huge spikes

Discussions about Chaos mapping for the UT series.
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GB
Posts: 611
Joined: Sun Nov 14, 2004 7:54 pm

huge spikes

Post by GB »

hi all,

just wondering how it is possible to do spike like those in arena..ive been making a spur of the moment map which has a huge chrome spike in the ceinling which can fall on players as they got to grab a powerup. just wondering how id get the mover to crush players - would i have to use triggers?

i looked at arena, but i cant make sense of what actually happens to trigger them - looks like volume triggered but doesnt say so in the mover properties. Any ideas?

*in case you all think im mad and doing yet another trap duel arena, dont fret...i was just mucking about - i have 3 other duels and a koth map in progress (just needed a break from them)*

cheers dudes!
"All i know is my gut says maybe"
Shadowstar
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Post by Shadowstar »

My Arena maps both use a method I like to call "Karma Spikes", referring to the Karma physics engine. The Karma Spikes are actually invisible movers shaped like spikes that only collide with karma objects (set in the collision properties). When triggered, the spikes move to the position where the corpse should be an act as a sort of structure that holds the player in position, allowing thier limbs to dangle via karma.

To make the effect work well, you'll need to have several spikes arranged in a way so that the spikes are all intersecting at some point, ideally where the player's torso will be. Of course, the player will likely never be in the same place twice when caught by the spikes, so you may want to have a few "rogue" spikes arranged about the main structure. A single spike in Karma won't do much more than push the player. The key is making sure that at least some of the spikes are intersecting the player, which is why you need several. The move time on them should also be 0, or like .1, so that they can jump to the correct position within a game tick (this will cause them to intersect rather than push the ragdoll).

Different arrangements of the spikes and methods for putting them in place are possible. Experimentation may be best. You can use the structures I made in Arena 2 as a good example. Obviously, you'll need different kinds of structures for different types of traps. For instance, my spike pits use a very different structure than the barbed spikes. Experimentation is key to making Karma Spikes work in whatever type of traps you decide to design.

EDIT: As for triggering the mover, a simple trigger should be sufficient. You can change the size of the trigger by modifying its collision properties.
MassChAoS
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Post by MassChAoS »

What he said...

or just have a mover set to CrushWhenEncroach
Use a trigger, set the Event name of the tigger to the tag name of the Mover .
GB
Posts: 611
Joined: Sun Nov 14, 2004 7:54 pm

Post by GB »

so i have an invisible karma spike as a mover and then also have a mover brush which is not invisible to represent that actual spike, which move at the same time (the karma spike moving faster to skewer, before mover provides actual "mushing" effect)?

how do i trigger the karma colliding thing? on arena it seems to be done using a physics volume (the cubes above the stepped spike bits on arena1) and a trigger - whats the physics volume for?


also, just to go off topic slightly, does the karma engine still work as it did in ut2003? i remeber opening up levels to muck about with karma, and i tried it again recently and couldnt get it to work. i used to place karma sphere meshes from CTF-citadel in a high room and shoot them to get them to fall....i cant seem to do this in the new ut - do they still work the same as ut2003?
"All i know is my gut says maybe"
Shadowstar
Chaotic Dreams Team
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Post by Shadowstar »

I dont actually use karma actors much so I dont know much about them, but the reason I use physics volumes in Arena is for projectiles. I don't use them as triggers. Since projectiles don't use karma, when they hit a spike they normally bounce off, but I wanted to have some projectiles actually be able to get skewered on the spikes (like proxies). Although its hardly a gameplay-relevant feature, it is funny to watch a proxy wiggle around after being fired onto a spike. Try it sometime, it's great. That's really the only reason there is a physics volume on those spikes.

Movers can be triggered using normal triggers, both karma spikes and regular spikes. For what you want, I'd suggest setting up a karma spike setup below the floor, then set up a trigger at the kill spot. The trigger should activate an ai script, and the first action the ai script should do is "kill instigator". Try to time it with the falling of the spike and make the trigger large enough so that it gets triggered just before the player is standing in the ideal spot (so that the spike hits them exactly). The second action the ai script should do is to trigger the movers. Both the spike and the karma spike structure should have the same tag, so they both start at the same time. Time the delay on the karma structure so that it hits the ragdoll at about the same time as the spike, this will give the appearance of the spike "catching" the corpse and holding it. If it all works well, the corpse should be nicely skewered on the spike and will dangle a bit. You can set the spike to retract after about 4 seconds if you want it to drop the corpse to the floor before it de-rezzes. Make sure the karma structure and the spike both retract at the same time.

Hopefully that makes sense. It's a bit complicated to do, but it really is a cool effect.
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