Newbie DarkRadiant Questions

[AluminumHaste]

K try this.

tutorial.zip.txt

[ungoliant]

K try this.

 

alright, tried it. the pool light still illuminates the entire surface of the 4 walls for me when walking in circles around it. if you crouch down at the bottom of the pool it (almost) displays properly.

 

Also you did change 1 thing that influenced the bug. You moved the top face of the ambient pool light up 4 units on the z axis, so theres only 4 units between the ground level and the the light. in my original there was an 8 unit difference.

 

when i switched it back to 8 units from ground level, the original problem persisted again in almost identical fashion. I assume the original problem only changed a little bit either due to the fact that the other ambient light that covered the whole map was changed and is no longer ambient_world, or because it was moved to a different spot on the map. but its still virtually the same bug.

 

So, the problem still persists. Not really sure whats going on with this thing, but maybe if i just ignore it or change it around, or maybe just never use more than 1 ambient light on a map ever again, it wont bother me so much.

[AluminumHaste]

alright, tried it. the pool light still illuminates the entire surface of the 4 walls for me when walking in circles around it. if you crouch down at the bottom of the pool it (almost) displays properly.

 

Also you did change 1 thing that influenced the bug. You moved the top face of the ambient pool light up 4 units on the z axis, so theres only 4 units between the ground level and the the light. in my original there was an 8 unit difference.

 

when i switched it back to 8 units from ground level, the original problem persisted again in almost identical fashion. I assume the original problem only changed a little bit either due to the fact that the other ambient light that covered the whole map was changed and is no longer ambient_world, or because it was moved to a different spot on the map. but its still virtually the same bug.

 

So, the problem still persists. Not really sure whats going on with this thing, but maybe if i just ignore it or change it around, or maybe just never use more than 1 ambient light on a map ever again, it wont bother me so much.

 

More than likely =D

I'd move on, worry about this later. I've had issues like this but mine were caused by the portal sky and visportals.

[stumpy]

How do you remove something from the players inventory after its been picked up, teleporting the object just causes the player to get teleported with the object, as in I want to use the item to make something work, got that bit to work but now there are two versions of the same object, one in the machine and one in the players inventory. I tried $<nameofobject>.remove(); but it doesn't seem to work.

[Fidcal]

I think the replace event is what you want with a null entity it removes but replaces with nothing. I can't see a specific remove event nor probably no need for a separate one. This is is in tdm_events.script in tdm_base01.pk4 if you want to check it out...

 

/**
* greebo: Replaces the entity <oldItem> with <newItem> in the inventory, 
* while keeping <oldItem>'s inventory position intact.
*
* Note: The position guarantee only applies if <oldItem> and newItem 
* share the same category. If the categories are different, the position of <newItem>
* is likely to be different than the one of <oldItem>.
*
* Note that <oldItem> will be removed from the inventory. 
* If <newItem> is the $null_entity, <oldItem> is just removed and no replacement happens.
*
* @returns: 1 if the operation was successful, 0 otherwise.
*/
scriptEvent float replaceInvItem(entity oldItem, entity newItem);

[stumpy]

can't get it to work

 

$player1.replaceInvItem( $test_ring , $null_entity );

 

comes up with the error entity not found.

item category is Special

 

sys.print("setting 1 " + $test_ring.getKey("classname") + "\n");

sys.print("setting 2 " + $test_ring.getKey("name") + "\n");

sys.print("setting 3 " + $test_ring.getKey("inv_item_id") + "\n");

 

says the object exists while in player inventory

 

atdm:moveable_loot_ring_gold_emerald

test_ring

9999

 

loot flag set to zero

Edited February 24, 2010 by stumpy

[Fidcal]

I wonder if the problem is that it is a loot entity even though you have given it the Special category. I'm not sure how that is handled. Maybe try it as a static custom object. I think I put them under Items in the entity selector. I'm thinking that each time loot is added it is deleted I think and its loot value added to the total and just its icon remains. But what happens when a loot item is given a Special category I don't know. But then why would it still show as being in the inventory.

 

I'm guessing here as this is beyond my own knowledge. Hopefully someone else will come up with the right answer.

[Rek]

Is possible to make the models for Dark radiant in Cinema 4d?  

[DeTeEff]

How do I make it NOT possible to frob items through brushes? I kinda understand how it works on containers, but in this case I have put a switch on a wall, but the player is then allowed to frob it through the wall brush...the same happens when I put loot close to walls...

[Fidcal]

It's best to make the walls thick so that cannot happen. But another solution is to make a thin caulk brush panel, make it a func_static and give it the property/value frobable 1. Use that as a frob blocker on this side of the wall so the player has to try to frob through it to frob the loot but the panel steals the frob. Make it plenty big enough and test it thoroughly because sometimes at certain angles you can frob through.

