Forum posts

Thank you! The end of this game will benefit from this knowledge! Excellent!

Is it possible to make a repeating background cycle forever? Like the opposing force intro, but on steroids? I was thinking of making the scenery a func_train and having it on a constant loop like tank treads, while the middle of my map is stationary.

You'd think that valve would have fixed that problem. I mean, the scrolling water doesn't act like that for me, just the standing water textures - I am using the version of hammer that comes with the Half-Life SDK on Steam, by the way.

Now, in my situation, the water is in pitch darkness - so it looks silly...but on the other hand it does serve the purpose of showing the player that it is safe to jump finally and that the archaic water pumps they had to get started did their job and their work paid off. Thinking of it...this mod is going to be so short, haha. So close to completing it. I can taste it. Just a few more maps to goooo...and then some crazy scripting.

As a funny aside (And since this is also a diary of sorts):

It's coincident - given the name of the mod, but I've actually had several fevers during its development...Once from a tetanus shot, once from a sinus infection and, once from eating a bad hot dog...I kept going through all of it - determined to get this puppy finished.

Okay...next, very pressing question...Can I script ammo to spawn? There's a part where I want Mr. Trask to "Hand" Half-Rats ammo from behind the counter of the general store...Can this be done?

It's fine, Kachito. If you would have said, "This fucking sucks!" I would still be 100% okay. A lot of people try to be nice when it comes to games - a noble and cool thing to do, but harmful in the long run. There's a reason why I like Gordon Ramsay, hahaa.

I can imagine the waves poking through it and looking very horrible. The waves...are necessary - a huge flooding room with placid water would look just as bad as glowing water. And, Kachito, what do you mean by half blue, half black?

Oof...that'll be a problem! Yeah, the footage in that trailer is a bit blocky. Most of my mod is quite blocky, haha. There are places that make up for it, though. I don't exactly have stellar screenshots up. You have to admit, though, the manor is cool.

Worked! Thank you!

Know that the water is scripted to move. From no water at all, to a VERY great depth.

See, I was looking for a "Move distance"...but couldn't find it.

The Official "Half-Rats: A Fever Dream - please god help me, I'm stuck!" Mod thread!

Well, I knew it would be crazy getting back into Goldsource after not so much as mapping a floor in over a decade, and it has been a wild ride. My FIRST real mod has been underway since March and I've made some serious progress on it. It has not been without mind-wracking problems, though (As can be expected). I'd like a to take a moment to thank everyone here for being patient with my incessant questions...but...there are more to be asked yet! That's what this thread is for. It's part diary, part query - and hopefully it will help out future generations of GS modders! Not only that, but as I learn, I'll be able to pass the info on and help out more effectively.

Alright, current questions:

1. My Func_water is fullbright no matter what the lighting situation is - is this a render mode issue?

2. How can I get water to rise to a certain point to simulate flooding without making it a train or door? I have a working firebox that the player has to light, a working steam engine and rotating button and, a working pump - but now, how to get that water to rise!

3. How do I get the most out of Ickthyosaur AI in my maps?

Additional info can be found here: http://www.moddb.com/mods/half-rats-a-fever-dream

Hmmm...mine is behaving strangely. I think I'm going to turn this thread into the official "Half-Rats: A Fever Dream FAQ/Troubleshooting" if that's okay. I learned a lot so far - and especially from that key and door map! Thanks for that.

http://www.moddb.com/mods/half-rats-a-fever-dream

Here's my progress so far in case anyone's interested.

Also, another quick question...Do Icthyosaurs use Air nodes to navigate?

Everything checks out. Looks like a demo in July is possible! Thank you, guuuuyyyyyys!

Thank you!

Well, everything works...except...the Func_Button is not invisible when I play. haha!

I downloaded the map and will take another large whack at it tomorrow. I elected to go back and put the finishing touches on previous maps...What I ended up doing, and the wonderfully horrible thing (For those who will play my mod)that I discovered served to put me in better spirits - the downside is that it also made me afraid to play my own map...

