EntityPlus - A single player Q3 mod

[AndyW]

Hey, do you think its possible todo something like Virtua Cop with the Q3 Engine? I also was thinking about to do a sidescroller like Contra with Q3 but the problem in both is -how to get enemys to work?

[CZghost]

Eraser, do you think it would be possible to make team mates in Entity Plus? Like spawning bots as enemies default, it should be possible to spawn them as teammates by setting a spawnflag, for example...

[obsidian]

Quake III Platformer Mod

I don't think it's a sidescroller though (camera does not follow player).

[Eraser]

Eraser, do you think it would be possible to make team mates in Entity Plus?

Should be doable.
Show me a nearly completed map and I'll make it for you. I don't want any effort on my end to go to waste on another one of your duds.

[CZghost]

Well, currently there's no map for EP by me at the time (working on a tourney map), but I like the mod and if I get any kick, idea to start planning, I'll let you know

[KittenIgnition]

I was recently considering moving some of my teamrun/puzzle maps to EntityPlus for the awesome new entities it provides (previously mapped for Defrag, and most complex triggertry is just hacking and workarounds). There are a couple things I'd really like, however, which actually stalled me in Defrag.

The first is moving buttons. I basically want a func_train that can be shot to trigger something else. Pretty obvious.

Another is a button or trigger of some kind that tells a bot to go to a specific place. Straight from A to B.

If these exist, I would switch all my stuff over in a heartbeat. Moving buttons would be a Godsend, though all the other stuff in EntityPlus already pretty much is I very much appreciate your work!

P.S. Oh, and moving triggers, but that's not such a huge deal (it's not too difficult to work around my case).

[Eraser]

I'll see what I can do for you

[CZghost]

I saw somewhere experimental map made in Pacman flavour - you collect armor shards which gives you score points and you have beware of the ghosts. The ghosts are made of func_train or what, just like the original game works. Strange thing is when ghost runs through you you get hurt like of trigger_hurt. And the strangest thing is that this map installs to baseq3 - how they did it? It's really masterpiece and goes even beyond what Sock made as single player experimental maps... I think this is what Entity Plus suits best belong with Duck Hunt and similar old video games

[Eraser]

The first is moving buttons. I basically want a func_train that can be shot to trigger something else. Pretty obvious.

Ok I've got this implemented in the development build as follows:
The func_train can have a health key. Any non-zero value will make it so that the train will activate any entities it is targeting. Now, a train is usually targeting a path_corner entity (which does nothing when activated). Having other entities with the same targetname messes things up, so use the func_train's target2 key to specify a different targetname.

[KittenIgnition]

Omg that's genius! I want it! You're a hero!

Hmm... How exactly am I supposed to play in multiplayer? G_gameType 0 = single player, which is default (and totally fine), but does EntityPlus even have any other gametypes that can enable multiplayer? I've done it before, but I can't properly connect to my server. No other gametype settings work.

Right now I'm trying to figure out a simple way to make a trigger that will only activate once all three players are standing on it. It's rather simple using workarounds like shooter_plasma and doors, but I want to do it elegantly. I have a few ideas that I want to test, but I can't get more than one player in the game. Every gametype setting seems to be more or less the same - they all say that the server is running a single-player gametype. It's really frustrating

[Eraser]

Yeah, that's the thing really, you can't do multiplayer (or cooperative) with EntityPlus, only single player. Unlike id Software, I'm not going to make up lame excuses for this shortcoming and just flat out admit that so far I couldn't be arsed to get all of the entities to work properly with multiple players. Mostly out of fear of me pouring many hours into this without it ever being used.

[KittenIgnition]

Is there no way to just force it on, and forego all the bugs? In my map they might be possible to fix or avoid, who knows. If there isn't, oh well. I guess I can go to my other, more boring single-player ideas

I REALLY WANTED THAT ONE ROOM WITH THE FUNC_TRAIN AND THE BUTTON THOUGH!

Edit:
My bots don't follow their info_waypoint path. They turn around and stand still when I spawn them:


[youtube]FnwtGsV4z4s[/youtube]

Everything is linked up properly; I'm compiling with Q3MAP 2.5.17, BSPC 2.1i; the map has nothing else really aside from the trigger_multiple, the target_botspawn, and the info_waypoints (and info_player_start of course).

Edit:
If I make all the floors clip (the bot is below the player, through a floor made up of base_support/xbeam-whatever shader and caulk, although clip didn't work if I had the support shader on the topmost surface..), then it works. But if I use another shader for the floor, it doesn't work. However, when it does work, it just runs in a circle around all the nearby waypoints - it ignores the one far away in the corner. These don't seem to work quite like path_corners, which is frustrating. So much frustration!!!!

[Eraser]

The targetting lines in Radiant look a bit weird.
Why is room_4_waypoint4 targeting both room_4_waypoint2 and room_4_waypoint3?

An info_waypoint entity should target only a single other info_waypoint entity.

[KittenIgnition]

They look like they're targeting each-other like that because the top left corner has two in the same spot.

[CZghost]

Could you post 3D shot of Radiant? This one really looks weird. Do you really need to use angles? What do you want the bot to route? A circuite path or front and back?

[KittenIgnition]

I don't need angles, but they have no effect on the bot's behavior right now. I can post a 3D shot later, bit the 2d shows it even better than 3d.

[CZghost]

I think 3D from the top perspective would be better (hide the grate and sky brush in the view)...

[Eraser]

KittenIgnition, I'm not sure what goes wrong. Maybe you can send me the .map file so I can investigate? Before that though, you can also set g_debugBotspawns to 1 and then check the console for these messages:

no AAS area for waypoint at (0,0,0)
waypoint at (0,0,0) is unreachable

Where (0,0,0) is replaced with the origin of the waypoint entity.

