Destructibles

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JackGriffin
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Destructibles

Post by JackGriffin »

I got the coding done for this and it's pretty much ready for anyone to use as they like. I'm going to place the readme here first so you can decide if it interests you. Hopefully in the next day or two paper and I will add a demo map with the destructible actors and you can see everything in action.
Destructibles- a simple way to make breakable stuff for your maps

Please take the time and read the instructions. There is a small learning curve but once you sort that out then the making and placing of destructibles will be quick and easy.

Installation: If you need help with this part then delete the mod and go back to Halo. Seriously.


Overview:
Destructibles have three classes- DestructibleGlass, DestructibleWood, and DestructibleStone. Choose the one closest to the material you are working with as the effects are tailored to each one.

To create:
With your map open, select the actor class browser and open the Destructibles.u package. Now, take your chosen BSP you want to make the destructible from and put your builder brush around it just like you are making a normal mover. Intersect the BSP and then right-click the "create a mover" button. You'll see three new mover classes. Select the one that is your material and the editor will make you a mover. Now place that mover where you want the destructible placed. It's almost ready for use once we adjust the properties.

Open the defaultproperties for your new Destructible mover. You will find these new settings:
ExplosionDimensions=
ChunkSize=
ChunkNumber=
ChunkTexture=
BreakingSound=

Let's do a quick rundown of these settings...

First, ExplosionDimensions sets the radius around the mover's center where the chunks will spawn. A higher number means the chunks spawn farther away. Small models will need 30-50 and larger models may need 100 or more. Experiment to see visually what looks the best given your chosen thing.
Next is ChunkSize. This is the size of the created chunks. 1 is default, 2.5 or 3 is pretty large and .25 is pretty small. Again, just test and see what works.
ChunkNumber is the number of created chunks when the object is destroyed. Don't overdo this number, try to be realistic. 3 or 4 usually works for stone, a few more for wood, and glass needs the most.
ChunkTexture is the texture the chunks will have. Does NOT need to be the same as the object being destroyed.
BreakingSound is the sound emitted from the Destructible when it breaks apart.
Lastly, there is a default setting in mover called "DamageThreshold". Don't forget to set this to whatever damage you want your object to take before it breaks apart. Consider this the 'health' setting for your Destructible.

You can see that we tried to make this mod scale from small objects to large ones by adjusting these settings. Overall it gives a good effect suite with very low overhead and minimal stress on the client and almost none on the server.

A few things to keep in mind:

Don't let your Destructible touch anything when it is placed. Because these are subclassed from mover they carry some of the weirdness too. Just give it a single unit of space and things will be fine. If you don't then the Destructible can get buggy and not work right. You were warned if you ignore this.
Also don't forget to set KeyFrame1 and move the Destructible to somewhere in the void that is outside your map. This will give the Destructible a place to go when it is triggered so that it appears it was destroyed to the player. We need to keep the mover and not destroy it since UT really doesn't like it if that happens so placing it's KeyFrame into the void accomplishes all that.

As always, improve this code if you want. Source was included so have at things. This works well for what we wanted and should fit a pretty big variety of sitations but develop on with it if you need something more particular.

Good luck!

papercoffee & gopostal
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UTPe
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Re: Destructibles

Post by UTPe »

wow ! :agree1:
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Re: Destructibles

Post by Hook »

I am surprised something like this hasn't been made yet - good idea, and good job! :gj:
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Re: Destructibles

Post by Dr.Flay »

Sometimes it takes the ramblings of a fool, to inspire the genius to do their thang :ironic2:

...The fool has been thinking again. Be prepared :wink:

Do you think it could work with something like "HeavyMetal Drivables" ?
http://wayback.archive.org/web/20021210 ... ntro.shtml
pt_boat.jpg
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HeavyMetal_Drivables.rar
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Re: Destructibles

Post by JackGriffin »

You can make a destructible out of anything that you can make a mover out of. In my demo I made one out a medium sized nali boat.
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Re: Destructibles

Post by Hitman »

I know that blast a regular wooden box in MH can cause a server-crash if the splitter hits a monster, could this happen with this mutator to ?
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Re: Destructibles

Post by JackGriffin »

That crash is caused by a subroutine called CanSeeMe() and it's in all fragments, carcasses, biterfish, gibs, stuff like that. If this mod causes any sort of crash increase because of this then I'll script new fragment classes for everything. I wanted this to remain as simple as possible and use as much of the default UT stuff as I could so it remains very fast and light on everyone. I can imagine this getting heavily abused by mappers going all out on making some crazy destructible map so paper and I made it so that it has the least impact on your game that it can while still giving the desired visual effect.

So yeah, it could possibly cause problems but I'll damn sure fix it if it does.
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Re: Destructibles

Post by MrLoathsome »

Very nice stuff Jack. This has a LOT of potential.
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Re: Destructibles

Post by Dr.Flay »

Very interesting :D
I had almost discarded the idea of investigating the HeavyMetal Drivables, as the physics is limited and for most occasions you need vehicles that can spawn from a factory type jobbie.

However, seeing you shoot-up the ship model made me think, if only used with slow, large driveables like ships, mobile armour, air-ships, space-ships, submarines.. that sort of thing, the combination of the 2 mods could be incredible.
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Re: Destructibles

Post by JackGriffin »

Man I hate to take so long to get stuff done. My apologies.

OK, here's the U file and the test map.
Destructibles.zip
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This gives a couple of examples of destructibles for you to spawn in and bust up. This map has some errors in it but paper and I built and rebuilt over and over testing back and forth. Just note the examples and go forth to use it in your own project. Don't copy anything from this map into your stuff. It's buggy as hell honestly but that's not unexpected given the amount of changes this simple map has been through.

As always if you can find a better way then rock on with developing this. i just need to get this out of the way and released so I can work on my coop server. Have fun with it and let me know how it goes. The classes are simple but I'll post the source if anyone wants it.

paper, it's been a blast working with you again. You are such a great guy.
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Re: Destructibles

Post by papercoffee »

JackGriffin wrote: paper, it's been a blast working with you again. You are such a great guy.
Oh stop it you sweet-talker :oops:



:mrgreen:
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Re: Destructibles

Post by Dr.Flay »

And I gotta wait till the weekend until I get back home :(
I guess I can spend the time doing a little promoting.

Hopefully after people post some screenshots of their , it will snowball as they realise the potential :tu:

BTW. will this work in Unreal ?
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Re: Destructibles

Post by JackGriffin »

No, however it would be easy to copy what I did in the same U1 classes.
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Re: Destructibles

Post by Dr.Flay »

OK. I will ask interested parties to come here contact you about doing a port.
It has raised interest (obviously!) at Oldunreal and UnrealSP.
We need to make sure they stay in-line and compatible if someone else does make it.
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Re: Destructibles

Post by Radi »

Im still making (80% finished) a DM map and I thinking about using 'Destructibles' in that map, for example a some destructible fences, pipes. So I going to test it out.
.
that tutorial map crashes sometimes, I hope my map will be fine :p. Im still a noob. It is good to make destructible movers touching each other or better not ?
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