Yes. Maybe something's gone wrong with the names? Maybe things have changed since the tutorial? I just don't know.

They is a brush that is supposed to disappear.

1. The door to the cellar is locked, you need to find the key.

2. You find the key and pick it up - implied by making the key a brush that is a func_wall_toggle. This also unlocks the door and makes it openable.

3. You go down and the door will open.

It is a func_door_rotating

Now suddenly the key is not disappearing. I have everything set exactly as in the tutorial, minus the text stuff.

Yeah, the door opens even without the key...Lovely.

I made the key a toggling wall. http://twhl.info/tutorial.php?id=64

Following that tutorial. I'm compiling now, let you know if it works!

So, using a multimanager I can create a door that the player tries to enter, but makes the Chka-chka locked sound?

Alright, I got everything working thanks to all of your advice! Followed it to the letter. I now have a lovely rendition of the Detroit Stove Works c. 1883, full of crushers, steam engines, grinders, molten metal, platforming and assassins from hell...such nasty hazards they all are! One thing eludes me...creating a locked door. It appears the "LOCKED" flag is missing from Func_Door! A locked door that you must find a key to is a pertinent thing in my storyline.

I was going to put a func_coneyor over top of it (AAA Trigger)...but, if the func_coneveyor actually has bearing on the texture, then I shall do that instead!

Excellent, excellent! Now, to rectify my conveyor belt situation...the scrolling texture is moving at 99.9% the speed of light, and in the wrong direction, no matter which way I turn it. When I noclip through a wall, however - the belt slows down and starts going in the proper direction.

Thanks!

Is there a way to get a func_door to move up and down indefinitely on its own accord? I'm using it to make "Crushers".

Using milkshape to decompile is the way to go. Then, I export it from blender after I have made my modifications, load it into 3DSmax 2012, then export it with the toolkit that Jed made for 3DS. Everything goes smoothly.

Ohhhh...No, I didn't put player starts in there...and, I haven't saved, but I have died in a few maps during testing....for science.

I seem to be spawning in the new map, where the old map's trigger_changelevel was. LOL?

Ohhh. I'll give that a shot. I think the main problem I'm running into is also that I get the error in the console that it "Couldn't load".

Unknown command: VModEnable
] map dream2
Loading game from SAVE\dream3.HL1...
ERROR: couldn't open.

Am I supposed to name the landmarks differently?

Alright, so I began my third map, and the changelevel doesn't work properly....again. It seems that every time I playtest, it makes it so that any future level changes will not work and will spawn me at the origin. Not only that, but none of the weapons carry over. Only this time, I'm trying to make a one-way change. Even tried renaming all of the landmarks - didn't work. Changed them back. Now everything is broken. Not sure how I'm supposed to be able to playtest with my custom content if I can't get these level changes right.

I ended up solving this with a new decompiler. Everything's just about squared away with this mod now...except the dreaded level changes. Which don't seem to work after i play the game from the steam screen.

Tetsu0, are you having problems like THIS:

http://www.moddb.com/mods/half-rats-a-fever-dream/images/dear-god-help-me

I'm emailing "Jed" himself.

Yes - but it likes to crashy-crash. I followed your tutorial almost to the letter and it definitely helped out with items and world models.

And yes, it works without modification. So I thought the problem was in the Blender tools.

JHLMV.

Update! Even if I don't touch or move anything it still gives me bone errors.

Has anyone here edited character models and view models before?

Yeah, I thought Blender was a rough one to work with - then I loaded up milkshape...god...ugh. Well, what do you propose we do? It's very hard to find resources for this sort of thing.

Basically, all I did was decompile barney.mdl, turned his helmet into a hat by moving a few vertices around (They are all still there and assigned to bip01 head) and pushed his vest's shoulder straps down. Then I exported the scene with the source tools for blender. Went to compile it, and it gave me that stupid error. At least this time around I still have all of my bones listed in the .smd....

Opened the bastard up in milkshape and everything is properly assigned. Everything checks out, it's all there. Really starting to get pissed.

