Tutorial: Rope Arrows

Crispy on 22/9/2005 at 07:32

Quote Posted by ascottk

IDEA: Maybe this could be used in conjunction with the climbing gloves?

Are there any climbable actors or static meshes in the game? I only remember being able to climb on BSP surfaces. Still, if you applied a material with "climbable" set to the rope, there is a chance it could work I guess... it definitely wouldn't look right in third-person though. :) (Doesn't wall climbing force third person anyway? I forget... I've only used it about twice, ever. :p )

str8g8 on 22/9/2005 at 08:06

Just emailed you an updated .psk file. Still a bit shocked that it worked actually...

Quote:

Are there any climbable actors or static meshes in the game?

Ladders :)

If you could get the ladder climbing animation to work it wouldn't look too bad.

btw, with these ActorX .psk and .psa files, could we create and implement new AI into the game? What else would we need? For instance, I'm harboring a little idea to bring back spiders.

/shudders

cheers
str8g8

New Horizon on 22/9/2005 at 15:31

I would take a crack at these rope arrows myself but I'm just too busy with real life at the moment. :(

ascottk on 22/9/2005 at 15:56

Quote Posted by str8g8

Just emailed you an updated .psk file. Still a bit shocked that it worked actually...

Ladders :)

If you could get the ladder climbing animation to work it wouldn't look too bad.

btw, with these ActorX .psk and .psa files, could we create and implement new AI into the game? What else would we need? For instance, I'm harboring a little idea to bring back spiders.

/shudders

cheers
str8g8

Looking back I'm not surprised it works. The animations generally need the correct amount of bones (>75 for AI, 125 for Garrett) & the vertices to attach those bones. & str8g8's *.psk file has the 22 bones while the animation uses 21). T3Ed only needs *.psk & *.psa files & it generates the rest (except for the RDG ragdoll files).

Here's a quote about running a custom mesh with Garrett:

Quote Posted by ascottk

I've been experimenting with Milkshape (according to Shockeye the software doesn't support bone weights) but once a workable skeletal mesh is imported into T3Ed then here's some ideas:

All you need is a *psk in the SkeletalMeshes folder. In order to use a skeletal mesh for the player you need the the same number of bones as Garrett_08 (125 bones) & have those bones in the same position as Garrett_08. I imported Garrett_08 into mikshape with (http://home.ripway.com/2005-4/295136/t3import.zip) t3import by Shockeye. I left the bones unaltered & changed the surrounding mesh. There's a lot of distortion with Milkshape but I was able to control the new Garrett even though he looked funky.

Once there all you need to do is copy a *.ski file & alter the information with notepad to fit your new mesh. For example (If your new mesh is Garrett_NEW) Garrett_NEW.ski:

Code:

v5
Garrett_NEW
0.000000 0.000000 0.000000
0.000000 0.000000 0.000000
1.000000 1.000000 1.000000
1 0 10 0
10 1.000000 0.300000 0.000000 0.000000
MeshFlags=N
1
0.000000
7
garrett_08
Flags=
garrett_08_2nd
Flags=
garrett_08_3rd_jump
Flags=
garrett_08_3rd
Flags=
garrett_08_3rd_nav
Flags=
0

This only to tell T3Ed that the Garrett_NEW.psk is to use the animations used by Garrett_08. T3Ed will automatically generate the *.pro files. If you need to alter the offset of the mesh you can do it within T3Ed's skeleton browser.

Then you can create an archetype under PlayerGarrett & have the SkeletalTag property (under Render) = Garrett_NEW & change the skin with the MaterialSkin property.

Then you change the user.ini to (unverified):

Code:

[DefaultPlayer]
Class=T3Gamesys.p_4

Class is the new archetype shown on the title bar of your Actor Class window. The default class is T3Gamesys.D_584

You could also make a fake Garrett by importing bones from a NPC & copy the surrounding mesh of Garrett_08 to the NPC bones. Then assigning the *.ski to use animations used by the NPC.

str8g8 on 22/9/2005 at 16:15

Yeah I did a search for .psk on ttlg and found that ... quite interesting.

So lets say you modelled the new AI, skinned it, created animations and exported the .psk and .psa files. You're saying you could create the .ski file manually and then you would have everything you need to do the rest in the editor? :) Can't be that simple ... can it? The only thing missing is the RGD files ... and they are not text files, unfortunately. Any idea how these are generated?

cheers
str8g8

ascottk on 22/9/2005 at 16:22

Quote Posted by str8g8

If you want to use the default animations you only need a *.psk file. If you look at the AI in the skeleton browser they share the same animations.

I don't know how RDG files are created but you could always specify which default ragdoll tag to use under the Physics property.

EDIT: Updated files with str8g8's new mesh

demagogue on 22/9/2005 at 22:48

For those of us in the periphery of these exciting developments watching at home, what exactly does "it works" amount to in this context?

I'm just curious (and still a little unsure from the discussion) if we have bone fide working rope arrows now, or if something is still missing but all the basics are in place, or what...

I hope it means what it says!

ascottk on 22/9/2005 at 23:31

Quote Posted by demagogue

It works in the context of the new skeletal mesh means: It shows up in the skeletal browser complete with the animation, the RopeArrowSpawn link works but no animation is played, you can't climb it, the skin doesn't show, and there's the multi-spawning problem.

EDIT: I managed to get the animation to work in-game by propagating a message to the RopeArrowLadder from a button.

UPDATE: Because of the non-climbability of the skeletal mesh I had to create a new rope using the static mesh. I made a script & placed it on the skeletal mesh when it spawned (RopeArrowSpawn link) & now we get an animation then the skeletal mesh is destroyed which spawns the static mesh rope. We still have the multispawning problem though :p

ascottk on 23/9/2005 at 04:43

*Was a bunch useless ramblings*

EDIT: here's a video teaser of the animation working in-game
(http://home.comcast.net/~ascottk/files/mov/T3RopeArrow.wmv) T3RopeArrow.wmv

NEARLY SUCCESS! I only need to work out some kinks (the rope is spawning off center so it's above the collision). Until then this is what you do:

Use the triggerscript method. Until I work out the details of the skeletal mesh then I'll incorporate that.

Instead of spawning the rope, spawn something small (I used the RopeArrowHead). Create a script & place on that small thing:

CONDITIONS: on script startup
ACTION: Destroy linked object myself
reset script conditions and actions

Now create a DeathSpawn link from that small thing to the RopeArrowLadder so when the small thing is destroyed then the ladder is created without the weird angle! Straight up & down. Until tomorrow :bored:

EDIT #304: Weird side effect - When I choose the arrows from inventory it spawns a bunch of ropearrowladders (looks like intestines) on the map. Ugh, Im going to bed.

Crispy on 23/9/2005 at 07:57

Quote Posted by str8g8

Ladders :)

If you could get the ladder climbing animation to work it wouldn't look too bad.

Well, yeah, apart from ladders. :p

IIRC someone already tried that, and it sort of worked but you could only climb on the two distinct sides of the ladder. A rope should be climbable from any angle.

Maybe if you spawned a whole bunch of invisible ladders and rotated them so they were in a spoke pattern...