MonsterSpawn 304 - small modification needed

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norocel
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MonsterSpawn 304 - small modification needed

Post by norocel »

Hello,

I am highly interested in MonsterSpawn304 mutator mostly because of a particular reason: it is the only UT99 monster mutator which spawn correctly the Tentacle monster, by doing some Z calculation and texture check to detect a valid spawn position on the ceiling instead of the floor.
But I have 2 small complaints about MS304 and unfortunately, the author (Asgard) did not provide the mutator source.
1. When a new monsters wave is spawned, the remaining alive monsters from previous wave are destroyed, often disappearing in front of me. I really hate this because is very inadequate and unnecessary, and it really sucks to see the monsters just disappearing in front of you. Also, it does not make sense to me to use larger respawn times and/or fewer monsters, ruins the fun.
2. Not as "outrageous" as previous, but still: when monsters are spawned or destroyed by mutator, it plays a sound "teleport1" and also a visual effect, both assets borrowed from Queen boss. This was not made optional, and are unfit in most of times.

I exported the classes just to look into code and found in the file MonsterSpawn.uc at least 2 occurences of the string "ScriptedPawn().Destroy();" I believe it's enough to be commented, in order not to let anymore the mut to further destroy the remaining alive monsters when new wave is incoming. Also the sound and effect can be disabled.
But not having the mutator src I cannot fix things. To made recompilable the src is far above my skill. Also, I tried to hexedit the .u but no chance to find the relevant strings so both roads are closed for me :(
Or, maybe somebody may just patch the SwarmSpawn 2.0 with a proper Tentacle spawn location(on valid places on the ceiling)? Mr.Loathsome seems not to be active on the forum to ask him...

Thanks in advance for any help.
Also, I'm interested in any collaboration, please PM in any case.
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OjitroC
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Re: MonsterSpawn 304 - small modification needed

Post by OjitroC »

Yeah, it's a real pain that the code is obfuscated and that there is no source code available.

I've used MonsterSpawn for a number of years now and don't have a problem with the two issues that you have - just goes to show that different players enjoy different aspects of a mod/mutator.

It would be great if someone were able to decompile the current code in such a way that it could be easily recompiled.

It's not related directly to your post but the issue I have is that, for me, MS304 won't use monsters in MonsterList[20] and above - it won't take monsters from all of the 100 lists, only the first 20 - do you get this or does it work properly for you?
norocel
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Re: MonsterSpawn 304 - small modification needed

Post by norocel »

I only use MS304 for spawning 5 Tentacles per minutes(1 wave repeated), I mainly use SwarmSpawn fort the rest of monsters. I really hate that MS304 destroy the remaining monster in front of me when creating new wave.
Yes, would be fantastic if someone highly skilled would made the src recompilable. One user on this forum seems to have a working src, but just don't share, I respect his decision. I just need to comment 2 nasty lines as described above...
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EvilGrins
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Re: MonsterSpawn 304 - small modification needed

Post by EvilGrins »

i largely only use MonsterSpawn for when I'm playing Last Man Standing, because when monsters kill you it doesn't take away any of your remaining lives... and if you're very low in health that's handy to let a monster kill you so you can respawn with full health and armor and no lives lost.

It's also handy with campers, as they tend to react by trying to kill the monsters. Both exposing their position as well as not able to hide as the monsters I choose are not all so easy to kill.

Mostly my only issue is monsters when they spawn in don't tend to start moving unless they see a player or are shot.
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Barbie
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Re: MonsterSpawn 304 - small modification needed

Post by Barbie »

Buggie has a script that can spawn monsters properly (mostly^^).
"If Origin not in center it be not in center." --Buggie
Buggie
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Re: MonsterSpawn 304 - small modification needed

Post by Buggie »

No idea what you talking about. I do not have such script.
Maybe you mean MHGen?
https://ut99.org/viewtopic.php?t=15125
It is tool for Editor, not for use in game.
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ExpEM
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Re: MonsterSpawn 304 - small modification needed

Post by ExpEM »

Have you asked Asgard for the source?
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Buggie
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Re: MonsterSpawn 304 - small modification needed

Post by Buggie »

Here file with decompiled source for each class (embed in package, use UnrealEd for view or export).
It not compiled by obvious reasons, but can be used as base for manual repair.
monsterspawn30420240610093344.rar
Decompilation done by ScriptRays from upcoming patch 469e.
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norocel
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Re: MonsterSpawn 304 - small modification needed

Post by norocel »

There is no contact of Asgard.
To repair the src is above my skills, thanks anyhow Buggie.
I think the easier way is to insert the few lines of Z calculation from monsterspawn.uc file, which set the special Tentacle spawn location on the ceilings, into the existing SwarmSpawn src. For a skilled one, is very easy...
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EvilGrins
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Re: MonsterSpawn 304 - small modification needed

Post by EvilGrins »

norocel wrote: Wed Jun 12, 2024 7:11 pmThere is no contact of Asgard.
Not in MonsterSpawn's .zips, but in SpaceMarinez's there was: asgard12000@iprimus.com.au

Good rule of thumb when looking for contact info, check out other downloads they've setup!
norocel
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Re: MonsterSpawn 304 - small modification needed

Post by norocel »

Thank you so much EvilGrins for finding the email adress; unfortunately, as I expected, being so old, the email adress on that domain is no more valid...