Jump to content
Search In
  • More options...
Find results that contain...
Find results in...
Csabo

New(?) trick: a moving escalator

Recommended Posts

I've made a small example level of a moving escalator, download it here. It's for ZDooM. The idea is simple: create lots of sectors, keep moving all of them down, and some of them up. With the current set just right, it gives the look and feel of an escalator.

I haven't seen this in a WAD yet. Could be cool for a subway/train station type level.

As a bonus, I included switches to stop/start the escalator. It nicely slows down/speeds up. But this has actually created a problem: the script also tries to control the current, so that there wouldn't be any when the escalator is stopped. Unfortunately the Sector_SetCurrent special is only valid during initialization.

Share this post


Link to post

Absolutely. You just have to change two lines in the script.

if ( ( s & 15 ) == x ) { Floor_RaiseByValue ( s+1, 512, 30 ); }
else { Floor_LowerByValue ( s+1, 512, 2 ); }
becomes
if ( ( s & 15 ) == ( 15 - x ) ) { Floor_LowerByValue ( s+1, 512, 30 ); }
else { Floor_RaiseByValue ( s+1, 512, 2 ); }
Edit: plus change the angle of the current.

Share this post


Link to post

A very cool effect, and enhanced by silencing the moving sectors and placing an ambient sound near the stairs. Of course, I'd want an up and a down escalator, but that would use 256 sector tags alone for a staircase of that size O_O

Share this post


Link to post

very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very cool. (yea copy paste)

no really.

Share this post


Link to post

Besides forcing doom to run at 3fps, it was cool. I tried making an eslcalator, but it just used the moving floor technique and scrolling walls.

Share this post


Link to post

rofl, the sounds that makes make baby jesus cry!

neat effect tho hehe

Share this post


Link to post
Csabo said:

I've made a small example level of a moving escalator...

Very cool effect. Good work, dude.

Share this post


Link to post

OK Csabo, I hope you're happy. I just spent 2 hours of my life putting a rising and a lowering escalator into one of my levels and...







It looks frikken cool, thanks.

Because it was an existing level I pasted 2 copies of your level into mine. Fortunately DeePsea took care of renumbering all of the sector tags as I pasted (The stairs run from tags 301 to 556 I think) and with a little more editing I had it all working nicely with a sloped ceiling above too. I silenced the steps with a silent sound sequence and put a buzzing ambient sound nearby, then tarted up the rest of the level simply because I was in the mood. I was lucky that I already had a double staircase in the level of almost exactly the same dimenions as your example so it was an easy and obvious thing to do to replace it.

2 things: First I missed one of the bits of the script that told Zdoom which sectors to move, so when I went in, all my exisiting tagged setors were bobbing up and down like mad things (very bizarre). Not your fault but quite funny, so worth mentioning.

I also noticed when using an up escalator it is slightly better (IMO) to lower the current speed to 7. At the original 8 you tend to be carried slightly faster than the stairs are apparently moving and "bounce" off the step in front a couple of times each time you ride it. Slowing it to 7 reduced the problem, slowing it to 6 made it too slow and you would tend to drop off the step you were on at least once per escalator ride. The default values were fine for the down ride.

Share this post


Link to post

When I posted this, I figured I'd be happy is some people liked how it looked, or if someone got an inspiration, or if someone would actually use this in a level.

By the way, this (and the other two examples: cogwheel and moving bus) were created with XWE Scripting. Those scripts are in the zip file of the latest XWE. This scripting is what I always wanted to do when editing doom levels (I guess it shows that I'm a coder not a level designer). I mean who would sit there and create 128 sectors, number them all with tags and alignment and all that. That's where the scripts come in.

I'm going to say this real quiet, but I guess this scripting thing is something that makes XWE better than DeepSea. It's a stupid idea to compare them though, because in all other Aspects DeepSea is 100% better than my buggy and underdocumented proggie. But if you want to add a dome to your level really fast (like in ReX's Darkest Hour), you could still use XWE. Whew, I hope this doesn't start another which editor is better thread, we had enough of those. Plus I'm sure when Jack wants to he will add just as good (or better) scripting to his tool.

Share this post


Link to post

Yeah I had a look at the scripting. I noticed the cog and bus and then I noticed I didn't have a clue how to start doing anything with it :-).

It looks very powerful, and if you can use it to put in 128 sectors, all ready tagged and height adjusted then it must be powerful. I'm not sure what would take me longer though - writing the script or sticking in 128 sectors. I'm finally getting to grips with ACS, and that's taken me long enough. Your escalator scripts are almost beyond me. I managed to work out which bit to tweak to get things working in my level but I couldn't say I really understand every line of the code. Now there's a new level structure scripting to confuse me. Oi!

