Func_train to rotate on Y axis? Created 17 years ago2006-12-05 16:25:37 UTC by moosefetcher

Hello there.
So I'm trying to make a sinking ship level. At the moment I'm making the ship a func_train. Thing is, I want the train to rotate as it's sinking, a la Titanic. Y'know, with the bow up in the air. But damn it if it won't rotate! It just sinks slowly down into the water. I've set the Y rotation on the path_corner properties. And, weirdly, next to the Z-axis-rotation-thing, there's also a drop down you can set to 'up' or 'down'. I've selected 'up'. Am I even on the right track? Sigh. Why is nothing in life simple?...

Well, the aim is to make it playable.
Just to clarify - It is JUST the ship that moves, and I'm not going to have any other entities in the map (other than stationary water, starting points and a VIP rescue zone in an UNMOVING hovering helicopter).
It's working as it is, just not rotating how I want. If anyone can tell me if (or how) you can rotate a func_train on an axis OTHER than the Z, I'd appreciate it.
Cheers.

I don't know much about trains and tracktrains, but isn't there a property called "bank angle on turns" or something similar? Maybe you could experiment with that a bit and see what happens.

The outside mountains at the beginning of opposing force was a giant mass of train brushes. It just didn't have entities.

Make sure your ship (func_train) has an origin brush. Then in the func_train properties, set the angular velocity to something like 50 0 0.
You'll need to play with it to get it to rotate at the speed you want. Anyway, when you trigger the ship to sink, then it will rotate at the speed you chose. If it rotates the wrong way, set one of the other variables in the angular velocity field, like 0 50 0 until it looks right. You can even set more than one to get it to twist and rotate, like 50 25 0.

Orpheus... Uhm... Like I said, I'm having starting points for players, so yeah, there will be people.
SlayerA and Kasperg, thanks for the tips. I haven't included an origin brush with the train yet. And I haven't used train tracks before, but might give that a go if the origin brush doesn't do the trick.
Thanks again.

SlayerA...
I've added an origin to the ship (func_train). I couldn't find a parameter called angular velocity so I altered the 'angles' (you can access them with smart edit off), but that just changes how the ship's positioned at the start. There's a rotational velocity in the properties of the path_corners, but that doesn't seem to do anything! What am I doing wrong?! Argh!
Basically, if someone know how to make a func_train rotate (at ALL, would be fine!) PLEASE let me know.
Thanks again.

Are you mapping for HL1 or something else? The angular velocity should be in the func_train properties, not the path corners.

Yeah, it's HL1 (well, Cstrike). I think I had an older version of the half-life FGD. I added a set of 'avelocity' parameters to the func_train and now it's working sweetly! I'll post it up when it's done. Thanks again.
Oh! But a related question... (sorry)
How do I get the func_train to start at its 'first stop' at the start of each round? I had problems with this with my last map (and kind of ended up getting around it), but with this one, the ship (func_train) REALLY needs to start in the non-siniking position. I've read tips that say you can use a door to trigger an entity to reset, but that didn't work last time. Any ideas?
And sorry for all the noobie questions.

You should use a func_tracktrain and 2 path_track entities. The first is the starting position, and the second, mess with the pitch and yaw variables. If you make the ship a func_tracktrain and tick the 'no user control' flag, you should be fine.
and if the entire ship IS the playing field, might i recommend just a light environment, or a light_spot with 'is sky' set to 'yes'

mess with the pitch and brighness for cool effects

Yes, I'm going to have the players walking around inside the ship (func_train). I've used textures to light the ship. Lighting inside will be deliberately dim, so hopefully any 'bleeding' through the walls shouldn't be too bad. I realise I won't be able to have enitities on board - unless someone knows of a way to get ladders to move...
And Orph.... the ship is the entire playing area (unless players jump/fall off and swim around in the water). The level will start with an explosion that causes the sinking. I've got the ship working how I want, but the question I have now....
HOW do you reset a func_train to start at its first stop point at the start of each round?
Thanks again.

Sorry, Orpheus, but that didn't really clarify...
The only entities I'm having are starting points for the players, path_corners, some water, maybe a VIP rescue zone and the ship (func_train) itself. I'm going to run this map as a cstrike level, so I'm not sure which entities you mean when you talk about respawning...
Sure, the rspeeds might be high, but I think that will be out-weighed by the novelty of the map. The horizontal is gradually going to change to the vertical which should make for interesting play.
But back to my question - at the start of each round (when the players respawn) I want the ship to start in its orginal, un-sinking position (to prevent 'borking', I guess). Any ideas how I can reset the func_train to it's first stop point at the start of each round? Please!

I kind of WANT the level to be panic-inducing. There's should be a real risk of going down with the ship.
But (and I just don't want people to think I'm posting for no reason...)
I'd REALLY like to know how to reset the ship to its first position at the start of each round.
Should I post this question as a new topic, or does anyone here know how to do this?
I'll upload the map when it's done.

Make the texture a 2000+x2000+ pixels and resize it in hammer to get a high-def map.

Please don't. It'll make your HL go !@#$%, if you get my meaning. 512*512 texture sizes are still supported by HL.

...

!@#$% = crash. In other words: HL doesn't like it.

And yes, high resolution texture increase r_speeds a lot.

I don't remember much of my HL1 and haven't done any CS. However, it appears that everyone will be dead or off the ship at the end of the play. In either case, rather than reset (which I'm not sure you can do), you might try to make the track a complete loop. At the end of play, send the ship along the track to the beginning at high speed. Once it arrives, restart the level.