Help with Creating areas that you can see monsters but they cant see you

[Kyka]

Hi there everybody.

On one of my levels, I am creating a museum area with displays of monsters, and I realised that I used to know how to make it so that the monsters couldnt see you even while you were looking straight at them. (I was out of editing for quite a while)

Examples of what I am trying to do are found on karma Sutra lvl 9 and TNT (I think) level 5

I know it involves missing textures on the lower half of a lift, but I cant seem to make it work.

Any help would be appreciated

[Lord_Z]

I think one of the easiest ways to do it is to surround the monster with a wall, lower the ceiling to the ground and don't put textures on it. If the wall has a doughnut shape to it, then the monster can stand inside without the wall crunching his head. I don't know if that would make any difference but it's worth a try. As far I as know, it should work.

Alternatively, if you are using something like ZDoom, you could just set the flag "Dormant" to on. This will achieve the same effect without the need for extra sectors. That is of course if you are using an advanced port.

[EarthQuake]

There are four ways of doing this in vanilla Doom, but two of which are extremely easy. You can work with lowering a ceiling close to the floor, or raising a floor close to the ceiling. And depending on which method you used, you leave off the required upper/lower textures.

If you touch the ceiling and floor together however, you will get the HOM effect. Also take note if doing it this way, you will have to design the map so that you can not see the floor or ceiling of the surrounding sector. It will bleed out around the adjacent sectors. If you set the ceiling/floor so it is one unit higher/lower than the adjacent sectors, respectively, then it should be okay. Make the monsters deaf, and they won't respond to sound.

The other methods involve broken sectors and are a bit messy and usually unnecessary. Hope this helps.

[Kyka]

Thanks heaps guys... I was playing around with the idea, and I couldnt figure out why sometimes it worked and sometimes it didnt. This explains heaps.

Appreciate the replies... :)

Couple of screenies here to show what I was trying to do.

http://img139.imageshack.us/my.php?image=monstermus1pngdc7.png
http://img139.imageshack.us/my.php?image=monstermus2pngjn7.png

[Kappes Buur]

You didn't mention what engine you are using.

In one of my projects, for GZDoom, I had a very similar situation

I initially set the dormant flag and then wakened the demon with this script:

#include "zcommon.acs"


script 200 OPEN
{
	delay (10*30);
	Light_Fade (13, 120, 255);  // (sectorTag, lightLevel, Duration)
	delay (10*30);
	Light_Fade (13, 165, 255);
	delay (10*30);
	Light_Fade (13, 190, 255);
	delay (10*30);
	Thing_Activate (13);        // waken from dormant state
	Sector_SetColor (13, 0, 180, 180);
}

[deathbringer]

There used to be something that allowed you to make a "reject map" which was certain sectors which where "not there", or something. I got a "reject builder" once hoping it'd let me select sectors and apply this effect to them, but it was some DOS-only thing that "blinked" and didnt do anything, so god knows what thats all about.

The effect was used in a few old Zdoom maps such as that one with Quake 2 weapons set in a big fortress with teleports to other "parts of the world". Can't remember it's name but it was good.

[Kyka]

Sorry Burr.

I use a pretty standard setup. DoomBuilder to build, and ZDoom to run my maps.

Pretty soon I will get my mitts on ChocolateDoom, on account of the fact that all my maps are Vanilla Doom anyway.

Thanks guys :)