Special action for open OR close a door

[snakebyte]

Hi, first time being here and first time trying to mod and map for zdoom

I used to map something for Duke Nukem 3d so I am confused about a few things.

One in particular it's odd for me

I saw there are special actions to open a door, to close a door etc...

But there is no really way to use the same Special action on a linedef to open OR close a door? For example the first time I press the use action, the door opens, the second time the door closes...and so on

I could understand that maybe it's a engine limitation (after all doors and lift are configured with a delay in Doom) but there is no way to accomplish this on UDMF maps, without using Zscript?

[Gez]

Indeed, IIRC only the local door actions (when you directly activate the door, rather than opening it remotely through a switch) can be retriggered to open/close/open/close etc.

You can also use ACS for this kind of things, it has wider compatibility than ZScript (e.g. your map can also work in Zandronum).

[snakebyte]

Gez wrote:
> Indeed, IIRC only the local door actions (when you directly activate the
> door, rather than opening it remotely through a switch) can be retriggered
> to open/close/open/close etc.
>
> You can also use ACS for this kind of things, it has wider compatibility
> than ZScript (e.g. your map can also work in Zandronum).

Ok but what about remotely, like using a switch?

[Gez]

Remote use is when you'd want to use a script. Out of the box, it's only local doors (without tags) that can be closed and reopened without waiting.

Source code for the curious (C++, not ZScript or ACS, don't try putting this in your mods).

---

Code: Select all

//============================================================================
//
// [RH] Merged EV_VerticalDoor and EV_DoLockedDoor into EV_DoDoor
//		and made them more general to support the new specials.
//
//============================================================================

bool FLevelLocals::EV_DoDoor (DDoor::EVlDoor type, line_t *line, AActor *thing,
				int tag, double speed, int delay, int lock, int lightTag, bool boomgen, int topcountdown)
{
	bool		rtn = false;
	int 		secnum;
	sector_t*	sec;

	if (lock != 0 && !P_CheckKeys (thing, lock, tag != 0))
		return false;

	if (tag == 0)
	{		// [RH] manual door
		if (!line)
			return false;

		// if the wrong side of door is pushed, give oof sound
		if (line->sidedef[1] == NULL)			// killough
		{
			S_Sound (thing, CHAN_VOICE, 0, "*usefail", 1, ATTN_NORM);
			return false;
		}

		// get the sector on the second side of activating linedef
		sec = line->sidedef[1]->sector;
		secnum = sec->sectornum;

		// if door already has a thinker, use it
		if (sec->PlaneMoving(sector_t::ceiling))
		{
			// Boom used remote door logic for generalized doors, even if they are manual
			if (boomgen)
				return false;
			if (sec->ceilingdata->IsKindOf (RUNTIME_CLASS(DDoor)))
			{
				DDoor *door = barrier_cast<DDoor *>(sec->ceilingdata);

				// ONLY FOR "RAISE" DOORS, NOT "OPEN"s
				if (door->m_Type == DDoor::doorRaise && type == DDoor::doorRaise)
				{
					if (door->m_Direction == -1)
					{
						door->m_Direction = 1;	// go back up
						door->DoorSound (true);	// [RH] Make noise
					}
					else if (!(line->activation & (SPAC_Push|SPAC_MPush)))
						// [RH] activate push doors don't go back down when you
						//		run into them (otherwise opening them would be
						//		a real pain).
					{
						if (!thing->player || thing->player->Bot != NULL)
							return false;	// JDC: bad guys never close doors
											//Added by MC: Neither do bots.

						door->m_Direction = -1;	// start going down immediately

						// Start the door close sequence.
						door->DoorSound(false, SN_CheckSequence(sec, CHAN_CEILING));
						return true;
					}
					else
					{
						return false;
					}
				}
			}
			return false;
		}
		if (CreateThinker<DDoor> (sec, type, speed, delay, lightTag, topcountdown))
			rtn = true;
	}
	else
	{	// [RH] Remote door

		auto it = GetSectorTagIterator(tag);
		while ((secnum = it.Next()) >= 0)
		{
			sec = &sectors[secnum];
			// if the ceiling is already moving, don't start the door action
			if (sec->PlaneMoving(sector_t::ceiling))
				continue;

			if (CreateThinker<DDoor>(sec, type, speed, delay, lightTag, topcountdown))
				rtn = true;
		}
				
	}
	return rtn;
}

As you can see, the only case where the door's existing thinker can be overridden is when tag == 0, meaning this cannot be used on a remote door.

Without using a script, a particularly janky workaround would be to have a invisible door (thanks to transfer heights?) in front of your switch, so that you actually move the invisible door, and the remote door is attached to this invisible door so it follows the same movement. Sounds awful.