I'm asking because I got these confusing information:
This map's description states that the Steam Workshop does not allow including .NAV files and recommends I download a copy from another website, instead. While, this other Steam Workshop map's description states that it includes a "unique NAV file".
In the latter map, I checked if there's a .NAV file included with the map in its folder in \csgo\maps\workshop\, but there isn't any. However, when I first played that map, the game didn't auto-compute and generate a .NAV bot navigation file before allowing playing with bots, but the bots seem to navigate the map just fine. There still isn't a .NAV file in there after I've played the map. It is possible that this map has included custom-made bot navigation info somewhere.
When I copied the latter map (its folder in \csgo\maps\workshop\), to share it with another person who also has CS:GO (but did not download the same map from the Steam Workshop), the game auto-generates a .NAV file when hosting a listen server of that map. This leads me to believe that the custom-made .NAV files of maps downloaded from the Steam Workshop are possibly stored in a location other than \maps\workshop\.
Does the Steam Workshop allow downloading of custom-made bot navigation files (.NAV) along with the map itself? If yes, where are they located?
Best Answer
The nav file is likely embedded into the map file using BSPZip or PakRat.
This isn't common for Valve's other games, as nav files can be edited in game and embedding it in the map prevents that. However, workshop restrictions may mean we'll see more of this kind of embedding for CS:GO (and as of August 2015, TF2)