Everything appears to have a proper relationship and corresponds to it's vertext group...I'm at a loss of what to do. Seems like anything with more than one bone or animation just does not compile right. Source to Goldsource converter always crashes, but that seems to not matter since the other meshes I made worked just fine. I'm also getting "cannot find bone Bip01 L Arm2 for bbox" when I work with the Viewmodels....I guess it can't handle things being moved around or vertices being deleted.

The SMD files, after I export them appear to be missing the skeleton section! Perhaps the assigning of vertices got messed up? I think I might have to re-do it....Ugh....How do you assign vertices to bones in Blender?

SOURCE Qc:

// 1 attachment(s)
$attachment 0 "Bip01 R Hand" 15.000000 3.500000 5.000000

// 2 bone controller(s)
$controller 0 "Bip01 Head" XR -60.000000 60.000000
$controller 4 "Bone05" ZR 0.000000 45.000000

// 21 hit box(es)
$hbox 3 "Bip01 Pelvis" -9.890000 -5.660000 -8.600000 2.940000 6.520000 6.790000
$hbox 6 "Bip01 L Leg" 0.000000 -5.920000 -4.000000 19.370001 3.780000 3.730000
$hbox 6 "Bip01 L Leg1" 0.000000 -5.690000 -3.620000 18.830000 3.070000 2.940000
$hbox 6 "Bip01 L Foot" 0.000000 -2.990000 -4.040000 6.420000 8.680000 1.610000
$hbox 7 "Bip01 R Leg" 0.000000 -5.930000 -3.870000 19.270000 3.750000 3.790000
$hbox 7 "Bip01 R Leg1" -0.330000 -5.730000 -2.980000 18.950001 2.960000 3.190000
$hbox 7 "Bip01 R Foot" 0.000000 -3.240000 -2.320000 6.210000 8.440000 3.280000
$hbox 3 "Bip01 Spine" 0.000000 -4.890000 -6.970000 8.370000 8.000000 6.730000
$hbox 2 "Bip01 Spine2" 0.000000 -3.460000 -8.320000 6.110000 8.000000 7.530000
$hbox 2 "Bip01 Spine3" -1.000000 -5.990000 -8.220000 5.960000 8.000000 8.480000
$hbox 4 "Bip01 L Arm" -0.400000 -4.180000 0.000000 7.200000 4.750000 4.200000
$hbox 4 "Bip01 L Arm1" -2.520000 -4.570000 -3.920000 9.860000 2.280000 3.430000
$hbox 4 "Bip01 L Arm2" 0.000000 -2.850000 -2.080000 11.900000 2.850000 2.750000
$hbox 4 "Bip01 L Hand" 0.000000 -1.320000 -2.290000 4.660000 2.600000 1.650000
$hbox 5 "Bip01 R Arm" 0.000000 -4.150000 -4.190000 7.530000 4.120000 4.240000
$hbox 5 "Bip01 R Arm1" -2.690000 -4.650000 -3.420000 9.470000 2.280000 3.760000
$hbox 5 "Bip01 R Arm2" 0.000000 -2.730000 -2.560000 11.000000 3.140000 2.190000
$hbox 5 "Bip01 R Hand" 0.000000 -1.320000 -2.910000 10.380000 3.230000 4.000000
$hbox 1 "Bip01 Head" -0.660000 2.250000 -4.240000 6.000000 7.970000 3.630000
$hbox 10 "Bip01 Head" -0.660000 -4.250000 -5.240000 6.000000 2.250000 4.630000
$hbox 10 "Bip01 Head" 6.000000 -4.250000 -5.240000 11.190000 7.970000 4.630000

Sorry for the incessant problems...Things were running very smoothly up until now...

Alright, so I edited Barney's mesh. I used the "BARNEY-X_Template_Biped1.smd"
I didn't delete a SINGLE vertice during my head reconstruction - I merely moved things around. When I compiled - the QC gave me a horrible error which read thus: "unknown bonecontroller link Bip01 Head".