[stumpy]

had a fiddle with my code and this

 

$player1.replaceInvItem( $test_ring , $null_entity );

 

doesn't work

 

but this

 

$player1.replaceInvItem( $test_ring , $test_bottle );

 

does work, so the problems with $null_entity, although the gold ring gets replaced with a gold bottle, is not what am after.

I looked at the darkmod source and its looking for NULL.

 

got it kind of working but its probably dodgey, put a atdm:item_base object in a blue room, gave it a name, then swapped the atdm:item_base object with the object in inventory, it removes the inventory item but doesn't add itself to the inventory.

Edited February 25, 2010 by stumpy

[greebo]

It's entirely possible that the $null_entity doesn't work due to a bug in the SDK, maybe some bugfix broke the behaviour described in the comment.

[stumpy]

well the error says that the $null_entity entity doesn't exist, but I could do a

 

entity test_entity = $null_entity;

 

without any errors, but then $test_entity also causes an entity not found error. when used in

 

$player1.replaceInvItem( $test_ring , $test_entity );

[greebo]

I guess I expressed myself unclearly, the $null_entity works fine by itself of course, but the replaceInvItem method doesn't work as expected when passing NULL entities, probably due to some bug. I assume we're on the same page here, so if you could file a bug report describing the issue on the tracker, I'd appreciate that.

[stumpy]

ok, reported it to the tracker.

[Zinski]

Hi guys,

First of all I'd like to congratulate each and every person behind this fantastic modding endeavour. When I downloaded the mod I was a little skeptical at first, being used to rather amateurish attempts at homegrown alterations to certain games. But my jaw literally dropped when I loaded up the 'Tears of St. Lucia' FM, as it was better in many ways to a lot of the levels found in the offical T3 game. Well done!

 

And now to the business end of this post. I was wondering if any seasoned designers could answer any of the following questions:

 

1) Ambient noise vs. character footsteps: One thing that has bugged me in many stealth games is that you may find yourself in a noisy environment (eg, factory, battleground) and still find that NPCs have a preternatural ability to hear you even if you cannot hear them! Is there a function in DarkRadiant that allows you to address this issue? This obviously has been noted by at least one games developer and has been appropriately dealt with (such as Metal Gear Solid 4, where ambient noises - or lack thereof - make it easier/harder to move around unnoticed).

 

2) NPC footsteps vs. character footsteps: Groups of NPCs that do not neccessarily see each other may still hear each others' footsteps. Naturally when they lose line-of-sight of each other, they continue to go about their business without alarm, for even if they hear footsteps but do not see who is the source of them, they are programmed to ignore each other's footsteps. Throw a player's footsteps into the mix and it's a different story.

 

For example, let's say four NPC guards are patrolling a building our player wants to infiltrate. Most of the time, due to the pattern of each guard's patrol route, they do not see each other, but each guard's 'hearing radius' still allows it to hear the others. Even if you walk in perfect synchronicity with any one of the guards footsteps, as soon as you enter their 'hearing radius' (and are not effectively 'sneaking' according to the 'sneaking' criteria set for the game) then one or more of them will probably become alert to your presence.

 

This bugs me. I wonder if there is a possiblity of programming each NPC to have a 'hearing radius' that ignores unseen footsteps (and footsteps only) if another NPC is making footstep sounds out of his line-of-sight. However, if the other NPC that is making loud footstep noises is in LOS and the player's footsteps can also be heard, only then does the NPC become alert to his presence. This would be due to a third set of footsteps that aren't accounted for. That way, you could effectively move a little faster in situations where you are unseen but there are many patrolling elements that could potentially discover you if you were crawling at a snail's pace to avoid being heard.

 

I realise that both of these questions/suggestions probably involve changing the base code of the game, or some such, but the reason I even ask is because the modders have changed the basic Doom game so much that it seems something like what I have mentioned could be possible.

I have a friend that is at university studying A.I. and he tells me that programming AI-like algorithms and the like are some of the most difficult tasks a games programmer has to face. That said, I wouldn't be too disappointed if the aforementioned concepts couldn't be incorporated in a meaningful way in a hurry. Something to look forward to, in that case!

[Fidcal]

Reducing AI audible acuity to the player in noisy areas was considered and as I recall, not excluded. It just wasn't pursued because of so many other priorities I think.

 

Player footsteps is a difficult area because of all kinds of complexities of gameplay situations. AI have to work in all kinds of environments: A large mansion may have many random footsteps sounding around, servants, guards, etc. while a hermit in a far off cave is a total recluse. We are using a simple compromise. It works where there is an isolated AI and in crowded areas one has to imagine the AI is noticing a different kind of footstep he is not used to hearing, perhaps in a place he is not expecting to hear it. Also remember this applies not just to the player but if an AI hears an enemy AI.

 

One idea for both problems might be for the mapper to set up a 'busy/noisy area' volume in a machine room or well-patrolled corridors. This might have a value deducted from the value the aI hears I guess.

