Act Busy System

Half-Life 2 HL2
Act Busy System by kdunivan
Posted 16 years ago2008-04-16 16:20:00 UTC • Examples • Half-Life 2
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Name
Act Busy System
By
kdunivan kdunivan
Type
Map
Engine
Source
Game
Half-Life 2
Category
Examples
Included
BSP, RMF/VMF
Created
16 years ago2008-04-16 16:20:00 UTC
Updated
16 years ago2008-04-16 16:20:00 UTC
Views
4415
Downloads
1016
Comments
3
Rating
5.00 (2)
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This is an example of the Half-Life2 Act Busy system. This system brings your otherwise lifeless, dead characters, mainly citizens, to life and gives them something to do without giving them a scripted sequence or using a .vcd scene.

.vmf and .bsp included in the zip file. Check the readme file for more info.

3 Comments

Commented 16 years ago2008-05-31 10:35:02 UTC Comment #16688
very helpful, thank you!
Commented 13 years ago2011-01-02 14:40:20 UTC Comment #18700
Pasting here what kdunivan should've posted at the description:

Ai_Goal_Actbusy Tutorial
This is an example of the Half-Life 2 Act Busy system. This system brings your otherwise lifeless, dead characters,
mainly citizens, to life and gives them something to do without giving them a scripted sequence or using a .vcd scene.
There is also an excellent tutorial and an example map at the valve site. Feel free to download it as well.

https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Actbusy

There are a few extras in this level such as the jumbo-tron, and the water. If you do not want these things
in the level when you test then you can remove them pretty easy. The .RMF file contains VisGroups for the Jumbo-Tron and
the Breen Stage, which is broadcasting the feed. It is in a box at the bottom of the map. You can simply un-select them
from the VisGroup and they will not render in your map. If you use the .bsp then they will be there obviously. These
things are there to add a little extra flare. More people should use visgroups, including valve, when offering a tutorial.

Feel free to modify it any way you want and please feel free to give critical feedback on any known errors or
improvements that could be made. We do not claim to be "map experts".

In the example you will see that the walls and the height of the two floors create some errors when an NPC attempts to
relocate to a node that is blocked. This is intentional to give you an idea of the range and flexibility of the system.
Feel free to use the client_command inside the level or just turn on the debugger from your console. It works pretty well
as it is but there is always room for improvement.
  • ai_debug_actbusy 0 - turns the debugger off
  • ai_debug_actbusy 1 - constantly draws a line from each NPC to their selected act busy node
  • ai_debug_actbusy 2 - whenever any NPC chooses to act busy, draw a line, and draw the NPC's hull at the node
  • ai_debug_actbusy 3 - selected NPCs will display why they're not able to choose act busy nodes
  • ai_debug_actbusy 4 - display all act busy logic
This Level Contains
  • 105 Solids w/630 faces
  • 264 Point Entities
  • 16 Solid Entities
  • 17 Textures
This level contains 15 citizens all named "citizen" with 92 info_node_hints. The ai_goal_actbusy is set on when the level
starts. Your ai_relationship towards the citizens are set to "neutral" so anything goes if happen to find a weapon. Again,
there is a point_clientcommand at the top of the stairs so you can toggle the debugger. Listed below are the sequences
used in this tutorial.

Act Busy Sequences Used
  • ACT_BUSY_STAND
  • ACT_BUSY_SIT_CHAIR
  • ACT_BUSY_LEAN_BACK
  • ACT_BUSY_LEAN_LEFT
  • laycouch1
  • sitcouchknees1
  • d1_c01a_mary_kneel
  • d1_t02_playground_arms_crossed
  • d1_t02_playground_cit2_pockets
  • d1_c03_matt_sitground
  • idle_alert_01
  • idle_alert_02
A complete list of these can be found on the valve site at https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/NPC_Activities_%26_Sequences or you can
simply look in your scripts folder and find the actbusy.txt.

When you are done please feel free to press the button at the bottom of the stairs. You have to have a little fun too!
It will release a couple of metrocops from behind a door. Notice the reactions when all the chaos starts. Once the two
metrocops are dead the actbusy system returns to normal. It may take a minute or two. You can try to force it with a
trigger if you need it to return quicker.

Visit the valve site for more information about this system at https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Actbusy .

Known Issues
As stated before, there are a few obviously goal errors at times when the citizen cannot line up correctly on the hint_node.
There is a transition error that pops up from time to time but doesn't seem to affect things too badly so I wouldn't worry.
Also there is an unknown schedule weapon change error with either the metrocops or the citizens. Not quite sure but if
anybody can shed some light on this it would be great.
Commented 13 years ago2011-01-09 20:29:39 UTC Comment #18719
Very-nicely-crafted example map! (most example maps i've seen are not so pretty to look at) It's so nice for new source mappers like myself to have fresh .vmfs to play with as a learning tool!

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