Newbie DarkRadiant Questions

[MirceaKitsune]

Strange: When there's an AAS error like guards placed in walls, it will usually just say "AAS out of date" when spawning for that specific AAS type. Never seen that error before and wouldn't have known what it meant: Must be a rare circumstance.

[grodenglaive]

44 minutes ago, MirceaKitsune said:

Strange: When there's an AAS error like guards placed in walls, it will usually just say "AAS out of date" when spawning for that specific AAS type. Never seen that error before and wouldn't have known what it meant: Must be a rare circumstance.

I'm good at causing uncommon errors. I found this thread about it (there was nothing in the wikki): 

and this in the idtech4 modwikki: 

Error: i >= MAX_REACH_PER_AREA

Severe : An error issued by the AAS compiler. An Area that has been created has more than 256 adjoining Areas . You should simplify the map’s brush geometry (which the aas compiler uses as input) using monster clip to block off areas that the AI won’t/shouldn’t go.

This error may also be caused by surrounding the map with a large caulk hull with leaks between the map and hull.

Edited November 30, 2024 by grodenglaive

[JackFarmer]

2 hours ago, grodenglaive said:

what have I done?

Yeah, if I recall correctly, this happens when the game detects too large an area for AIs to walk/fly around.  You have to limit the aas area calculation with vertical/horizontal MC for guards/elementals.

[MirceaKitsune]

I was wondering if there's a way to chain sounds in a sound shader, including randomized sounds. What I want is when a speaker is triggered, it plays a fixed sound, plays another random sound, then plays another fixed sound: I'm only aware of "leadin", but that's intended as a prefix to a single looped sound plus there's no "leadout" equivalent. I can use fixed delays to chain 3 speakers, but those wouldn't respect the length of the individual sounds and rely on me defining a fixed delay that won't line up with every possible choice... unless the speaker entity knows to trigger its targets when its audio finishes playing?

[JackFarmer]

32 minutes ago, MirceaKitsune said:

I was wondering if there's a way to chain sounds in a sound shader, including randomized sounds. What I want is when a speaker is triggered, it plays a fixed sound, plays another random sound, then plays another fixed sound: I'm only aware of "leadin", but that's intended as a prefix to a single looped sound plus there's no "leadout" equivalent. I can use fixed delays to chain 3 speakers, but those wouldn't respect the length of the individual sounds and rely on me defining a fixed delay that won't line up with every possible choice... unless the speaker entity knows to trigger its targets when its audio finishes playing?

If you don't rely on speakers, you could try the convo system for that. However, I do not know how that would work with random sound files, you might have to figure out a way for that:

1. Create a ghost actor in a blue room. Mute the ghost actor and give it an invalid vocal set. Then give the ghost actor  a "snd_global - 1" property.

2 Create a convo with the ghost actor only. Then add commands, for example:

   a - ghost actor - play sound shader x1 (tick property: wait till sound shaders finishes)

  b - ghost actor- play sound shader x2 (tick property: wait till sound shaders finishes)

By doing so, the sound shaders will be played one after the other. However, the problem remains with your random sound files.

Alternatively, you could try so script that (and I think it would be easier to implement some random sound file through scripting). Maybe somethink like that:

0. Choose sound shader (defined or random)

1. Get length of sound shader x1

2. Activate sound shader x1

3. Wait (lenght of sounder shader x1)

4. etc....

I have never tried that and I do not know whether it works...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[JackFarmer]

@MirceaKitsune

To add random sounds files between defined sound files with the ghost actor method described above, you could use a trigger random. See below an example with three given random sounds:

[MirceaKitsune]

Thanks. For what I wanted to do I settled for something simpler which was ultimately good enough.

 

Edited December 1, 2024 by MirceaKitsune

[JackFarmer]

5 hours ago, MirceaKitsune said:

Thanks. For what I wanted to do I settled for something simpler which was ultimately good enough.

 

I have to say, your Deux Ex Steampunk Mod (=DESM) is really taking shape!

[datiswous]

Something I just figured out:

How to move in tdm to a conversation:

1. Open in DR the conversation editor (menu Map > Conversations...
2. Note the conversation entity name
3. Open TDM in mission and in console type teleport "conversation entity name"

It might be good to type notarget before teleporting to the location.

The conversation might not always start there, because maybe the trigger is elswhere. Also the entity doesn't strictly need to be near where the conversation takes place, but often is. Also, it seems that multiple conversations can be listed under such entity, while they are not all in specified location. So it might not always work.

[MirceaKitsune]

Is it possible to define a custom lantern that activates an overlay GUI when on then turns it off when no longer active? Zoom is optional, but if it's possible without needing a custom script just for that, I was thinking to combine the lantern and spyglass into a special item that does both functionalities. Is that much doable with the builtin script objects and just a custom player tool entity?

[JackFarmer]

2 hours ago, datiswous said:

The conversation might not always start there, because maybe the trigger is elswhere. Also the entity doesn't strictly need to be near where the conversation takes place, but often is. Also, it seems that multiple conversations can be listed under such entity, while they are not all in specified location. So it might not always work.

