Newbie DarkRadiant Questions

[Moonbo]

Hey guys,

 

I have some random questions:

 

1) Is it possible to make keys disappear from the inventory on use? I know some thief FM authors do this and it seems like a good way to avoid inventory clutter.

 

2) If you want to hang a key on a hook or something similar how would you do so such that the key would initially stay where you placed it (and not fall to the ground, etc) but would then become a normal physics object if the player dropped it after picking it up.

 

3) How do you place an AI ragdoll in a particular pose (such as sitting in a chair, slumped over a table)?

 

Thanks!

[Fidcal]

1. If you want a key to disappear after it has been used (to unlock something) then try creating a func remove entity and target it from the door to the key. But it's probably better to just give the key inv_droppable 1 so the player can drop it if they want. You'd better warn them if so in a readable or they might accidentally drop a crucial key before they use it.

 

2. I think there's a spawnarg to prevent moveables dropping at map start but I can't remember what it is offhand. You might search the wiki for that. Anyone? One other way might be - I noticed the other day when I used script to move a moveable to a new location that it didn't drop - so you might put the keys somewhere else at the start then try a tdm teleport to move them where you really want them. No guarantee that will work though.

 

3. For positioning ragdolls, see: here.

[Obsttorte]

I think that Doom3 only processes physics after force impacts. So the movement of a key should only be evaluated if it is hit by something, meaning that if you place it in the air, it should stay there until touched.

But to be sure it is maybe the best to place a small brush underneath the key and give it a nodrawsolid texture, so the key is standing on a invisible small plate

You should also be able to make your own key and use it's model as collision model (or a simiar model with a hole in it). This way you could really hang it somewhere. But this is not very performant if you do this with a large amount of keys or other objects.

[Fidcal]

I'm not sure but I think now all moveables are by default triggered to drop at map start. If so, try nodrop 1. I think that stops that but afterwards it's moveable as normal.

 

Also, I meant to say before but forgot. Be cautious about hanging a key on a wall that nobody can frob it or clip (knock) it with something from outside the wall. I think that happened in Heart. Make the wall really thick if you can but otherwise you need a caulk brush entity set frobable to block the frob. These are messy to set up to get it right though.

[Sotha]

Hm. About the key... It is possible to BIND it to a func_static in DR. Then, via scripting, UNBIND it so that it should fall down.

The script event is:

$entityname.unbind();

 

I know it works: I used it in the transaction

 

 

when the player wins the hag in swordplay, the hag drops her scroll

 

 

[Skaadi]

Hey there, I'm really new to using the Dark Mod (as in, I started using it an hour ago,) and I have a slight problem.

 

I've been working my way through a youtube tutorial to start with, and its been working fine so far. I've just created my first two rooms, but all of a sudden I cant select my buildings in grid view? I can still alter them in 3D view but I don't get that red outline thing that tells you the thing is selected. Its probably something really simple I'm doing wrong but any help is appreciated.

[Obsttorte]

you must hold shift down for selection

[Skaadi]

LOL that was it, how awkward. Thanks for your help

[Fidcal]

Welcome Skaadi. Some useful links:

 

 

Dark Radiant A-Z Tutorial

 

Dark Radiant Keys and Mouses

 

Dark Radiant Must Knows

[SeriousToni]

It's really easy, when you once got into it

[Moonbo]

So, I just got around to placing AI's in my test map but as soon as I do I get the following message when I dmap:

 

ERROR: idBrush::ExpandForAxialBox: brush 0 on entity 0 imploded.

 

While the AI's still show up on the map and follow path nodes etc, I get text at the top of my screen saying "Warning: AAS32 is out of date." ...

[grayman]

I can't speak to the error, but that warning is usually solved by re-dmapping the map. And I'm surprised the AI are following path nodes, because they typically just wander around when the AAS is out of date.

 

Welcome, btw.

[Moonbo]

Thanks grayman :-). I tried re-dmapping several times but with no luck. I also tried erasing all the AIs, dmapping (that was successful), and then re-adding AI's, but the same error popped up. I'm a little worried that there's some sort of congenital defect with my map...it's very easy to fall into the void when mantling on brushes, not sure if that's related.

[grayman]

If you'd like to post a link to the map, complete with the AI, I'll take a look to see what's going on.

 

If you don't want to post it here, you can PM me with the link.