[Springheel]

1) Ambient noise vs. character footsteps:

 

Yes, this feature is actually in our design documents, but we just haven't had time to get to it.

 

2) NPC footsteps vs. character footsteps:

 

It's a valid issue, though probably too difficult to handle in any blanket fashion. We have plans to implement high and low security areas, which might help a bit, but nothing beyond that.

[stumpy]

Weird AI actions, I put some chests in my level and an AI who pathed to close to them kept opening the lids on them even though they were still locked and actually unopenable, after the lids were opened the chests were still actually locked, and although you could see the items in the guard opened chest you couldn't actually get the items from the chest because they were still unfrobable. I tried the option for guard should not handle on the lids, but then the guard refused to path anywhere near the chests and started wandering around aimlessly. Tried monster clipping the chests, and that didn't work the guard still opened them, the only solution I found was to move the chests away from the guards path.

 

Then I have some hidden objective in my map concerning some lions, that are used in a certain way to achive a certain thing, its been working ok till the other day when I found the guard that likes to open locked chests, fiddling with the lions so much so that it was impossible to achive the outcome needed for the lions to produce, and I fixed it by surrounding the lions with monster clip.

 

So is it built into the AI of the guards for them to go off and fiddle with stuff, or is it because am testing the patrol routes and therefore have the team setting at 0 that they think they're all thieves and they should help themselves to stuff just laying around.

[ungoliant]

alright so i'm creating my first archway, and seen various tutorials on the wiki as such. but what i really want is not explained (or i didn't understand it properly). what i have is this:

 

 

just patches. but what i'm pretty sure i want is this from the texturing archways tutorial:

 

 

but it is not explained in that tutorial how that was done. it seems to be made up of individual block size brushes and not patches or something. how do i achieve this?

[stumpy]

you can thicken patches, to get something like the bottom picture, then place blocks and use vertex editing to drag the edges into place using the thickened patch as a guide as to where to place the edges, then you delete the patches, and your fiddled with blocks will look something like the bottom picture.

[Zinski]

Okay, so I've installed DR, it works etc, but it runs like a pregnant yak! I mean it is slow, unresponsive and most of the time the orthoview grid screen (or whatever it's called) is just black. The zoom function seems to not work in real time - it seems not to repsond at all and then when I left drag it suddenly kicks in at once and I don't know where the hell I am - and when I create a brush it suffers the same laggy problem.

 

I know it's not my computer, It works fine running all the latest games. I've started the tutorial on this site, but I can't even create a freakin' room.

 

Anyone know what could be the problem?

[Serpentine]

If you could try this :

Make a shortcut to DR on your desktop

Right click on it -> Properties -> Compatibility tab

Tick “Disable desktop compositing”

 

If that does work, there are plans to fix it.

Do you have an nvidia card running Vista/7 x64?

[AluminumHaste]

If you could try this :

Make a shortcut to DR on your desktop

Right click on it -> Properties -> Compatibility tab

Tick "Disable desktop compositing"

 

If that does work, there are plans to fix it.

Do you have an nvidia card running Vista/7 x64?

 

That is definitely his problem, but as in my case, those options might all be greyed out. When I run DR and I'm having issues with Aero, I have to go to Personalize and pick a theme without aero on. My properties for the darkradiant.exe looks like this:

 

[ungoliant]

Alright, I have nearly achieved total victory on my arch, but I have run into a new problem: i cannot create an inverted endcap with the finished product. heres a picture of work I've done.

 

 

from front to back, the original patches of the arch i wished to make, a series of brushes i aligned with the original patches that form the shape of the blocks i wanted, and the final product, a series of patches textured how i want them that are vertex aligned with the front faces of the brush blocks.

 

For artistic reasons i decided not to incorporate the bottom blocks into the finalized patches, because i wanted to keep the white red white motif, and have white blocks on the bottom.

 

So the problem is, the only piece I can successfully create an inverted endcap with out of all of this is the selected patch in the ss, the topside of the original patches. However, if i created an endcap with this, attempting to align it with my finished product will not work, as there will be tiny gaps all along outside edge of the arch, due to my brush blocks i created not aligning perfectly with the original patch. Additionally the endcap would extend too far down, as i didn't use the bottom 2 blocks, and resizing to fit the finished product results in horrible gaps between the inverted endcap and my finished arch patches.

 

I cannot find a way to successfully create an inverted endcap out of my finished patches. I have tried to thicken the patch on y axis, select all the new topside patches and create an inverted endcap with them. it does not work. converting to funcstatic so its all one model, and your not allowed to create an endcap. Does anyone know how to do this?

 

edit: fixed it. made the problem more complicated than it was. dragged the vertices of the endcap to cover the holes. i'll leave this here in case someone else runs into the problem.

Edited March 7, 2010 by ungoliant