Tutorials

quake2 - misc_sattelite_dish, misc_deadsoldier, misc_blackhole, misc_insane, path_corner


The misc_ entities in this tutorial are, for the most part, pretty straight forward.

misc_sattelite_dish

The misc_sattelite_dish can be either placed in a map on its own, in which case it will just sit there and look...well...like a sattelite dish; or it can be triggered by another event, such as a func_button. If the dish is triggered, it will tilt up, and then rotate to the left. One thing to keep in mind when setting up the triggering event, though: When the dish is triggered, it moves smoothly, but if it is triggered again, it jerks back to it's starting position, with no animation frames. So, it's best to either use a trigger_once, or a button with a "wait" value of "-1" (never return.)

misc_deadsoldier

Not much to say about these. Pretty self explanatory. There are six varieties, determined by spawnflags: on_back, on_stomach, back_decap, fetal_pos, sit_decap, and impaled. Obviously, only one flag can be set for each misc_deadsoldier (a guy would have to be pretty badly worked over to be on his back and his stomach at the same time.) Insert one in your map, and voila! Instant dead guy! Two things worth of mention, however: 1) misc_deadsoldier entities will not drop to the floor, so if you don't want them to float, align them on the floor. 2)a misc_deadsoldier with the impaled flag just won't look right unless he's suspended or impaled somehow. (in water, on a hook, etc) Isn't this a fun tutorial? Let's move on.

misc_blackhole

There are no flags or options for misc_blackhole. It just spins. The only thing worthy of mention is the fact that, while the entity in your editor is about the size of a light, the in-game misc_blackhole is very, very big. Allow at least 256 units in all directions.

misc_insane

The misc_insane are the marines you see wandering around in the game. They're extremely easy to use. They act a bit like monsters, in that if they don't have a specific path, they will follow you around.

There are a few spawnflags and keys for misc_insane:

ambush: A misc_insane with this flag set will not react to you until it has a direct line of sight, or until you do damage to it. Then it will follow you around. If the misc_insane is set to follow a path, it will only react when shot.

trigger_spawn: If you set this flag, you must give the misc_insane a "targetname" key. When the misc_insane is fired by another event with a matching "target" key, it will spawn the misc_insane. For example, if you have a button with a "target" of "ins1" and a misc_insane with the trigger_spawn flag set, and a "targetname" of "ins1", the button will cause the misc_insane to appear.

crawl: This will cause a misc_insane to drop to his knees and crawl around.

crucified: this is a crucified misc_insane, suitable for hanging on walls (wow, that sounds really strange, look out Hometime)

stand_ground: misc_insane will stand in place, and not move.

always_stand: misc_insane will not drop to his knees

path_corner

The path_corner has a lot of uses. In this tutorial, we'll be going over how it is used for the misc_insane. For other uses, check out fishman's excellent tutorials on func_train, trigger_elevator, and the monster tutorials.

A path_corner is just a point that something travels to. It can have three keys: "targetname", "target", and "pathtarget"

Create the misc_insane and give it a "target" key and value (lets use "mi1".) Now create a path_corner, and give it a "targetname" key with the value "mi1", and a "target" of "mi2". Create another path_corner with "targetname" "mi2", and "target" "mi1". When you run your map, the misc_insane will walk back and forth between the path_corners. You can have it follow as many path_corners as you want, with each one targeting the next, and the last targeting the first.

Now, let's say we have four path_corners, and would like to trigger an event when the misc_insane reaches the second. What we do here, is give the second path_corner a key of "pathtarget" and a value (ex:"event1"). Now, create the event you want to trigger (lets use a light) and give it a matching "targetname" key of "event1". That's it.

-GrrandMaMa

You can download the [example .map] here. Also if you have any problems or need some help please post to the discussion board.

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All content © 1998 by Shane 'Fishman' Sherman. This particular tutorial was created by GrrandMaMa and belongs to him. Quake and Quake2 are trademarks of id software. All rights reserved.