[Seeking invisible, no collision vehicle for mod]

I'm not a scripter, but when 1.3.5.0/1.4.0.0 came to be, wasn't there problems with black silohettes of hidden things? I know I've seen it on actors and vehicles before, but admittedly I don't know the exact cause of that and if there is a fix/workaround for it.

It seems though that those problems are in relation to multiplayer only, I got a few missions where especially in the cinematics there is all kinds of hiding and showing going on, never once seen a shadow from it.

The shadow that was being produced by the "target" vehicle that Jack had altered is from the model actually still being there during the game, even though it is "transparent" with the new skins.

I havent yet tried the skin file he put out for the invisible shadow, but that may fix that issue and he did also include in the "test mission" a silent .wav sound for the vehicle too.

I am looking forward to trying the new model you came up with, looks like one way or the other, you guys got the main gun to fire at just about anything now I appreciate your effort, credit is due you guys in my next mod.

[Seeking invisible, no collision vehicle for mod]

Hmmm, I've made a lot of invisible stuff but can't seem to find them...

What's the difference between a vehicle made invisible in max, or a normal one hidden in Igor ? If you hide a vehicle, it will have no more collision and is still referencable (?) in the script.

Nope. Once you hide a vehicle, San, it cannot be targetted because although it exists in the mission it does not exist in the current gameplay status as a usable vehicle until it is shown.

Thats the difference, the "transparant" vehicle WILL do everything that the hidden scripted vehicle will do, not be there, In Addition it will be able to be targetted, while the hidden vehicle would not have.

Take a look at the topic in mission mods- Tanks Firing Main Guns- you'll see a number of well known scripters discussing this exact issue.

Jack has already got a vehicle re-skinned with transparent textures and it looks like Don Miguel has made the completey new model with no collision nor shadow.

Cant wait!

Christian

[tank firing main gun]

Well, it seems to work. There is no 2D/3D collision, so bullets, tank shells and players pass thru (actually, there was 1 spot that had player collision, but it was small and possibly a bounding box issue). I've put together a mini mod, with the .vcl, .pob, and test mission. I've also included the max file, in case it is a bounding box issue on that small collision spot. There wasn't a shadow for me either.

The mission, no insert zone, so the spawn is a little randome . Russian tank is facing the dummytarget. When you fire your weapon it will fire at the other tank. The other tank has no collision, and its indestructable. You can find the dummytarget by following the sound . Once you can kill that sound you'll be good to go. Hope this helps.

As soon as I get a host I'll post the file and link (should be this afternoon as someone's posting a gr mod tool for me).

Dude!

Major League looking forward to grabbing it and testing, sounds like a winner(maybe now I can stop begging in the Vehicle Mods for one!)

There oughta be some kinda reference to these few "alterations" for tanks firing main guns so that modders can just grab it, seems worth alot.

Thanks guys, I keep trying to think-what can I do in return-

Christian

[tank firing main gun]

Would it be possible to make a custom vehicle as small as 1x1x1 pixel? (or similar; just dorn small) Then teleport that one around to the players?

That one shouldnt even cast a shadow at all.

I agree, I asked if someone may be interested in making one in the Vehicle Mods.

Who knows!

[tank firing main gun]

as long as the target is not destroyed or hidden

Exactly, and then you'll need 'my' 11 second TimerElapsed block, cause they fire after 10 seconds. Put it on 10 seconds or 12 and it won't work !

Hey San,

You oughta try jacks quick test mission here with the tank, it works a beaut and the script is small for it(Of course it can be initiated by a proximity or actor seen or something so the tank in an actual mission is firing only when the desired target is in "range".)

Are you talking about cancelling the firing? If so we crossed information paths, but thats good to know, because in hiding the target it may cause the tank to stay "stuck" in facing the last target pos., although I know that hiding does cause the tank to indeed stop firing without a crash.

Thanks San, 11 sec, may need that.

[tank firing main gun]

Funny I didn't notice a shadow before - I just checked and with Vehicle Shadow set to full detail in options I don't get any shadow, but if I set it to low I get a simple box shadow Maybe on high detail it actually does a real-time render whereas on low it just uses a generic rsb (simpleshadow_01.rsb).

What a biatch eh The only thing you could do is either encourage your players to use high vehicle shadow detail or make the simpleshadow.rsb transparent. Here it is if you want to do that.

simpleshadow_01.zip

Cheers

Just got it, thank you Jack. Will give it a go. I guess a few people already know what to expect from a few tanks in my next mod! (its ok, they will probably be firing the MG's too, oops )

Christian

[tank firing main gun]

You just have to have the right tools to do the job. I would recommend ultra edit for a hex editing program. I've converted a BMP and the SAM to fire at the player platoon without any scripting involved. They both appeared in Frostbite.