Now, in the source QC - it lists three separate heads of the exact same name, but each in different coordinates. In Blender (Which I am using) there are only two "Bip01 Head" bones, but near the mouth, there are two other bones named "bone05"...I can supply further info upon request. Thank you! So close to finishing up everything.

DISREGARD THIS. Posting another thread....ugh. Sorry, everyone.

Alright, I've begun attempting to change barney's look. Do I go for the Barney-x template_biped1.smd?

Made some changes to test...and upon compile I get this...Apparently I have three head bones...

/*

QC script generated by Half-Life MDL Decompiler 1.2
2003, Kratisto. Based on code from Valve's HL SDK.

barney.mdl

Original internal name:
"valve/models/barney.mdl"

*/

$modelname "barney.mdl"
$cd ".\"
$cdtexture ".\"
$scale 1.0
$cliptotextures

$externaltextures

$bbox 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000
$cbox 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000
$eyeposition 0.000000 0.000000 63.000000

//reference mesh(es)
$body "studio" "BARNEY-X_Template_Biped1"

$bodygroup "gun"
{
studio "BARNEY-X_Template_Biped(Gun-Hlstr)1"
studio "BARNEY-X_Template_Biped(Gun)1"
blank
}

// 1 attachment(s)
$attachment 0 "Bip01 R Hand" 15.000000 3.500000 5.000000

// 2 bone controller(s)
$controller 0 "Bip01 Head" XR -60.000000 60.000000
$controller 4 "Bone05" ZR 0.000000 45.000000

// 21 hit box(es)
$hbox 3 "Bip01 Pelvis" -9.890000 -5.660000 -8.600000 2.940000 6.520000 6.790000
$hbox 6 "Bip01 L Leg" 0.000000 -5.920000 -4.000000 19.370001 3.780000 3.730000
$hbox 6 "Bip01 L Leg1" 0.000000 -5.690000 -3.620000 18.830000 3.070000 2.940000
$hbox 6 "Bip01 L Foot" 0.000000 -2.990000 -4.040000 6.420000 8.680000 1.610000
$hbox 7 "Bip01 R Leg" 0.000000 -5.930000 -3.870000 19.270000 3.750000 3.790000
$hbox 7 "Bip01 R Leg1" -0.330000 -5.730000 -2.980000 18.950001 2.960000 3.190000
$hbox 7 "Bip01 R Foot" 0.000000 -3.240000 -2.320000 6.210000 8.440000 3.280000
$hbox 3 "Bip01 Spine" 0.000000 -4.890000 -6.970000 8.370000 8.000000 6.730000
$hbox 2 "Bip01 Spine2" 0.000000 -3.460000 -8.320000 6.110000 8.000000 7.530000
$hbox 2 "Bip01 Spine3" -1.000000 -5.990000 -8.220000 5.960000 8.000000 8.480000
$hbox 4 "Bip01 L Arm" -0.400000 -4.180000 0.000000 7.200000 4.750000 4.200000
$hbox 4 "Bip01 L Arm1" -2.520000 -4.570000 -3.920000 9.860000 2.280000 3.430000
$hbox 4 "Bip01 L Arm2" 0.000000 -2.850000 -2.080000 11.900000 2.850000 2.750000
$hbox 4 "Bip01 L Hand" 0.000000 -1.320000 -2.290000 4.660000 2.600000 1.650000
$hbox 5 "Bip01 R Arm" 0.000000 -4.150000 -4.190000 7.530000 4.120000 4.240000
$hbox 5 "Bip01 R Arm1" -2.690000 -4.650000 -3.420000 9.470000 2.280000 3.760000
$hbox 5 "Bip01 R Arm2" 0.000000 -2.730000 -2.560000 11.000000 3.140000 2.190000
$hbox 5 "Bip01 R Hand" 0.000000 -1.320000 -2.910000 10.380000 3.230000 4.000000
$hbox 1 "Bip01 Head" -0.660000 2.250000 -4.240000 6.000000 7.970000 3.630000
$hbox 10 "Bip01 Head" -0.660000 -4.250000 -5.240000 6.000000 2.250000 4.630000
$hbox 10 "Bip01 Head" 6.000000 -4.250000 -5.240000 11.190000 7.970000 4.630000