I guess that's why I make maps and not programs. ;-)

Edit: You can't really see the effect too well from this screeny, even with a FOV of 120, but this is the level. The nearest escalator is the up and the far one is down. You can't see the sloped ceiling above the steps, or the groovy ceiling lights and all the advertising neons, but it does give some of the idea.

http://www.btinternet.com/~Enjay001/Escalator.png

Share this post


Link to post

And you are good at that (making maps). You just have to get better at releasing them (coughAspectscough).

I know creating the scripts is not for everyone. What to do with the cog wheel or bus? In XWE, press Shift+R and select one of those. Plunk, you have a cogwheel or bus in your map (or your map is messed up beyond repair).

Share this post


Link to post

OK, just had a little whirl with the prefabs. No messed up maps and everything I tried to place seemed to work well. Nice and quick too. Obviously setting up the script takes a little while (not so long if that's your thing I guess) but once it is there, it does seem a quick, clean and easy way to have a bunch of custom prefabs "on tap".

Something like this would be an ideal way for people with that kind of skill to upload prefabs for others to use. Prefab structures have been available before for doom, but are a bit hit or miss, and depend on how well your editor copes with copying and pasting, height adjustment, tag numbering etc. If there could be an agreed scripting language that was "standard" then people could make all sorts of cunning prefabs for distribution, and at only a few bytes each too.

Share this post


Link to post

If some day I find a way to hack away all files on the Enjay`s computer, I will do it without regret! ;-)

Share this post


Link to post
Csabo said:

Plus I'm sure when Jack wants to he will add just as good (or better) scripting to his tool.

Not really. I don't agree with that approach (nor WHY's, nor WADc). It's for exactly the reason you listed - level designers are not coders:)

DeePsea does do prefab "domes, tunnels,stairs",etc - basic interactive constructs that grind out lots of sectors in one quick step. However, for even more complicated stuff, my preference is just to draw the construct, save it away as a PWAD model and then one can import it into any level - plus there's a preview of exactly what it looks like when the PREFAB folder is browsed - something I consider a must. IOW, this has exactly the same unlimited expansion possibility, except the prefabs are drawn using standard drawing tools, not scripting.

Scripting potentially can have some advantages in saving grunt time (that's a hard sell though - witness the DEU diehards<g>), however, in the time it takes even a coder to finish/debug, a regular method can probably beat it. So it better be pretty damn complicated to make it worth the effort. For a person who is not a coder, I think it would take so long he'd give up before he ever got finished.

So scripting is just different, rather than better - suited to coders maybe (IMO it's still a lot more work than just drawing it once). It all boils down to skill level with either method. Has anyone ever made a level with WADc besides the sample? That should tell you something.

I take it you haven't used DeePsea's way of doing prefabs (a bit different from WA and XWE)? If there really are more useful common constructs, might add to that or maybe just make the PREFAB PWADs tool a bit more flexible in making it mimic the way PREFABs work now in terms of placement.

Just a difference in philosphy.

Share this post


Link to post

Wow.

Very nice! I've been thinking about some effects that could e done in ZDoom, maybe I should get off my arse and actually try and make them :P

Share this post


Link to post

I don't agree with that approach (nor WHY's, nor WADc). It's for exactly the reason you listed - level designers are not coders:)


Like all general statements, this one is not fully exact. Scripting is certainly not for everyone, but some level designers do have coding skills. The scripting in Why (and I assume in XWE too) is exactly for these people. And the bonus is that scripts can be shared with other people.

Share this post


Link to post
Pate said:

Like all general statements, this one is not fully exact.

Did I say it was? "IMO" means just that. If you make a statement generic enough, they become very safe and then what is the point? As I always say: "Water is wet" and "sometimes it rains"- but what exactly does that contribute?

If you read what I wrote, you'll see that "sharing" is actually easier with the method I implemented and just as - if not more - flexible and anyone can do it. However, I base my observation on the real world - not just my own preferences. Follow current game design problems in the magazine "Game Developer" (http://www.gamedeveloper.com/) and read the problems of past games in their Post Mortem articles. You'll find many reoccurring themes.

Since I'm a coder and level designer - sort of entitles me to an opinion - however, I can't see the merit since I know how much work it is to do these "scripts". It's a promise of flexibility versus realistic timely flexibility.

So how many people have actually scripted something to extend WHY? Why or why not? (no pun intended).

Share this post


Link to post

So how many people have actually scripted something to extend WHY


I don't even know how many people use Why for actual editing. I get very little feedback for some reason.

However there are people who have done scripting and they loved the power and extensibility you get from it.

Share this post


Link to post

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×