The "How do I..." Thread

[Matt]

I have set all maps to allow respawn without resetting inventory, so the player inventory items "ChaingunCount" and "WoundCount" should persist. Instead, they seem to reset to zero as soon as the player dies! Can anyone tell me why?

Is this in multiplayer (including -host 1 and addbot), singleplayer, or both? If you want this to work in singleplayer you're going to need some kind of buddha+chaossphere hack to keep the player from dying at all.

[mizzouSCN]

I have set all maps to allow respawn without resetting inventory, so the player inventory items "ChaingunCount" and "WoundCount" should persist. Instead, they seem to reset to zero as soon as the player dies! Can anyone tell me why?

Is this in multiplayer (including -host 1 and addbot), singleplayer, or both? If you want this to work in singleplayer you're going to need some kind of buddha+chaossphere hack to keep the player from dying at all.

It's in singleplayer. I've used the same code for a stripped-down version of Brutal Doom and the player inventory seems to persist just fine even in death.

Is this an issue with how the game handles player death, even for custom player classes? I would think my Death ACS would be able to offload the inventory count into the global int, but it seems to wipe inventory first and then run the ACS script.

Is it possible to make a DECORATE script activate an ACS script? For example:

Code: Select all

Actor TrackingChaingun : Chaingun replaces Chaingun
{
Weapon.SlotNumber 4
States
   {
   Fire:
     CHGG AB 4 A_FireCGun
    TNT1 A 0 puke 999 //chainguncount++
     CHGG B 0 A_ReFire
     Goto Ready
    }
}

That way I'd be able to track the count in an ACS variable, bypassing the inventory altogether.

[Fallentemp]

I'm trying to make a custom pickup item, though it doesn't do anything but play a sound which in this case is radio chatter when you pickup a Earpiece radio

Code: Select all

Actor Radio : Inventory 10364
{
Height 25
Radius 8
Scale 0.4
inventory.pickupsound "Chat"
states
{
Spawn:
RADI A-1
Stop
}
}

Which works all fine and dandy.. but the sound isn't loud enough, i've increased the overall volume in the sound file but it doesn't make any difference at all, is there a way to increase the volume in decorate?

i know there is a way to add a pickup that plays a sound once it is grabbed through ACS but i haven't the slightest idea on how todo that in ACS, can anyone help me out?

[amv2k9]

...Which works all fine and dandy.. but the sound isn't loud enough, i've increased the overall volume in the sound file but it doesn't make any difference at all, is there a way to increase the volume in decorate?

[wiki]SNDINFO[/wiki] is what you're looking for.

[amv2k9]

Is it possible to make a DECORATE script activate an ACS script?

ACS_Execute and ACS_NamedExecute, as well as more specialized functions like ExecuteWithResult, can be used in Decorate as well as within ACS. Use them like you would action functions.

Code: Select all

ACTOR Zambormang : Zombieman
{
 States
 {
 See:
  TNT1 A 0 ACS_NamedExecute("DoSomething",0,1,0,0)
  ....
 }
}

[Blue Shadow]

...Which works all fine and dandy.. but the sound isn't loud enough, i've increased the overall volume in the sound file but it doesn't make any difference at all, is there a way to increase the volume in decorate?

[wiki]SNDINFO[/wiki] is what you're looking for.

Unfortunately, it's not possible to increase the sound volume above the default, which is 1.0, according to Randi.

[Frustration]

I'm trying to make a custom pickup item, though it doesn't do anything but play a sound which in this case is radio chatter when you pickup a Earpiece radio

Code: Select all

Actor Radio : Inventory 10364
{
Height 25
Radius 8
Scale 0.4
inventory.pickupsound "Chat"
states
{
Spawn:
RADI A-1
Stop
}
}

Which works all fine and dandy.. but the sound isn't loud enough, i've increased the overall volume in the sound file but it doesn't make any difference at all, is there a way to increase the volume in decorate?

i know there is a way to add a pickup that plays a sound once it is grabbed through ACS but i haven't the slightest idea on how todo that in ACS, can anyone help me out?

