Dual Game-type Spawn Sphere Graphing -- Help!

rJay

So if I have a map that's CTF and CnH and have different spawn spheres only to be used during specific game-types, how would I go about graphing those spheres? I add them both and set one to CTF and the other to CnH, and perhaps one more for DM and/or Hunters...is there anything that could go wrong with adding them all at once in one game-type session such as editing in CTF mode or "None" mode, and then graphing the spheres all at once? Because it doesn't seem to be working. And it wouldn't make sense to graph different spheres in different game-types corresponding to the game-type of that sphere.

So my question: Is what I described above, the adding them all at once and graphing them all under one game-type such as None (even though they're individually set per game-type), a correct way of doing it?

Thanks,

rJay

Dark Dragon DX

I've pretty much never seen a map that did this. All spawn spheres were always used regardless of game type and I don't think there is a way to signal to the spawn sphere grapher to generate per-gamemode data. This being said, you may have to either not do it or have it graph all the spheres and add some code to the mission file that creates spawn spheres conditionally, though I'm not sure how well that would work out with Tribes 2's essentially unfinished engine.

Such code would look like this (at the bottom of the mission file):

if ($CurrentMissionType $= "CTF")
{
   %sphere = new SpawnSphere() 
   {
       position = "-245.736 -43.4338 142.744";
       rotation = "1 0 0 0";
       scale = "1 1 1";
       dataBlock = "SpawnSphereMarker";
      lockCount = "0";
      homingCount = "0";
      radius = "50";
      sphereWeight = "100";
      indoorWeight = "100";
      outdoorWeight = "100";

     locked = "1";
   };

   SomeGroup.add(%sphere);
}
else
{
   %sphere = new SpawnSphere() 
   {
       position = "-574.01 362.613 76.6507";
       rotation = "1 0 0 0";
       scale = "1 1 1";
       dataBlock = "SpawnSphereMarker";
      lockCount = "0";
      homingCount = "0";
      radius = "50";
      sphereWeight = "100";
      indoorWeight = "100";
      outdoorWeight = "100";

     locked = "1";
   };

   SomeGroup.add(%sphere);
}

Though as stated, the engine may (probably won't) not treat this correctly and I am unaware of any proper method of going about it.

rJay

Thanks for your reply. Gorgon is a good example. Check it out. Also, the way to have any objects at all including spawn spheres only appear per gametype is

missionTypesList = [CTF CnH]

You can append that to any object at all, even having different sky blocks load per mission type. Ever wonder how in Riverdance for example, when you play Deathmatch, the turrets are not there? There ya go.

So my question was, how did the original dev team get maps like Gorgon to work? Did they graph all the spheres at once despite them being assigned to different gametypes?

Dark Dragon DX

Looks like all you're doing is assigning "missionTypesList" to the variable items in the mission.

missionTypesList = "CTF";

Is pulled directly out of Riverdance for a turret object. It's probably a space delineated list, as well.

rJay

Ragora August 2015

Looks like all you're doing is assigning "missionTypesList" to the variable items in the mission.

missionTypesList = "CTF";

Is pulled directly out of Riverdance for a turret object. It's probably a space delineated list, as well.

So what you're saying is....?

Dark Dragon DX

Try assigning that as a property to all the objects you want to be game mode dependent in the mission editor. It should be possible in the "Inspector Mode". Somewhere in the section where it previews all the object variables there will be a button that will let you add it. After that, graph like normal and see if everything works.

rJay

Ragora August 2015

Try assigning that as a property to all the objects you want to be game mode dependent in the mission editor. It should be possible in the "Inspector Mode". Somewhere in the section where it previews all the object variables there will be a button that will let you add it. After that, graph like normal and see if everything works.

Well I'm already to that point. Just wanted to know if I graph them all at once despite different game types.

Dark Dragon DX

Just graph them all at once with those values set appropriately and see if it works the way you want it to. That looks to be the only native method of doing that.

rJay

Ragora August 2015

Just graph them all at once with those values set appropriately and see if it works the way you want it to. That looks to be the only native method of doing that.

Ight. Will bug around with it some more. Thanks.

Dark Dragon DX

Could try and bugger further if it doesn't work.

rJay

Yup ;D

Thyth

Potentially silly solution: create your different gametype map versions with a slightly different name but otherwise identical non-sphere map contents.

rJay

Thyth August 2015

Potentially silly solution: create your different gametype map versions with a slightly different name but otherwise identical non-sphere map contents.

Well, that is silly considering that Dynamix managed to get duel spheres working on their maps. I should be too without having to create a MissionNameHereCTF.vl2, MissionNameHereBounty.vl2, etc.

Krash

Yes, it is possible to build all the points on one graph and selectively restrict them to specific gametypes. I've done it in the past with custom sphere selection code, but it should work the same using the default system.

Remember that when you build the graph, if you've put a lot of random junk in the map and it gives you trouble, you'll want to create a copy of the mission file, strip out everything unnecessary (i.e. almost everything other than the terrain and interiors/static objects your spawn points intersect with), and build it from the command line.


By the way, using Thyth's approach, you don't actually need to distribute multiple vl2 files; this is an archive that can contain all of your maps in one pack. Rather, your vl2 file structure would contain something like:

missions/MissionNameHereCTF.mis
missions/MissionNameHereBounty.mis
terrains/MissionNameHere.ter
terrains/MissionNameHereCTF.nav
terrains/MissionNameHereCTF.spn
terrains/MissionNameHereBounty.nav
terrains/MissionNameHereBounty.spn

On the face of it, this might seem over the top, but arguably it could help you organize and allow a bit more clarity in your design process without needing to do much scripting or assigning special missiontype lists to each object. Having a different mission file (which could be based on a shared standard between gametypes) would simply allow you to customize each mission type individually without potentially causing conflicts between them. If all you need to differentiate are the spawnspheres, it's probably unnecessary, but it could be a useful approach if you wanted to change out a lot of assets for whatever reason.

rJay

Krash August 2015

Yes, it is possible to build all the points on one graph and selectively restrict them to specific gametypes. I've done it in the past with custom sphere selection code, but it should work the same using the default system.

Remember that when you build the graph, if you've put a lot of random junk in the map and it gives you trouble, you'll want to create a copy of the mission file, strip out everything unnecessary (i.e. almost everything other than the terrain and interiors/static objects your spawn points intersect with), and build it from the command line.


By the way, using Thyth's approach, you don't actually need to distribute multiple vl2 files; this is an archive that can contain all of your maps in one pack. Rather, your vl2 file structure would contain something like:

missions/MissionNameHereCTF.mis
missions/MissionNameHereBounty.mis
terrains/MissionNameHere.ter
terrains/MissionNameHereCTF.nav
terrains/MissionNameHereCTF.spn
terrains/MissionNameHereBounty.nav
terrains/MissionNameHereBounty.spn

On the face of it, this might seem over the top, but arguably it could help you organize and allow a bit more clarity in your design process without needing to do much scripting or assigning special missiontype lists to each object. Having a different mission file (which could be based on a shared standard between gametypes) would simply allow you to customize each mission type individually without potentially causing conflicts between them. If all you need to differentiate are the spawnspheres, it's probably unnecessary, but it could be a useful approach if you wanted to change out a lot of assets for whatever reason.

Thanks, you guys have been really awesome. Personally, specifically, I'm adding gametypes to existing missions in missions.vl2, so I wanted it to stay stream-lined as it was packed by Dynamix. I'm a big believer in quality over quantity and doing things technically 'correct'. I finally got it to work, you guys were awesome.