[Moonbo]

Great! I'll send you a PM.

[stumpy]

i think this 'ERROR: idBrush::ExpandForAxialBox: brush 0 on entity 0 imploded.' might mean you have a cube brush with zero volume, you havent been using CSG subtract to cut holes in brushes as it causes problems.

[Moonbo]

Hey stumpy, I have been using CSG subtract to cut holes so I guess I'll probably stop doing that.

 

Grayman looked at the map and what was causing the issue was that I had accidentally placed a "rotation" spawnarg on the worldspawn. When I erased it, all the problems I was having with AIs and the player mantling into the void went away.

[Obsttorte]

Cutting holes with CSG substract isn't necessarily bad. If you for example want to cut out a cube for a door or something like that. It only gets problematic if you want to cut out more complex geomtries. I would suggest that you use patches to model the latter. Tutorials on how to use them can be found on the wiki.

[demagogue]

Yes you don't usually want any spawnargs on the worldspawn.

 

I think of CSG subtract like a "once in a blue moon" tool, like maybe once in an entire map. 99% of the time it'd be better to do it by hand or with the cut tool, but if it only cuts & leaves very simple geometry, or you just have to have that perfectly star shaped window for the cool shadow it makes & you're prepared to contain the damage, that's when you'd use it.

[Obsttorte]

Yes you don't usually want any spawnargs on the worldspawn.

The only spawnarg you place one worlspawn is "target" IMO. Worldspawn triggers all it's targets on map start, which is a nice way to start scripted things upon map start (like playing a melody or something like that). I used it in my FM to kill a couple of rats on map start

[Moonbo]

Yeah, I had been using CSG subtract to make holes for windows and doors and I just went through the painful process of hunting down brushes that were causing internal leaks and making about half my visportals not work, so another lesson learned :-P. I think from now on I'll use the clipper to split out the hole and then delete the separate brush.

 

New question though: I'm trying to create a setup where one loot object is inside another (in particular a coin inside a cup). What I'd like to do is have it so that if you pick up the loot cup, the coin drops to the ground. I tried using stim/response to toggle the "nodrop" spawnarg on the coin but you still need some sort of force applied to the coin before physics kicks in. Any thoughts?

[Fidcal]

Try adding to the loot cup:

 

target <coin> (where <coin> is the entity name of the coin of course.)

 

That should trigger it to drop when you frob the loot cup. I use that for candles in loot candlesticks too.

[Obsttorte]

I think from now on I'll use the clipper to split out the hole and then delete the separate brush.

Or you build the hole from patches and/or brushes so it's square-limited, and then put it as a func_static into a square brushhole. This way you can use a rectangular visportal, which will more probably work.

[Moonbo]

Thanks Fidcal, that did the trick!

 

So...next question: not sure if this is possible but I'm trying to create a cellar door where the doors start out at a 45 degree slant and then open downwards. By using brush doors starting at a 45 degrees slanted (x-axis) and using a rotation of 45 90 45 I can get them to arrive at the proper position. The only issue is that because there's only one point of rotation the door doesn't swing on its "hinges" as much as it sort of spins in the air to get to the finishing point. Is there any way to get angled doors to rotate open properly, or do you really have to only use doors set at a 90 degree angle?

[Fidcal]

Moonbo: Sadly, I had this problem a few years back and never found a solution. It's the same whether it's brushwork or model doors. In fact, I have it in a current map I've worked on where an abandoned building has a cabinet tilted over and its door fails to rotate properly too. I had to make the cabinet either upright or flat on its back or side.

 

Thinking about it now, it might be possible to set up a script that increments each of the three rotations a tiny amount, say 1 degree, in each loop then repeats so the oddities are too small to see. I'm not confident though.

 

Be a good project but it might not work and it wouldn't be a standard door entity. That might be solved by having an invisible door as well with its sounds and portal closing etc coupled with a true-rotating door. Another way might be one door that only opens 1 degree but triggers a continuing rotation by script. All sorts of problems might ensue.

 

If I get time, I might fool around with a script but it would be interesting to hear what any of the math coders might suggest. After all, any normal door rotation must be done in increments so its hard for me to visualise the math of why it goes wrong currently. We see the start and stop points are correct but the in-between is all wrong!

 

[EDIT - I meant to say the only current workaround for a sloping door is make it open upwards or downwards so it's in the same plane.]