$sequencegroupsize 64

// 71 animation sequence(s)
$sequence "idle1" "idle1" fps 15 loop ACT_IDLE 50
$sequence "idle2" "idle2" fps 15 ACT_IDLE 1
$sequence "idle3" "idle3" fps 15 ACT_IDLE 1
$sequence "idle4" "idle4" fps 12 ACT_IDLE 10
$sequence "walk" "walk" LX fps 30 loop ACT_WALK 1 { event 1004 3 "common/npc_step1.wav" } { event 1004 18 "common/npc_step3.wav" }
$sequence "run" "run" LX fps 25 loop ACT_RUN 1 { event 1004 5 "common/npc_step2.wav" } { event 1004 13 "common/npc_step4.wav" }
$sequence "shootgun" "shootgun_blend1" "shootgun_blend2" blend XR -50 50 fps 25 ACT_RANGE_ATTACK1 1 { event 5001 0 "21" } { event 3 0 }
$sequence "shootgun2" "shootgun2_blend1" "shootgun2_blend2" blend XR -50 50 fps 40 ACT_RANGE_ATTACK1 2 { event 5001 0 "21" } { event 3 0 }
$sequence "draw" "draw" fps 20 ACT_ARM 1 { event 2 7 }
$sequence "disarm" "disarm" fps 10 ACT_DISARM 1 { event 4 15 }
$sequence "reload" "reload" fps 15 ACT_RELOAD 1
$sequence "turnleft" "turnleft" fps 15 ACT_TURN_LEFT 1
$sequence "turnright" "turnright" fps 15 ACT_TURN_RIGHT 1
$sequence "laflinch" "laflinch" fps 16 ACT_FLINCH_LEFTARM 1
$sequence "raflinch" "raflinch" fps 16 ACT_FLINCH_RIGHTARM 1
$sequence "llflinch" "llflinch" fps 20 ACT_FLINCH_LEFTLEG 1
$sequence "rlflinch" "rlflinch" fps 20 ACT_FLINCH_RIGHTLEG 1
$sequence "smlflinch" "smlflinch" fps 30 ACT_SMALL_FLINCH 1
$sequence "cower_stand" "cower_stand" fps 14
$sequence "locked_door" "locked_door" fps 28 loop
$sequence "fall_loop" "fall_loop" fps 28 loop
$sequence "barn_wave" "barn_wave" fps 22
$sequence "beat_grunt" "beat_grunt" fps 14
$sequence "beat_gruntidle" "beat_gruntidle" fps 14 loop
$sequence "flashlight" "flashlight" fps 14 loop { event 1004 5 "*buttons/latchunlocked2.wav" }
$sequence "diesimple" "diesimple" X fps 15 ACT_DIE_HEADSHOT 1 { event 2001 5 }
$sequence "dieviolent" "dieviolent" X fps 20 ACT_DIE_HEADSHOT 1 { event 2001 10 }
$sequence "diegutshot" "diegutshot" fps 15 ACT_DIE_GUTSHOT 1 { event 2001 33 }
$sequence "dieforward" "dieforward" X fps 18 ACT_DIEFORWARD 1 { event 2001 8 }
$sequence "diebackward" "diebackward" X fps 15 ACT_DIEBACKWARD 1 { event 2001 19 }
$sequence "diecrump" "diecrump" X fps 18 ACT_DIESIMPLE 2 { event 2001 13 }
$sequence "barnaclehit" "barnaclehit" fps 15 ACT_BARNACLE_HIT 1
$sequence "barnaclepull" "barnaclepull" fps 45 loop ACT_BARNACLE_PULL 1
$sequence "barnaclecrunch" "barnaclecrunch" fps 5 ACT_BARNACLE_CHOMP 1
$sequence "barnaclechew" "barnaclechew" fps 5 loop ACT_BARNACLE_CHEW 1
$sequence "lying_on_back" "lying_on_back" fps 1
$sequence "lying_on_side" "lying_on_side" fps 1
$sequence "lying_on_stomach" "lying_on_stomach" fps 1
$sequence "stuffed_in_vent" "stuffed_in_vent" fps 1
