+THROUGHSPECIES & Species for hitscan puffs

[Enjay]

If it is possible, it would be useful to be able to give puffs a species type and the +THROUGHSPECIES flag to make a hitscan attacks pass through the specified species without harming them.

Currently I'm working with a multi-part enemy but I can't give it a hitscan attack because it ends up shooting its other parts. I can make a hitscan-like fast projectile and give it the +THROUGHSPECIES flag and that works just fine for the particular enemy that I am working with but it would be good to have the option of an actual hitscan attack.

Thanks.

[Major Cooke]

I second this.
While this would be useful, perhaps I can provide you with a temporary workaround solution.

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First, set up some inventory actor tokens. You'll need at least one "base" token actor which to identify them from, i.e. an actor named "LigamentToken". Do it however you please, but remember, different parts may require different "tokens" to allow for more individuality based upon which they are. This is one of the most important bits you'll need. Now, I'm assuming this seems like a 1-on-1 boss to me, from the sounds of it, but if it's not, tell me and I'll adapt the post to better fit your need.

Next, whenever you want the monster to fire hitscans, have it give radius inventory to the parts. This is where the actor tokens come into play. The CustomInventory actor should check for the base token LigamentToken first, that way other monsters around the area don't get the execution on them performed. If you're doing specific ligaments that will fire hitscans, this is where you'll want to ensure they have further identity tokens. I.e. Arm1Token, Arm2Token, etc.

If that jump should work, next you could perform flag changing. Have it set the ligament's NONSHOOTABLE flag on (Do not perform A_UnSetShootable), then let the specific arms perform the firing via the determined custom inventory actors. Designating them to check for specific identities allows for better customizability. All the ligaments should have the NONSHOOTABLE flag by now, then you give the specific custom inventory that gives a token which they wait on to perform the hitscan attacks. Then, after the hitscans, and with proper timing, you can then disable the NONSHOOTABLE flag.

If this doesn't make any sense, PM me with details of your monster and/or the code, and I'll help you out more directly. Kinda hard to explain it.

[Enjay]

Thanks for the suggestion. I think that, with this particular enemy, the FastProjectile route is acceptable.

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For info, the enemy concerned is not actually a boss but a mid-range enemy robot. The reason that it is made of 2 parts is that the appearance of the robot lends itself to the idea that the legs and torso can turn independently of each other.

Thanks to LWM, the way it is set up is that the main actor has the monster's dimensions (32 wide 64 tall iirc) and the secondary actor (1 wide, 1 tall) is carried around by the main actor (using a script). The secondary actor is not being used for collision or anything much, it's just there to provide the independently moving torso when it is required. The central/main actor does all the usual stuff expected of an enemy (wanders around, shoots (rockets) at the player, feels pain etc) and the secondary actor has the ability to fire a chaingun. When this happens, the primary actor stops walking and the secondary actor fires and keeps turning to face the player/target. So, a player circle strafing around the robot would see the legs/feet firmly planted on the ground while the torso (with the chaingun) rotates to stay facing the player. When the underlying main actor feels pain, the pain is transferred to the secondary actor (via an inventory check) and the chaingun can be interrupted. When the underlying actor dies, the whole thing dies because the actor is being monitored by a script.

I've posted WiP pictures of the enemy before but I'll put a video of it in action up at some point too. However, this is what it looks like:



I originally planned to make it pretty much like a regular enemy but I was struggling to make a good looking walking animation. However, Willem Sitters helped me out with that and, at the same time, he added the "waist" which is where the idea of allowing the top and bottom to rotate independently came from.

Anyway, I guess that the most important thing to mention about this enemy is that it consists of a central main actor that is used for all the collision and other game interaction and a secondary actor in exactly the same place as the main actor which provides no collision information. The secondary actor only provides a second attack mode and the ability for the two actors to rotate independently of each other giving the illusion of a single actor with an independently rotating torso and legs.

[Major Cooke]

That's very nice! And yeah, I can see how for hitscan puffs, this would especially be useful.

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Yeah, I gotta say, making the legs the main carrying and hitbox actor is the best way to get results so the upper torso can do all the attacking. Very nice though! Though I will say, there's no real need for a script, but that's just me. Still, very interesting. Please do tell when you post a video.

[Xtyfe]

I suggested this a long while ago, a very useful and needed feature