Dallas Scripting and new D3 mission set?

DarkFlameWolf · Post by **DarkFlameWolf** » Sat Mar 13, 2004 9:28 pm

I plan on making Descent 2 type levels with a few D3 enhancements for Descent 3. I plan on at least 12 SP levels. (because the simpler the levels are, the more I can make, duh!) However, I need MAJOR help on scripting. I've tried fooling around with it, but not even the tutorials are helpful. They all assume you have some knowledge of how it works, WHICH I DON'T.
Here are the things I wish to do with my simplistic D2-ish type D3 levels:
- Have that big reactor model be the reactor and upon destruction, have an escape sequence and a exit to each and every level.
- Have color-coded doors to blue, yellow and red keys.
- Have exploding walls either based on robots planning an ambush or secret walls that lead to secret rooms.
- Have control panels that activate walls or doors or matcens.
- Have triggers that activate matcens.

So basically, almost everything that was done in Descent 2 levels, I want to be able to do. But not more than that. I'm not planning elaborately scripted levels. This mission set will be just plain 'ol robot-fragging fun. But I need help on the only thing that's stopping me: scripting.

Furthermore, doors seem to be a pain in the ass to implement. I long for the days of single wall type doors. Any help on door implementation would be helpful too. Thanks again.

I may simply make the levels and then pass them off to someone who knows how to do them. Since I ONLY want several scripting jobs in each level, shouldn't be a huge deal/job for anyone who takes up the offer.

okay, once semester is over, its time to create D2 levels for D3. (I'm gonna go grab various pre-made objects from the original levels (like monitors and generators and pipes, etc.) and plop them as I see fit in the D2 structures. That way there will be SOME eye candy. But not enough to not classify it as a non-d2-ish level. )

I also just HAD to show everyone a prefab I made. I'm trying to recreate a D2/D1 feel, so I am making prefabs I can easily copy and paste and use time and again in my levels.

DCrazy · Post by **DCrazy** » Sun Mar 14, 2004 11:57 am

Ahh.. if only D3Edit supported true prefabs eh?

DarkFlameWolf · Post by **DarkFlameWolf** » Sun Mar 14, 2004 10:14 pm

true, but it doesn't stop copy and paste.

Sirius · Post by **Sirius** » Wed Mar 17, 2004 11:07 pm

I thought it did let you do in-game objects. Heck, there are even several in Descent 3. What's wrong with doing it like that? Hit spheres or something?

Hunter · Post by **Hunter** » Thu Mar 18, 2004 6:01 pm

May I humbly suggest the below textures if you like, they seem to look a lot more appropiate

Regards,
Hunter

DarkFlameWolf · Post by **DarkFlameWolf** » Thu Mar 18, 2004 9:07 pm

true, but this isn't supposed to be an exact replica, but more of a reinvisioning. But I'm still going to keep it rather simple.

Hunter · Post by **Hunter** » Fri Mar 19, 2004 9:54 am

Fair enough. Good luck

aldel · Post by **aldel** » Fri Mar 19, 2004 5:30 pm

What is it about doors that you don't understand? You have to make an animated object, put a shell around it with the Shell and Frontface properties, and make a table file entry. There are weird undocumented things about each step, so don't hesitate to ask.

DarkFlameWolf · Post by **DarkFlameWolf** » Sat Mar 20, 2004 6:16 pm

see, you just explained doors in a brief overview nutshell to someone who hasn't done a bit of scripting or table file editing in her life. So....that made no sense. lol

aldel · Post by **aldel** » Sat Mar 20, 2004 11:13 pm

Ah, so you need the whole process explained. For some reason I was thinking there would be a tutorial at GameEdit.com, but there isn't. I'll give it a try.

First you need to know how to make an animated object (OOF file). There are tutorials on that, but they concentrate on making robots. A lot of what they teach you applies to doors as well, but you don't need gun points or attach points or anything like that. (The rest of this explanation will hopefully make sense after you read those tutorials.) You basically just design the door so that its animation, from beginning to end, is the way it opens. When it's closing, the animation will just be played backwards.

The door's "shell" is the part that D3Edit treats like a room when you attach the door to a level. It's sort of like the door's frame plus the empty space that the door slides into when it's open. It should be a closed shell, with normals pointing inward, just like a room. The tricky part is that it has to consist of TWO subobjects. One must consist of just a single face, and should have the "frontface" subobject property. The other should contain all of the other faces of the shell, and have the "shell" property. When you first put the door into a level, it attaches it by the "frontface" face, which becomes a portal. Definitely look at some of the standard doors to see how this works.

Ok, so once you've got the door object built, you need to make a table file entry for it. Hopefully the GameEdit tutorials should teach you the basics of table file editing (I'm pretty sure the texture and object tutorials, and some others as well, cover table files). Doors have their own type of table file entry, which is one of the simplest types. It's mostly self-explanatory. Probably it's easiest to copy an entry out of D3's main table.gam file and modify it for your door. Change the name, set the model file name to the name of your OOF file, set the opening, closing and open times, don't check either the Blastable or See through flags (unless your door can be seen through when it's closed), set hit points to zero, and leave Script Name set to generic.dll. For sounds you can probably use sounds that are already used by another door, or maybe you can figure out how to make your own-- if you want to do that, I'm probably not the best person to explain it.

So you put that entry in your level's table file, and put the object file in the mission MN3 file, and load them up into D3Edit in the usual way (that should be explained in the texture and object tutorials somewhere). You must have the latest beta version of D3Edit for custom doors to work; they weren't loaded correctly in earlier versions. If everything is right then your custom door should show up in the list of doors, and you can put it in your level.

Skyalmian · Post by **Skyalmian** » Wed Mar 24, 2004 4:10 pm

OnetoomanyDumplings · Post by **OnetoomanyDumplings** » Fri Apr 16, 2004 9:44 am

Well, Darkflamewolf, if you really want some help with scripting, I wouldn't mind helping you out with that. If you're still planning to do the level set, that is. It's been a few weeks since the last reply, so I'm not sure if you still want to do it. If you do, you can send me an email.... Mrtwibbles@hotmail.com.

DarkFlameWolf · Post by **DarkFlameWolf** » Fri Apr 16, 2004 1:38 pm

I've gotten many offers on scripting. But I may be going with Shoku as my final decision to do the scripting. That is, if he is still up for it since last we talked. And yes, I'm still up for making the set. As I said earlier, it won't be anything ground-breaking graphically. I am merely making D2-ish levels with some minor D3 enhancements so D3 can have a suitable-size mission pack. (I'm thinking about 12 levels minimum) The reason I believe I can do that many is because I'm not trying to be pretty and make a 'real' D3 level, which takes way too much damn time. (ask those who make D3 SP levels) This way I can pump out long, semi-good quality levels in a quick amount of time.

Mr. Perfect · Post by **Mr. Perfect** » Thu Apr 22, 2004 11:12 pm

I don't suppose you're DarkWolf?

DarkFlameWolf · Post by **DarkFlameWolf** » Fri Apr 23, 2004 4:53 am

that would be me, why?

Mr. Perfect · Post by **Mr. Perfect** » Fri Apr 23, 2004 1:49 pm

Name was so similar that I thought it must be, but I wan't sure. Glad to see you're making more levels.