[KittenIgnition]

I'm not at home right now, but I TOTALLY JUST REMOTE DESKTOPPED INTO MY PC FROM MY PHONE AND COPIED THE MAP TO DROPBOX OMG THIS IS SO COOL!!!!

https://www.dropbox.com/s/9u5s5h7gfv9vi ... 4.map?dl=0

[Eraser]

Weird, the map you uploaded works properly on my end. The spawning location is a bit weird in relation to the trigger, but once the bot is spawned it starts walking along the designated path.
Also, you might want to move the two overlapping info_waypoint entities into separate spots so they don't overlap (they can touch). I noticed that messes up the sequence for some reason.

What version of EntityPlus are you running? You can find out by loading a level and typing \epversion in the console. If it's anything other than 1.1.6, download the latest version.

[KittenIgnition]

They walk straight from point to point? Mine look like they go from each point to the spawn then to the next point - they don't go straight (and they ignore the far away point).

I downloaded .17 recently; that's what sparked my interest again.

Also, if there's a solid floor (I deleted the floor aside from the small platforms in the version you have), the bot spawns, turns to 0 degrees, and stands still.

[Eraser]

They walk straight from point to point? Mine look like they go from each point to the spawn then to the next point - they don't go straight (and they ignore the far away point).

No they clearly walk from point to point here.

I downloaded .17 recently; that's what sparked my interest again.

.17 eh? That's interesting considering no release with that version number exists.

Also, if there's a solid floor (I deleted the floor aside from the small platforms in the version you have), the bot spawns, turns to 0 degrees, and stands still.

Uh, if there's no floor, what is the bot supposed to walk on?

[KittenIgnition]

So, uh, I was apparently using .15; I must have really confused this mod with another, or maybe I forgot to install it or something. Either way, I'm at .16 now and will now try to solve - or at least explain - my problems on this map.

This is the map I uploaded previously: http://puu.sh/iQYhT/cd43f7c7b0.png
This is the bot's behavior: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/348 ... p_bot1.mp4
Sometimes it acts even worse: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/348 ... p_bot2.mp4

I'm compiling with Q3MAP2 2.5.17-c1 (-c1 supposedly removes a few limitations and leaves them up to Q3 to accept or decline), and BSPC 2.1i (unmodified). I'm using this batch to compile:

Code: Select all

"F:\GtkRadiant-1.6.4-20131213\x64\q3map2.exe" -fs_basepath "F:\Quake III Arena" -fs_game "entityplus" -bsp -meta -patchmeta -verboseentities -v "F:\Quake III Arena\entityplus\maps\epluzz_room_4.map"
"F:\GtkRadiant-1.6.4-20131213\bspc.exe" -bsp2aas "F:\Quake III Arena\entityplus\maps\epluzz_room_4.map"

If I add a floor (http://puu.sh/iQZ7m/611d3840d8.png), this happens: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/348 ... p_bot3.mp4

It's the same if I replace the invisible faces of the floor with nodraw, clip, skip... If the bot doesn't have a direct path to me, it doesn't work.

However, that's not wholly accurate, because if I place both my spawn and the trigger in the same half as the bot's spawn (http://puu.sh/iQZty/a730c11782.png), the same thing happens: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/348 ... p_bot4.mp4

And to make it worse, now if I delete the entire floor (http://puu.sh/iQZDH/02053382cb.png), the bot still just stands there after spawning: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/348 ... p_bot5.mp4

This is really baffling. Nothing that ought to work does work, and when it seems like it shouldn't based on past experience, it does. And vice-versa. What the hell is wrong with my game?

[KittenIgnition]

For some reason, it started working, at least mostly: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/348 ... p_bot6.mp4

If he walks, he still bumbles around a bit and walks in loops (I want him to walk), but he's going where he's supposed to now, and consistently.

However, getting to this was also really weird. I made these numerals for each square and spaced out the two waypoints that were in the same space (http://puu.sh/iR0ZG/3e6637bf9c.png, and it didn't compile right (BSPC leaked). The only thing I had changed was those numerals on the floor, which was odd, so I made a botclip that encompasses the entire floor, and now it compiles and the bot goes where he's supposed to. The next step is making him walk, if at all possible, or I might space out the waypoints if he has to run. Progress is still progress though!

Eraser, if you still want to help, could you take a look at the map (https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/348 ... room_4.zip), and see if you can reproduce these errors? Delete the botclip at the bottom of the map; make the bot walk; make a solid ceiling; whatever else I posted up above. If you can reproduce the issues, then maybe take a closer look? If not, then it's on my end somehow and I'll just deal with it.

If you don't want to go through that trouble, that's totally fine too.

Edit: The bot-loop I wanted to create actually worked perfectly the first time. I expected it to require timers and shooters and door wizardry (https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/348 ... p_bot7.mp4)!

Edit: I guess it is a bug, then, that the bot will for some reason reset if there are multiple waypoints in the same place? It seems like it's only seeing the first one at that point, and so ignores any of a higher number and just continues from the first one. Worth a fix IMO, though my workaround is simply to offset them from each-other by one unit, which works thus far.

[Eraser]

I tried your BSP. I've ran it as is (compiling the AAS myself), removed the botclip, added a ceiling (with base_support/x_support3 shader) and moved the trigger to above the ceiling and it all works like it's supposed to. I noticed you used dfengine 1.08 and I even Googled that and used it and still can't reproduce the problems.

I assume this is what you expect to see, right?

[youtube]l_wScRaQoM4[/youtube]