RED Objects
Objects can make or break a level. The addition of objects to a level helps to provide a better reference for scale, as well as giving a level a more realistic feel. Objects are classed as any 3D thing in a level that is not made from level geometry, and there are several different categories of objects, ranging from characters to vehicles to light fixtures and weapons. Objects can be manipulated in Object Mode or Group Mode.
This page lists available object types in RED. For specifics on Object Mode in RED, see the Object Mode Overview.
Regions
Climbing Region
Push Region
Gas Region
Geo Region
Non-Geo Region
Emitters
Bolt Emitter
Particle Emitter
Triggers
Trigger Door
Trigger Event
Trigger Auto
Player Spawn Points
Player Start
Multiplayer Respawn Point
Area Effects
Light
Ambient Sound
Room Effect
EAX Effect
Decal
Cutscene/AI Objects
Cutscene Camera
Cutscene Path Node
Events
The event/scripting system for Red is very powerful, yet easy to use. The basic philosophy behind it is that you LINK a TRIGGER to an EVENT(s). This system is very versatile and will let you create an almost unlimited number of special scripted sequences.
An "Event" is a basic game action that occurs when it receives either an On and/or Off message. On messages can be sent from triggers, objects, or they can be received from other Events. Off messages are sent from the off state of events like the Switch Event, or are sent through an Invert Event. Most Events only respond to On messages (since most Events do a single thing which doesn’t need to be stopped with an Off message). Events must be linked to the trigger source so they know when to trigger. You link a trigger and event together by using the objects unique id number, or by just selecting the first object, then the second object, and hitting the "K" hot-key.
Events can also be linked to other Events to set up a "Chain reaction" of event all triggered from one source. For example, you might have a trigger which links to a Play_Sound Event (which plays a scream), and the Play_Sound Event could link to a Play_Animation Event (which plays an animation of an AI holding his head in agony).
All Events have an optional delay associated with them, which you can specify in the Event properties (CTRL-P or by right clicking over the selected event and selecting "Properties" from the pop-up menu). This will delay the action of the event by the specified amount of time, after an On or Off message is received.
Events can link to other objects, which is used to tell the Event which objects to affect. Each Event affects their linked objects in different ways, so refer to the Event list below for a detailed description of each event. The link HAS to go from the event to the object for it to work- even if the object is being used at the "trigger"!
Event Types
- See RED Event List for a comprehensive list of event types and their functions.
Clutter
Entity
Item
Target
Keyframe
The editor uses keyframes as the method for animating how moving groups move. They are a way to tell the game engine where the mover should go and in what order. You also use the keyframes to tell the mover how fast to go to the next keyframe, if the mover should reverse or start the process over when it finishes, and other such information.
Properties
- Is Door: Set this flag for a Translating or Rotating Mover that's used as a door so it will block visibility when it's closed. A door is considered "closed" then the mover is at the the gold keyframe.
- Start Moving Backwards: This flag causes a translating mover to start at its last keyframe and go backwards through the keyframe list. On a rotating mover, it will start at its final position.
- Rotate In Place: Set this flag for creating a Rotating Mover.
- Use Travel Time as Velocity: This flag uses the values in "Departing Travel Time" and "Return Travel Time" to set a mover's speed (meters per second).
- Force Orient: Not Supported.
- No Player Collide: This flag causes the mover to not do collision detection.
- Propagate Sounds: This will make all keyframes that have the same script name as the currently selected keyframe have the same sounds. This will not affect keyframes with the script name of "keyframe".
- Propagate Properties: This will make all keyframes that have the same script name as the currently selected keyframe have the same properties. This will not affect keyframes with the script name of "keyframe".
- Stop Sounds: This will cause all looping sounds that have been activated by a "Preview" button to stop playing.
- Movement Type: Defines the movement behavior for the keyframe list. The movement types are explained below:
Movement Type | Translating | Rotating |
One Way | Goes from first to the last then stops until it receives a turn on message again. e.g. 1 > 2 >3 - STOP | Goes from start to finish then stops until it receives a turn on message again. e.g. START > FINISH - STOP |
Ping Pong Once | Goes from first to last then back again then stops until it receives a turn-on message again. e.g. 1 > 2 > 3 > 2 > 1 - STOP | Goes from start to finish then back to start until it receives a turn-on message again. e.g. START > FINISH > START - STOP |
Ping Pong Infinite | Goes from first to last then back again until it receives a turn-off message again. e.g. 1 > 2 > 3 > 2 > 1 etc. | Goes from start to finish then back to start then loops e.g. START > FINISH > START LOOP |
Loop Once | Goes from first to last then back to first then stops. e.g. 1 > 2 > 3 > 1 - STOP | Same As Ping Pong Once |
Loop Infinite | Goes from first to last then back to first and repeats until it receives a turn off message. e.g. 1 > 2 > 3 > 1 > 2 > 3 etc. | Goes from start to finish then loops. e.g. START > FINISH > LOOP |
- Starting Keyframe: This will determine the keyframe a mover will start at. This does not affect rotation movers. Also used conjunction with the "Preview" button to show a mover at a specific keyframe in the editor.
- Preview: This will show the mover (in the editor) at the keyframe specified in "Starting Keyframe".
- Start Sound: This is the sound that is played when a mover starts moving.
- Looping Sound: This is the sound that is played when a mover is moving between any keyframes in it's keyframe list.
- Stop Sound: This is the sound that is played when a mover either stops or pause at a keyframe.
- Close Sound: This is the sound that is played when a mover that is flagged as a door reverses direction.
- Volume: Each value will set the volume for the respective sounds. Default is 1.00
- Preview: Click this button to preview the respective sound in the editor. This only works if you have extracted the sounds from the audio.vpp file.
- Script Name: Enter a custom script name to allow sounds and properties to be propagated to other keyframes with same custom script name.
- Pause Time: This sets the time a mover will pause at the currently select keyframe. This only works on silver keyframes.
- Departing Travel Time: This is the time it will take a mover to go from the currently selected keyframe to the next keyframe.
- Return Travel Time: This is the time it will take the mover to go from the previous keyframe to the currently selected keyframe.
- Acceleration Time: This is the time it takes the mover to reach maximum velocity.
- Deceleration Time: This is the time it will take the mover to reach zero velocity.
- Trigger Event with UID: You can specify an event's UID so that when the mover reaches this keyframe, it will send a turn-on message to the event.
- Contains Item UID(s): If you create a container (like a locker or crate), you have to specify the UID(s) of the object(s) here so the item(s) cannot be picked up until the container is opened.
- Degrees About Axis: This is where you specify the amount a rotating mover rotates.
- OK: Click this to confirm any changes you have made and close the dialog box.
- Cancel: Click this to close the dialog box and lose any changes you have made.