$sequence "standing_idle" "standing_idle" fps 15 loop
$sequence "cprbarney" "cprbarney" fps 20 loop
$sequence "cprbarneyrevive" "cprbarneyrevive" fps 20
$sequence "barney_dragvent" "barney_dragvent" fps 15 { event 1000 1 }
$sequence "dying_barney" "dying_barney" fps 18 { event 1000 1 }
$sequence "dying_barneyidle" "dying_barneyidle" fps 12 loop
$sequence "dying_friend" "dying_friend" fps 18
$sequence "dying_friendidle" "dying_friendidle" fps 12 loop
$sequence "c1a3_bidle" "c1a3_bidle" AX AY AZR fps 3
$sequence "c1a3_ventb" "c1a3_ventb" AX AY AZR fps 18 { event 1000 1 }
$sequence "c1a3_emergeidle" "c1a3_emergeidle" AX AY AZR fps 16 loop
$sequence "c1a3_emerge" "c1a3_emerge" AX AY AZR fps 16 { event 1000 1 }
$sequence "haulbarney" "haulbarney" AX AY AZR fps 18 { event 1000 1 }
$sequence "intropush" "intropush" fps 16 {
{ event 1004 15 "*buttons/blip1.wav" }
{ event 1004 24 "*buttons/blip1.wav" }
{ event 1004 34 "*buttons/blip1.wav" }
{ event 1004 44 "*buttons/blip1.wav" }
}
$sequence "fence" "fence" AX AY AZR fps 24 {
{ event 1000 70 }
{ event 1003 70 "lightning" }
{ event 1001 70 }
{ event 1004 72 "weapons/electro4.wav" }
{ event 1008 100 "barney/ba_pain2.wav" }
}
$sequence "sit1" "sit1" fps 20 loop { event 1003 50 "introchair" } { event 1003 102 "introchair" }
$sequence "almostidle" "almostidle" fps 16 loop
$sequence "almost" "almost" fps 26 { event 1000 1 }
$sequence "laseridle" "laseridle" fps 6
$sequence "laser_top" "laser_top" fps 6 { event 1000 0 }
$sequence "laser_bottom" "laser_bottom" fps 6 { event 1000 0 }
$sequence "barneyfallidle" "barneyfallidle" fps 33 loop
$sequence "barneyfall" "barneyfall" fps 32 {
{ event 1000 1 }
{ event 1008 2 "barney/ba_pain1.wav" }
{ event 1008 24 "barney/ba_pain2.wav" }
{ event 1003 55 "bsplat" }
{ event 1008 55 "debris/bustflesh1.wav" }
}
$sequence "c3a2_draw" "c3a2_draw" fps 16 { event 2 13 }
$sequence "unlatch" "unlatch" fps 12 { event 1003 7 "barney_door_lock" }
$sequence "retina" "retina" fps 20
$sequence "relaxstand" "relaxstand" fps 10 loop
$sequence "assassinated" "assassinated" X fps 18 {
{ event 1000 1 }
{ event 1003 1 "blood1" }
{ event 1003 2 "blood2" }
}
$sequence "trackswitch" "trackswitch" fps 22 { event 1003 14 "trainarmswitch" }
$sequence "pepsiswing" "pepsiswing" fps 25 { event 1003 1 "die" } { event 1003 8 "swing" }
$sequence "pepsipush" "pepsipush" fps 18 { event 1003 51 "topple" } { event 1003 90 "horror" }
$sequence "buttonpush" "buttonpush" fps 20 { event 1003 7 "button" }

// End of QC script.

Error: unknown bonecontroller link 'Bip01 Head'

Nothing! And that's good!

http://www.moddb.com/mods/half-rats-a-fever-dream/images/mr-trask-in-the-general-store

PROGRESS!