Creating Ghosts

[nbohr1more]

Maybe this is a dumb thought but couldn't you just set the wall to non-solid but place some playerclip in front of it to achieve this affect?

 

AFAIK the AI can pass through playerclip but the player cannot.

 

(Yeah, I should probably just build a test map...)

 

If I'm not mistaken, Grayman already has our normal AI occasionally become non-solid to smooth-out pathfinding and AI congestion so making Ghosts temporarily non-solid for other reasons should be as reliable.

 

If this is still how it works, you can compare TDM's SDK classes for AI pathing with your old work.

[DeTeEff]

One problem with that solution is visportalling. You'll have to thing twice before ripping a wall open for ghost movement.

[jaxa]

A simple & cool effect to get them walking through a wall might be to have a dummy non-solid wall with a player-clip brush over it, so it's effectively a solid wall for the player but the ghost can path normally through it using normal path corners and the AAS can still work... though you'd have to make sure other AI can't get to it and things like that.

 

^ Great minds think alike, nb.

[nbohr1more]

LOL!

 

I can't believe I skipped over that. I was so excited about the Spectrum light idea I must've zoned out on it.

 

[deadite4]

Maybe this is a dumb thought but couldn't you just set the wall to non-solid but place some playerclip in front of it to achieve this affect?

 

AFAIK the AI can pass through playerclip but the player cannot.

 

(Yeah, I should probably just build a test map...)

 

If I'm not mistaken, Grayman already has our normal AI occasionally become non-solid to smooth-out pathfinding and AI congestion so making Ghosts temporarily non-solid for other reasons should be as reliable.

 

If this is still how it works, you can compare TDM's SDK classes for AI pathing with your old work.

That wouldn't really work though with ghost effect mixing in with normal monsters. What we initially tried doing was a full non-solid approach. That led to lots of issues with the monster just always going through the walls regardless of whats going on, which wasn't desirable. Then we just made 1 of our monsters attacks(a charge based one) go non-solid but it led to the problem of the monster going into the void or into another room and getting stuck when going back to solid. The void issue was solved by spawning the monster back to the player if it went back solid in the void. The other issue wasn't readily solvable. It doesn't make for fun combat when your enemy is constantly going through walls.

 

 

I guess this could be a slightly different situation because TDM, I reckon, is less combat focused where hexen is so the flow of combat is possibly of more importance.

 

 

[Glyph Seeker]

Oh man - I can't get enough of ghosties - ghouls and inhuman enemies! :-X

 

Is there any chance that one could create something akin to the Thief 1 ghosts who throw fireball / skull projectiles to add a ranged threat to the otherwise close combat only zombies / revenants?

[Sotha]

Oh man - I can't get enough of ghosties - ghouls and inhuman enemies! :-X

 

Is there any chance that one could create something akin to the Thief 1 ghosts who throw fireball / skull projectiles to add a ranged threat to the otherwise close combat only zombies / revenants?

 

Since the spell casting mages, and the revenants use the same skeleton, I think it would be possible for even a mapper to make a revenant that can hurl fireballs. Similar like

 

The pagan witch in Mandrasola. That was relatively simple to make with Springheel's instructions.

 

 

Of course if someone made a fully-ready revenant with a bit more eldritch skin (glowing eyesockets, magical glyphs in the armor?) and spell casting ability, which the mapper could just drop into their mission, that would be ultra-cool. We do not have any ranged attacking undead so it would nicely fill a vacuum...

[DeTeEff]

In one of my maps I've tried to make the ghost unsolid, but the model I'm using has a lot of decorative junk on him, beltbuckle and hat and stuff so it's not just a matter of putting solid 0 on him :/ Any ideas on this?

[Glyph Seeker]

Since the spell casting mages, and the revenants use the same skeleton, I think it would be possible for even a mapper to make a revenant that can hurl fireballs. Similar like

 

The pagan witch in Mandrasola. That was relatively simple to make with Springheel's instructions.

 

 

Of course if someone made a fully-ready revenant with a bit more eldritch skin (glowing eyesockets, magical glyphs in the armor?) and spell casting ability, which the mapper could just drop into their mission, that would be ultra-cool. We do not have any ranged attacking undead so it would nicely fill a vacuum...

 

Poor Springheel only just made two wonderful new characters, and already we ask for more!

 

We already have a cloaked mage character - don't we? Couldn't we use him as a kind of - "stop gap"? I thought the Builder Priests looked fittingly "mage - like" to be throwing fireballs in a heretical afterlife as well.

 

 

And your mage was a brilliant surprise in an already great FM! I am confused though - were the werebeasts unique to your mission? I'd love to have some skulking about in other FMs in the future!

 

[Mortem Desino]

Yes, it's not that simple.

 

When dmap goes through the map file, it optimizes it. So making your ghost walk through a wall is basically asking it to walk through the void. It goes against all its built-in AI behavior.

[Bikerdude]

one idea then, would be to make a new clip shader, "ghost_noclip" if you will. So the mapper can make an FS wall, then clone wall and paste ghost_noclip etc that only ghost Ai can walk through....

[Sotha]

 

And your mage was a brilliant surprise in an already great FM! I am confused though - were the werebeasts unique to your mission? I'd love to have some skulking about in other FMs in the future!

 

 

 

 

No no, the werebeasts are standard assets anyone can drop in their missions. They just haven't been used much yet for some reason.

 

 

[Glyph Seeker]

@Sotha

 

 

Excellent! You know, I'm so surprised that most Thief fans really prefer mansion / heist missions rather than facing the more monstrous / fantastical enemies and environments. But hopefully, werebeasts and magic users will appear again if it catches someone's fancy!

 

[Springheel]

Of course if someone made a fully-ready revenant with a bit more eldritch skin (glowing eyesockets, magical glyphs in the armor?) and spell casting ability, which the mapper could just drop into their mission, that would be ultra-cool. We do not have any ranged attacking undead so it would nicely fill a vacuum...

 

You don't need any special skills to do this. Just a new skin for the revenant, some bound flames like Sotha used in Glenham Tower, and a modified def file. If someone does the first two, I can modify the def file easily enough.