You could try adding a ACS script into your map.. somthing like this -

---

Code: Select all

#Include "zcommon.acs"

Script 1 (Void)


{
Localambientsound("Chat",127);


}

Then in the decorate have it Run the script with the pickup - Like this

---

Code: Select all

Actor Radio : CustomInventory 10364
{
Height 25
Radius 8
Scale 0.4
states
{

Pickup:
	TNT1 A 1 ACS_Execute (1, 0, 0, 0, 0) 

Stop
}
}

Anyway..
I know how to add custom playersprites and what not.. but how do i go about making it use the Color Sliders in the player options menu?

is there like a color i need to mark on the sprite so it knows what to change.. like to grey.. or green?

[Matt]

It's in singleplayer. I've used the same code for a stripped-down version of Brutal Doom and the player inventory seems to persist just fine even in death.

Is this an issue with how the game handles player death, even for custom player classes?

Wait, so we're talking about the inventory clearing immediately upon death, not on respawn? Sounds like there's something much bigger at work here - check all death states, all weapon deselect states, all DEATH scripts for any instance of taking or giving inventory (you can give a custominventory item that clears your inventory o pickup), or morphing the player.


Also, best is to use [wiki]ACS_ExecuteAlways[/wiki] because that works in the most possible situations, and [wiki]ACS_NamedExecuteAlways[/wiki] I believe does not work in DECORATE, unless something has changed and someone needs to update the wiki. I thought only action specials could be called in DECORATE??? Did that change, or have I been getting this wrong all these years? o_O

[Blue Shadow]

Also, best is to use [wiki]ACS_ExecuteAlways[/wiki] because that works in the most possible situations, and [wiki]ACS_NamedExecuteAlways[/wiki] I believe does not work in DECORATE, unless something has changed and someone needs to update the wiki.

Em... ACS_NamedExecuteAlways does work from DECORATE.

[MeatyD]

Would anyone happen to know how to make an actor visible through walls? it would be really great for things like flare effects and objective markers.

[Ghostbreed]

Wouldn't that need the wall itself to be made using alpha layers? Could be wrong though

[MeatyD]

I wouldn't think so. If it can't be done in regular ZDoom, I would at least hope that it could be done in GZDoom. In OpenGL, it would be a simple matter of drawing an actor's sprite after all the other elements in the scene have been rendered.

[Ghostbreed]

Then I can't help you, sorry and good luck.

[mizzouSCN]

Is it possible to make a DECORATE script activate an ACS script?

ACS_Execute and ACS_NamedExecute, as well as more specialized functions like ExecuteWithResult, can be used in Decorate as well as within ACS. Use them like you would action functions.

Code: Select all

ACTOR Zambormang : Zombieman
{
 States
 {
 See:
  TNT1 A 0 ACS_NamedExecute("DoSomething",0,1,0,0)
  ....
 }
}

This might be just the thing -- if I can store my gameplay metrics to a global int instead of player inventory, it should be safe against inventory wipe on death.

Wait, so we're talking about the inventory clearing immediately upon death, not on respawn? Sounds like there's something much bigger at work here - check all death states, all weapon deselect states, all DEATH scripts for any instance of taking or giving inventory (you can give a custominventory item that clears your inventory o pickup), or morphing the player.

Yeah, all I've got is a map ACS script on death:

Code: Select all

global int 1:deaths;

script 2 DEATH
{
deaths++;
} 

It's possible that inheritance is doing something weird when I say "ACTOR Doomer : PlayerPawn replaces DoomPlayer". I wish I knew how to change the player's Pain state in a way that didn't involve replacing the PlayerPawn and clearing playerclasses, which seems pretty drastic to me.

[DarkQuill]

@DarkQuill, your motion blur code seems to be fine; what's the code look like for how you're spawning them?

---

See:
QWRA A 4 A_VileChase
QWRA A 0 A_CustomMissile("WraithBlurA", 0, 0, 0)
QWRA A 4 A_VileChase
QWRA A 0 A_CustomMissile("WraithBlurA", 0, 0, 0)
QWRA A 4 A_VileChase
QWRA A 0 A_CustomMissile("WraithBlurA", 0, 0, 0)
QWRA B 4 A_VileChase
QWRA B 0 A_CustomMissile("WraithBlurB", 0, 0, 0)
QWRA B 4 A_VileChase
QWRA B 0 A_CustomMissile("WraithBlurB", 0, 0, 0)
QWRA B 4 A_VileChase
QWRA B 0 A_CustomMissile("WraithBlurB", 0, 0, 0)
Loop

Monster itself has a random chance to replace Archviles, hence the A_VileChase for corpse resurrection.