I would also recommend saving the converted pob file under a different name and using Mike Schell's skinner tool to reskin the vehicle to prevent any mishaps and at the same time allowing the mission scripter to distinguish between the two in the vehicle list in IGOR.

Thanks El_oso

Unfortunately I do not even know what a "hex" editor is, nor do I have a bunch of money to spend on a new program right now, so it appears as though the scripted way is gonna be it for now, it still looks dam right with the turret following you around, I just need to rid the shadows and test it a bit more and should be good.

Good stuff to know, all of this topic is printed and filed(classified)

Thanks

[tank firing main gun]

Couldnt resist, at 12:00 A.m. I went ahead and played the mission, neat!

Looking down the dock lane I see, a t72 staring back at me , ca-blam! Then I'm dead. That turret follows you everywhere waiting for the next shell to load!

The only drawback is the shadow of the jeep that remains, of course if it were a night mission it would mean nothing.

I wonder if there is a way to rid the shadow from the implementation.

Thanks for the example jack.

[tank firing main gun]

Neato! Thanks Jack.

I didnt realize you even put in the new skin files!

Will try tommorow. I owe you one, thanks.

[tank firing main gun]

Thanks, yea I'm a little hard headed sometimes, going to download now, will give it a go tommorow(11:00 p.m. right now).

I have removed the MG from the tanks before, but hey, if both weapons work together that will be probably as right as it gets, although I have been thinking about changing the MG itself to something with some more "clatter" to it and less rate of fire. Sounds to me alot like a laser gun or somethin rather than a 50 cal.

Christian

[Seeking invisible, no collision vehicle for mod]

Place multiple effects and teleport it there on regular intervals.

I hear ya dude , but what I seek is to be able to target the players position, not just a few spots here and there. One way to do this is to teleport a transparant vehicle right to the players location, therefore giving the enemy tank a target right on the players position. Then not having barriers or collision will remove the possibility of the player running into the transparant vehicle and the vehicle getting destroyed by the enemy tank firing.

Thanks.

Christian

[tank firing main gun]

Because the vehicle is not actually hidden from the game world (it only has transparent textures) you have to hide it when the tank is firing at it or the the shell will destroy the vehicle and not the players. The only glitch with it is when you are running you may see a small 'pulsing' of the screen graphics as the vehicle gets teleported to the player. I can think of work around for that also if you're wanting to use this method.

K, sounds like some more testing coming tommorow, but I have a question, yes, alas, another question

If indeed the textures on the vehicle are transparant, dosent the vehicle still have barriers? Wont you end up running into the thing sooner or later as it is teleported to your location for the targetting?

Although I am not sure, I think the problem may remain with the actual "tanks" because they, unlike the howitzers and bmp's have a secondary that is already setup to target players, although I will certainly give the editing the pob file for the tank a try-who knows, maybe then the tanks will use both of their weapons against the player-now thats a mean tank-heh.

Thanks Jack, how the heck you remember all this stuff I may never know( I already have 2 fully written notebooks full of scripting notes from my last mod)

[Seeking invisible, no collision vehicle for mod]

Why not try and place an exsiting vehicle to where the firing tank cannot hit it. Don't know if this is possible but try placing an effect under the ground and teleporting the vehicle there.

Yea, I tried that, and about 5 variations of that too. It works fine if you have a pre-determined place to fire at(like the effect location you described), but because only actors and vehicles can be teleported, the only place is smack dab right on top the player(s), there is no way to move the vehicle below and hide it because you cant teleport the effect-which would have been 5-10 meters below their location.

I dont know if the "transparant" vehicle I am seeking is a simple thing to do or not, so I am just asking, if it dosent happen thats cool, had to try.

[tank firing main gun]

Read up the page a bit in this thread

Also this from EL_OSO in another thread:

"If you want this howitzer to fire at the player platoon, edit the pob file with a hex editor. Look for ^WeaponFX1 and rename it to ^WeaponFX0. Then create a .gun file with IGOR or notepad that has roughly the same characteristics of the prj file that the howitzer ususally fires. Take the vcl file for your new howitzer and edit that to include this gun file. The howitzer will fire at the player without any scripting or target hiding required."

Hope that helps

Does this function for regular tanks also Jack?

[tank firing main gun]

When you say "invisible", you're not using Hide Thing are you

Nah,

Just refering to the image of the vehicle during gameplay, like what you did painting the alpha channels black, although I only have PSP7, so the whole deal will have to be done by a vehicle modder, hopefully its no biggie and someone will be willing to do it.

I tried a few things to get a "hidden target" to the immediate area of the player without success(probably why it hasnt been done).

