Model Problem/Question

[Nero]

Hey, probably stupid question, but how do I make a static model block shots? Whenever I shoot at a crate model I designed I can shoot right through it and the bullets hit the walls behind it. I've tried the Reflective flag and that didn't work. I'm at a bit of a loss here.

[edit]Actually figured that one out. Figures, the minute I post I get an idea that works. Used a combination of +SHOOTABLE and +NOBLOOD and tada! The crate can be shot and not bleed, although that's an interesting thing to see a bleeding box. I got a new question though, is there some way to make the bullet decals show up on an actor like they do on a wall?

[/edit]

[Enjay]

Remember, there is nothing special about a model actor in GZDoom. Aside from how it looks, almost all the properties of a model actor are whatever is in the DECORATE code for it. All you are basically doing with a model is putting a new skin on it (model instead of sprites) but the underlying actor has to be set up as you want it to be.

I got a new question though, is there some way to make the bullet decals show up on an actor like they do on a wall?

Not really, no. I suppose you could change a model's skin when it is hit but it wouldn't really be a suitable solution because you'd be unlikely to get a decal in the right place or of the right type.

I suppose, if you wanted a way to make your crates get decals in a consistent manner, you could use ANIMDEFS to define the textures on the non-model crates so that they would never get decals on them. That way neither the model nor the sector-based crates would ever get decals on them.

[NeuralStunner]

If making a hitscan blocker, also make sure to use NODAMAGE. Otherwise when the default health runs out, it "die". (Though I'm not 100% whether this can actually happen without a valid Death state. Hexen's coniferous trees avoid dying to anything but fire by only having a Burn state...)

[Nero]

If making a hitscan blocker, also make sure to use NODAMAGE. Otherwise when the default health runs out, it "die". (Though I'm not 100% whether this can actually happen without a valid Death state. Hexen's coniferous trees avoid dying to anything but fire by only having a Burn state...)

Actually, I wasn't sure what I did was going to work, that's why I mentioned the bleeding box. I literally got a box that bled when shot What I did was use SHOOTABLE, NOBLOOD, ACTLIKEBRIDGE, and CANPASS. I didn't give the box any health and only a Spawn state, so shoot it all you want and it will only move a bit and create a puff on its surface. The ACTLIKEBRIDGE and CANPASS is so that the models are now stackable. As of now, considering that there aren't a whole lot of crates in my maps, I think the best bet is to go back and just replace the sector-based crates with models. That way I don't have to worry about some boxes showing decals and some not. Wooden or cardboard textured crates I think I'll look into animating, giving me something simple to learn animation on.

P.S. Any tips on animation are welcome!

[Enjay]

As of now, considering that there aren't a whole lot of crates in my maps, I think the best bet is to go back and just replace the sector-based crates with models. That way I don't have to worry about some boxes showing decals and some not. Wooden or cardboard textured crates I think I'll look into animating, giving me something simple to learn animation on.

P.S. Any tips on animation are welcome!

As I mentioned, if you want, you can define the textures as animations to stop them getting decals. You don't have to actually be trying to animate them. All you are trying to do is to stop decals appearing by using the ZDoom default of "if it's animated, don't put decals on it". So, a single frame (ie not moving) animation would be fine.

[Nero]

No I got that part, I'm just saying it would be to my advantage to use only modeled crates. Literally square crates look kind of odd next to sector-based crates subjected to the vertical stretching. What I meant by animating was giving some crates death sequences, especially cardboard considering you should destroy it shooting/kicking it. I think a simple flattening animation like boxes in Half-Life would be sufficient for both instances and easy enough to do for a beginning modeler

[Enjay]

Ah, right, I understand now. I don'r know which model editor you are using but Milkshape has a thing in the tools menu called "Explode" (or something) that splits a model up into triangles and moves them apart. It's a nice easy way to get an exploding animation (especially if, in your DECORATE, you also spawn some explosion sprites etc at the same time). That's how the exploding crates in "Paranoid" were done.

BTW, if you want your crates to be taller rather than perfect cubes (ie like the rest of Doom) then you can just make them taller in the model editor or set the height scaling in modeldef to be 1.2x whatever the other values are.

[edit] Here's an example. It's a file that I put together as a test when we were making Paranoid. Feel free to use it if it is of any use to you. Just load the zip directly into GZDoom.

http://www.zen64060.zen.co.uk/examples/bangcrate.zip

[Nero]

Hey, cool! The exploding barrels would be a big plus because I've been wanting something like that. How would I go about getting it to make a sound when you scoot it across the floor?

[Enjay]

There isn't an easy way to do it. It has been feature requested though. viewtopic.php?f=15&t=31102

It might be possible with some ACS trickery to monitor the position of the object and play a sound when it moves.

[Nero]

Heh heh, ok, so until it's actually a DECORATE feature, I think I can figure something out.