Switchable Bolt Emitters (Forcefields)

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Revision as of 14:14, 27 January 2022 by Goober (talk | contribs)
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  1. First create two rooms both W=8, D=8, H=4 and separate them by 1 unit. Next create a doorway between the rooms W=1, D=3, H=3. Texture the rooms in whatever way you like. For the moment there is no need to add lights unless you want to.
  2. From the Object menu add a Bolt-Emitter and a Target. Take note of the Target's UID number. Place the Bolt-Emitter at the top of the doorway in the center and the Target directly underneath it. See picture.
  3. Select the Bolt Emitter and press the right mouse button. From the menu pick object properties. In the top left hand of the properties menu is the Target UID box.
  4. Enter the UID of the Target you added and press enter. When the Bolt-Emitter is selected a red arrow should be seen going to the Target to show the link has been made.
  5. Go again to the Bolt Emitter properties menu. There will be a Bolt Bitmap displayed in the top right hand corner. Click the Browser button and another menu will open up showing a number of bitmaps. Select fatbolt2.tga from these and press enter.
  6. Now go back to the Bolt Emitter properties menu and change the following menu items.
    1. Thickness = 3.00
    2. Jitter= 0.2
  7. You can also change the bolt color. In my example I made it a medium blue. Press enter to exit the menu and you should see something like the image to the right. You will need to have the Bolt-Emitter selected and then move about a little to show it operating.
  8. At the moment all you have is a nice effect but it does nothing to a player when they come in contact with it. To make it solid we place an invisible brush in the doorway. Make a new solid brush of dimensions W=0.01, D=2.5 and H=2.5. Place it so that it is in the middle of the doorway. Texture it with an invisible texture from the Effects folder.
  9. Now from the Group menu, select the invisible brush and click Create. Name the new group barrier and press enter. The User-Defined Groups branch will now contain the barrier group. Double click on barrier and then press the Keyframe button. This tells the editor that this is the starting position of your mover.
  10. Now the barrier group will have moved into the Moving Groups branch. Open this up and double click on barrier again. Now using the cursor keys and the M-key, move the barrier move away from the doorway. In the example I had the mouse cursor in the TOP view and moved the group upwards. This placed the group just outside the map. Now press the Keyframe button again to indicate the final position of the mover.
  11. Switch to the Object menu and select your first Keyframe (the gold key). Right mouse click to get its properties and make the Movement Type Ping Pong Once then adjust Departing Travel Time to 0.2 seconds.
  12. Select the second Keyframe (silver key) and adjust Departing Travel Time to 0.2 seconds and Pause Time to 5 seconds. This gives you enough time to get through before the force field comes back on.
  13. From the Event/Modifiers branch in the Object menu add a Bolt_State event. Then add an Invert event from the Event/Catalysts branch.
  14. Some linking needs to be done here so be careful to do it properly.
    1. Select the Invert event then with Ctrl pressed select the Bolt_State event. Then press K.
    2. Select the Bolt_State event then with Ctrl pressed select the Bolt_Emitter. Then press K.
    3. Get the UID of the Bolt_State event and in the Gold Keyframe properties of the mover enter it into the Trigger Event with UID box. A blue linking arrow should connect the Keyframe to the Bolt_State event.
    4. Get the UID of the Invert event and in the Silver Keyframe properties enter it into the Trigger Event with UID box.
  15. Next add a Trigger Event and in its properties adjust it to W=4, D=3 and H=3. Set the Trigger reset time to 6 seconds and click the Use Key is Required option. Place the Trigger Event so it spans the doorway.
  16. Select the trigger Event and with Ctrl also select the gold Keyframe. Press K to link them.
  17. Add a Multiplayer spawn point to one of the rooms. Save your map, perform the Create Level Packfile and test the map with either function key F7 and F8.
  18. You should not be able to walk through the Bolt-Emitter while it is operating. Press enter close to the doorway and the Bolt-Emitter should turn off allowing you to walk through since the invisible brush will have moved away at the same time. The Bolt-Emitter should turn back on after a slight pause.