files with example .pop file:
https://github.com/sigsegv-mvm/population

Exploiting the system (The cool stuff):
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1911160067

Every keyword that can be used in the .pop file:
https://gist.github.com/sigsegv-mvm/9ce39744fde2aa4c6156

Thanks for your help!