im not familiar with the workings of the source engine but i wanted to ask anyone who might know this. is it possible to have randomly spawned objects on a map in the beginning? i had an idea for a new type of map that would randomly scatters objects across the map at loading. Theses Objects would need to be returned to your teams base(inside the radar building) to unlock either a field or item in the research tree. primary objective would be take out the enemy but having to collect items to research makes it a little more challenging and would require teamwork to recover and protect it on its way back. like capture the flag. anyone know if something like this is possible?
This wouldn't be too difficult to program (i don't think), but it would be incredibly unbalanced because NF has a major advantage over BE in the early game.
This would be definitely possible, and probably not even that difficult to get working. The mapper would just need to use some of those math entities to randomly determine at which of the nodes scattered around the map to spawn the object. The problem would be balancing it for both teams, though. Nobody likes being screwed over like that.
yup, this would be possible. Although there's no way to move objects around currently. If you press the use key on a physics object, it just kind of kicks it rather than picking it up. And I have a feeling that tanks would be more likely to drive straight over it. What kind of objects did you have in mind? Tying it into the research tree would also have to be done by a coder.
It wouldn't have to be a physics prop or anything broccoli, just some thing you automatically pick up when you walk over it.
arks right, i was thinking just an object that when the player walked over it, the game would consider he had the object until he took it back to the research facility. like a capture the flag from most fps or like the retrieve the documents from DoD. but you all raise a good point, the tech trees might be unbalanced in the beginning.
What if they just have to collect all of the "Objects" to win? So in the end they will both have some of the total, but not the total; so they will have to fight eachother much like now.. except an object has to be stolen (Killing the CV WILL NOT end the game...)
this could be fun, yeah I like the idea of an "assault" game mode, where you actually have to: find the bomb, take it back to your base to arm it for your team, get it to the enemy base and then have someone at your own base get inside the radar and detonate it. you would have a special HQ building or something that inside it it could be armed, set off from, and had to be placed inside. problem with these game modes is that it would be very very fast paced, compared to the usual slow pace of empires games, where one must set up forward bases ect.
It would be quite simple to get an object which could be picked up, but I'm not sure how you would organise for that object to be dropped again once the player dies. Here's an idea: Trigger multiple parented to a prop physics with no collision mesh. On "player start touch" the physics object turns invisible, and sets its parent to the activiating player. On "end touch all" (when the player inside the trigger multiple dies), the prop physics is turned visible again, and the parenting to the player removed. I've no idea if this would actually work in practice though, nor how it would handle people jumping in and out of vehicles.
on the subject of ramdom things. i always wondered if it was possible to have random maps like on age of empires and stuff
No. The problem is the lighting... and more. Compiling is making all the lights and vision you make in Hammer work in game. Random maps would take 10 hours to map minimum and the details required to make a formula to make working custom maps would be crazy. Plus how would the generator know what textures to use, lighting, fogging... I could have more detail, just take this as a no.
If hammer could read procedurals, then it would be fairly easy (To generate the mesh) Then another set of procedurals for textures... But that is a whole new topic and is not possible with source...
I still think that deformable terrain will be available in source in the future. After all, displacements don't actually affect BSP, only world brushes do. If deformable terrain gets in, and if a suitable randomizing technique could be created, and if lighting doesn't get screwed up, then it would be completely possible. But that would still leave you with very simple maps (literally ground and sky).
Reverse capture the flag would be awesome. There's one bomb in one of X random locations pre-defined on the map. The goal is for a team to grab the bomb and reach the enemy com/barracks/"Command Center" (special building) with it. Possibly to avoid 3-phase jeep rushes, you wouldn't be able to get into a vehicle with the bomb (this also might solve some coding issues).
SoF 2 had this, and the maps it made were really dull. really really dull. what this might be good for is that it generates a random map, then the mapper grabs it, messes around with it to make it fun, and then dumps it on some beta testers, takes it back, finishes it, gives it to us. voila.