The concept of teleporting an object such as a sandbag model as a new vehicle dosent work cause it must be destroyed at startup or GR crashes, I forgot bout that. I thought maybe I could just teleport a vehicle to like 5 meters below the ground level of the player, but there is no way to get any height change from the player local to teleport to.

Oh well, i tried.

[Seeking invisible, no collision vehicle for mod]

Hey,

I am working on my next mod and I am looking for someone who might be willing to build an invisible,no collision,no barriers vehicle. I will certainly give credit to the creator in the mod itself and in the mod topic(s) here for not only building the vehicle but for making it possible to have tanks in the mod target player and people with their main cannon.

The vehicle need'nt be anything special, just needs to be a vehicle that can be used in Igor as a target and its detectability during game play is non-existant except for on command map. It dosent matter if the vehicle is an existing GR hummer or what not that is altered or a little tiny square pixel.

I am pretty sure that this vehicle would be very usefull to alot of mission moders out there besides myself aslo.

Sincerely,

Christian

[Seeking Invisible Vehicle Model With No Collision]

I kinda forgot there is a Vehicle Mods section, think I will post there also, probably where I shoulda started!

[tank firing main gun]

Well, after spending a few hours testing I have come to the conclusion that without a vehicle that has no collision, barriers and is invisible as a target for a tank, I cannot find a way to effectively get the tanks to fire main guns anywhere nears players. I posted a new topic in Mission Mods in hopes maybe someone can pull of the vehicle needed here, I pretty sure that I would not be the only one that would benefit from such a creation.

Will hope for the best and carry on.

[Seeking Invisible Vehicle Model With No Collision]

Hey,

I'm beginning work on my next mod and I am asking if someone can make a vehicle that is invisible,with no collision or barriers and no sound. I would absolutely give credit to the creator in the mod itself and on mod reviews too for not only making the vehicle but also credit for making it possible to have tanks fire their main guns at people, which should be a very big plus to the mod.

The vehicle neednt be anything special at all, basically it would serve as an invisible target for tanks, the goal is merely to edit or create a vehicle usable in Igor that can be targeted where its detectability is completely non-existent in gameplay, besides showing on the command map.

And of course if desired by the creator to make the vehicle avaliable to others this vehicle would be of great use to many modders here for similar purposes.

Sincerely,

Christian

[HALO]

Looks really good. I dont see the slight differences in the C130 being of any consequence, it looks like the real thing, what I think counts.

K, now I gotta ask. What if you kept the cam at the player, no actual cinematics, so maybe you start like in the plane, along with yer buddies and actually get to initiate the jump after the door opens, and then be lookin all around at the scenery and your teammembers skydiving with you.

Of course I understand that may require the chutes being opened, and the landing, which would be a lot more work on top of what you got, but its just a thought.

The reddish sky in the background of the air deployments really adds to it all, I havent seen anything like this, its seems to stand alone as well done and original.

[World War 3 Mod..]

Thanks

Er, um, you have been overly generous

Christian

[tank firing main gun]

Thanks Jack for the info, yea the only way really would be no barriers for this application, so I will just have to see what comes up, although the interesting thing is that some models of houses I have used for vehicles before just for testing, and there are some names of other models that are very small objects, I may be able to just use a small object and place it a few meters below ground level when teleported to hide it, hm.

[tank firing main gun]

Just to be honest, yea, they do fire continuously on their own as long as the target is not destroyed or hidden, or of course if the tank is given new plans.

Hey!! Got an idea for the main gun firing at actors. The target is the real problem here right, not the gun. So why not just have a completely invisible and untouchable vehicle model that is used as a target. I think this can work. Then all you have to do is just teleport it to any location(like player-controled-actor or another teamember, or whatever) and make to tank target it.

All I need now is a vehicle model that is invisible and untouchable(has no barriers, can walk through all of it). Probably gonna post this on the board too, maybe someone has a model like that.

[World War 3 Mod..]

Good work

You know, you have sentenced yourself to make another one of these (maybe 2 or 3 - just kidding)!

Cheers

Thank you Portuguese

Yeah, I know but its a lot more enjoyable this round having learned much about Igor and a lot of other stuff too.

Gettin on with the city scripting now, the enviornment is done, and the plot is finished for the mission too, its lookin nice.

I hate not being able to talk about the missions while I make em!

See ya!

[Destyroyed Russian Tank Models]

Hey,

Question is same as topic titile, does anyone know of any destroyed or damaged Russian tank models in Ghost Recon(origmiss,mp1,mp2)?

I have seen the original models for the usable vehicles. I know that one can merely destroy a tank in game but, the destroyed vehicles seem to only differentiate themselves by the flames crawling up the sides, with no alteration to the model itself.

I dont know what all the file names in the models folders represent, like particle effects(figured that must be explosions or similar) and there are ALOT of model files, so, fellas , I could use a little help here if anyone knows,

Thanks!