MAPINFO 'forceclass'

[Tapika]

Here's an example:

Code: Select all

forceclass = DoomPlayer

means when the level starts, the PlayerClass will be 'DoomPlayer'. If the class does not exist (Or is simply not defined as a PlayerClass and relative of PlayerPawn) it will be the set class for this gametype.
I know this is possible- You say we cannot change class in-game, but what about between intermissions, hmnn?

[HotWax]

http://forum.zdoom.org/potato.php?t=14999

[Kate]

Being able to do it from a function call from ACS makes it a lot more flexible, because it allows one to create selective or special exits instead of having the map itself change the player class, considering a possibility where a map can be designed for more than one player class. In this case, you'd just have the line execute a script that looks something like this:

Code: Select all

Script 1 (void)
{
    ChangeLevel ("NEWMAP", 0, 0, GameSkill(), "NewClass");
}

with NEWMAP being the next map's lump name and NewClass being the name of the class you want the player to start as.

[HotWax]

Tapika's method does have the slight advantage of enforcing the class change even when a player warps to it, however.

Perhaps both methods could be added in some form.

[Kate]

Oh I'm pretty sure if the code for one gets added, then adding the code for the other would be somewhat trivial, since they both pretty much do the same thing.

[Tapika]

Sure, ACS may be flexable, but in the end when you want to do some last minuite changes you don't have to go through hell compiling a really long script.

[Cutmanmike]

Sure, ACS may be flexable, but in the end when you want to do some last minuite changes you don't have to go through hell compiling a really long script.

That's where DoomScript will hopefully (eventually) come in... if it does at all.

[Ghastly]

Code: Select all

Script 1 (void)
{
    ChangeLevel ("NEWMAP", 0, 0, GameSkill(), "NewClass");
}

What if someone warps directly to a map from the console?

[Kate]

What if someone warps directly to a map from the console?

Well it is a cheat, so of course they would assume their default class, which, as I said before, is useful for testing maps that can be played through with different classes (ala Hexen).

I could see the use for this if you need to specify a class for a situation like -warp to the map from the commandline, but in this case it'd probably be better to use a "defaultclass" for when one isn't specified instead of forcing it to that value for every map change, as there may be some situations where you don't specifically want to force the player to change classes (like using it for a startmap after they just select one).

But I didn't necessarily say no to this, I'm just saying there would already be another way of doing it in some situations, but I don't see a reason not to add it, since it could be used to ensure that the player enters the map as this class, regardless of how they got there (I could imagine something like the shrinker tool and "mini-levels" with a small player, where this would be needed to enforce size constraints so it doesn't try to spawn a full-size playerclass into a small room).

[TheDarkArchon]

Sure, ACS may be flexable, but in the end when you want to do some last minuite changes you don't have to go through hell compiling a really long script.

You think ACS is a pain in the ass in that regard? Protip: Don't go into a career that involves programming in a decent language.

[Nash]

I just started learning QuakeC and ACS is such a joke compared to QuakeC (and even QC is a real joke compared to C++).

[Ghastly]

@Kate: What about about Skulltag's map change votes? That's not a cheat.

Both suggestions look to be useful, but I think the MAPINFO option's the best suggestion for forcing a player class for a certain map.

[Kate]

What about about Skulltag's map change votes? That's not a cheat.

[...] in this case it'd probably be better to use a "defaultclass" for when one isn't specified instead of forcing it to that value for every map change, as there may be some situations where you don't specifically want to force the player to change classes [...]

Of course if you really look at it, it breaks down in multiplayer because there's no way, script or otherwise, to set a class for a specific player, only for all of them at once. In this I'm assuming doing so through a script only affects the script activator, whereas in mapinfo it affects ALL players. In this case if 'default' is specified it'd be more of a 'soft change' as script class changes would override map classes, whereas the force option would override script changes.

...Actually having it affect all players from the script would make more sense, since the default (soft) change would reset the class anyway since it probably wouldn't be able to tell if a script changed the player to that class 2 maps before...

I'm trying to consider a situation like this:

There are gateways to hell in one map that warp to a hellish second map. The hellish second map specifies that all players are imps, but one wants to set it so that if they crossed the gateway, they would start off as barons. A default class would mean that the script wins and they become barons when they start the next map, but if they didn't go through the gate to end the level and go to the map (for example the map is directly warped to or votemap or whatever), they would start as imps. In contrast, forceclass means they would always start as imps, regardless of whether they crossed the gateway line or not in the last map.

[HotWax]

Sure, ACS may be flexable, but in the end when you want to do some last minuite changes you don't have to go through hell compiling a really long script.

Yes, and you'll never get that 2.4 seconds back, either.

[Project Shadowcat]

Sure, ACS may be flexable, but in the end when you want to do some last minuite changes you don't have to go through hell compiling a really long script.

Want long? ZDCMP1 has over 1000 lines of ACS script...
and one of the maps in my project has nearly 1000 by myself.
That is what comment lines are for...