automap and images

[David Ferstat]

Am I right in saying that it should be popssible to emulate the MoHAA direction/distance thingy in Zdoom? I think ACS can already get the player distance and direction to a certain item and the direction being faced so it would be a case of translating that information to some hudmessage positioning and putting the graphics on screen. How to do it is well beyond my scripting ability, but it does at least strike me that it should be possible.

It's, mathematically, quite simple. ACS should be able to provide the x-, y- and z- coordinates of both the player (P) and target (T) on the map. In two dimensions Pythagoras gives the distance between them (P-T) as the square root of ((Px-Tx) squared plus (Py-Ty) squared).

Extending this into three dimensions will give you the true distance between the two locations.

[dochist]

I was just thinking about having something hidden that you can't see that appears on the map when you get the Computer Map powerup that says "AREA 14" or "SECTOR B-3" or "COMPUTER ROOM A" or "NUCLEAR REACTOR CORE" or whatever....

i did this, but somehow i didnt like this idea. what i did was get runes marked on the areas that i wanted the player go to after certain part, but since they were runes it wouldnt work sincer they all looked alike.
and having the player moving around the automap isnt so cool neither (for me anyway)

[Skunk]

I think it's a bit different. The computer map would be for tech areas and it wouldn't be for finding things but rather going to certain areas. "Uh... I think it's in computer room B... I'm not sure... yep, definately B. You'll need to find a map" And then you check out all the B rooms after you get the computer map.

[Ultraviolet]

How's this for an idea that would work: Placeable markers that show not on the automap, but on the main view, and always draw in FRONT of ANYTHING else. Halo-style. You could either set it to shrink/grow with distance or always render at a fixed size, make it semi-translucent so it doesn't get in the way when you're fighting, and have in an upper or lower corner of the screen or top or bottom center the distance to target. The latter could be scripted, but tying it into the console or something would let you do stuff like change the color, size, scaling to resolution, and things I haven't thought of, easily.

[DaniJ]

This is actually something I plan on adding to Doomsday....

The compass, extra automap stuff including custom images, markers etc and the overlay in-game way point marker thingys.

When it's done it I'm quite happy to share the code if you think it'll be of any use.

Considering Zdoom has ACS for Doom maps though you'll probably want to be able to use that for the definitions.

[Graf Zahl]

Considering Zdoom has ACS for Doom maps though you'll probably want to be able to use that for the definitions.

Probably not. If this can be coded into the engine itself so that it works automatically it'd be much better. In that case a simple option to turn it on or off might be sufficient.

[DaniJ]

Yes but you'd still need a method to place to the way points/markers. In Doomsday I plan on allowing these to be placed with both XG lines (dynamically during play) and at the start of the level via a definition. The automap setup, including what images to use, colours etc will be handled via a DED as well.

With Zdoom I imagine it would be useful in a ACS script to add new markers during game play but all that would be needed is a couple of very simple functions for adding and removing from the list of markers by ID.

[Ultraviolet]

Whoa, idea. Have the Halo-style nav-points show for the user-placeable automap markers we already have, but also have them work for things placeable in a script. That way you set your targets up as you go. Let it be attachable to any TID, too.

[dochist]

didnt want to start a new thread, and since this is about the automap...

anyway, is there a way to disable the automap? maybe in some lump or with a script? i looked on the wiki but found nothing about this.

[Graf Zahl]

No. And don't count on it being added.

[dochist]

agh

[Jimmy]

Why would you want to have a feature to disable the automap anyways? Seems a tad pointless.

[dochist]

yeah, it is pointless, but i wanted to create some confusion by completly disorienting the player. the map is kinda weird and lots of weird stuff, kinda hard to explain, but having no map would have worked nicely (that is, if the player cares to check the automap).

hehehe

[chopkinsca]

The best you can do is set all the lines to hidden. I might do this on my project, depends on how confusing it turns out to be.

[dochist]

The best you can do is set all the lines to hidden.

that was the first thing i tried, but didnt really work.

anyway. this isnt so important. like jimi said, its kinda pointless, but it would have worked really well with the map