Yep, I cannot speak for the others, but I am always defining all conversations in one entity.

[datiswous]

Oh ok that's a bummer. I guess I have no clue about mapper's structure.

I just wonder how one would go if they want to test conversations. In my case that's for showing subtitles.

[JackFarmer]

18 hours ago, datiswous said:

Oh ok that's a bummer. I guess I have no clue about mapper's structure.

I just wonder how one would go if they want to test conversations. In my case that's for showing subtitles.

I am afraid there are a few more problems.

info_conversation is only used to define conversations and the "director's commands" (talk, walk, look, talk, etc.) with allocation of the required sound files. The entity does not have any other purpose and thus its location is uncritical. Some may also place the entity in a blue room.

The conversations themselves get activated via "atdm:target_startconversation" entities. Mappers can go on with the suggested names "[...]...conversation_X", but mappers can, of course, choose better fitting names like "start_convo_builder". Location of these entities does not matter as well.

On top, you need some sort of trigger - trigger_once for example or maybe a trigger_count if the mission maker wants the convo only to start when several other actions have been completed and counted.

So, to find out where a certain convo is located one must maybe know where and how triggers have to be activated to get the "start_convo" entity activated. Probably a non trivial task if you are not familiar with the map structure.

 

Edited December 5, 2024 by JackFarmer

[datiswous]

I guess Geep's subtitleplayer (download) is probably still the best option for my own specific usecase.

Edited December 5, 2024 by datiswous

[MirceaKitsune]

Can still use an answer on my previous question: Is there any way to make a custom player lantern that adds a GUI overlay when active, possibly combine the functionality of both the Lantern and Spyglass so there's a bit of zoom while using it? I know it's possible with a script at worst, but I was wondering if a custom definition alone can do it too.

[datiswous]

On 12/5/2024 at 9:55 PM, MirceaKitsune said:

I know it's possible with a script at worst, but I was wondering if a custom definition alone can do it too.

Spyglass functionality itself is a script in tdm.

[MirceaKitsune]

18 hours ago, datiswous said:

Spyglass functionality itself is a script in tdm.

Right. An item can't run two scripts at once I take it, so you could have a custom spyglass also toggle a light attached to the player? May leave that one for another project when I'll take a proper look at scripting the item I had in mind.

[datiswous]

I think you can use some of the code from the spyglass script inside of your own version for whatever you want to make.

I don't really know what you want to make, but I'm sure you know more about such things.

[MirceaKitsune]

3 hours ago, datiswous said:

I don't really know what you want to make, but I'm sure you know more about such things.

Spoiler

Night-vision goggles... or spyglass? I guess it's not a big spoiler since I'm not saying which FM and it's not story relevant, but hope to have it as a surprise if I ever do it. It's easy to do with a custom scriptobject, but I was wondering if I could do without. The idea was to have an item that works the same as the spyglass just a different overlay and less zoom (green filter with horizontal lines), it must also turn on a bright light when active which doesn't affect the lightgem.

[datiswous]

Spoiler

Btw. have you thought of x-ray goggles? I think you can also show lights through x-ray, that without the x-ray would be off. I'm not sure if that could affect your visibility though. Haven't tested with it enough.

 

[MirceaKitsune]

Very good thinking, I should take a look at how those were implemented, thanks.

[datiswous]

Spoiler

Quote

Lights: currently no way to manipulate these with the xray feature.

https://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=Xrays#Supported_entity_types

bummer.

I guess you can just switch a green (ambient?) light on when activating the goggles which has Spawnarg ai_see set to 0.

 

Spoiler

Although spawnarg suppressInSubview contradicts this:
 

Quote

suppressInSubview: specific to lights, setting this to "1" makes the light visible only in normal vision while "2" makes it visible only in xray vision. Note that this affects other subviews like mirrors and camera screens, too.

 

Edited December 9, 2024 by datiswous

[datiswous]

Hey I just found out what ALT-V does (or Edit > Paste to Camera). You can copy something in the map and then with that command it pasts it where the camera view is in your map. I didn't see this before, sorry if it's very basic info.

 

Oh and this might be a useful filter (sorry for double posting, but it seems a better place):

Edited December 22, 2024 by datiswous

[grodenglaive]

From the Ambient Light Wiki:

Properties: No shadows, No specular, Bumpmapping or Directionality (Note: The "Enhance Ambient" does add Bumpmapping )

I don't see any place to enable this Enhance Ambient effect. Has that been deprecated?

also, Happy New Year!

Edited January 1 by grodenglaive

[grodenglaive]

A question about using a cubemap for ambient lighting... It looks great outside, but unfortunately the lighting also appears inside buildings, which does not look good.  I tried toggling the cubelight off when you inside, but that is terribly jarring. Is there any way around that?  

(edit) Of course: instead of using an ambientCube use a regular Cubic Light.

 

Edited January 3 by grodenglaive
solved