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+---- Thread: Ghost-like entity help (/thread-19975.html)
Ghost-like entity help - The Rock Worm - 01-18-2013
Due to me being the last one to comment on my Amnesia Super Thread for Amnesia Custom Story ideas, and not wanting to risk getting in trouble for 'double posting', I've decided to post this custom monster help here.
If any of you remember, as part of my inspiration for a 'new' monster concept, Star Control 2's story dealing with the Orz and the Androsynth then you might know what I want. For those that don't, here's a teaser from Star Control 2:
A race of genetically altered humans, who know call themselves Androsynth, split from Earth to form their own culture on another world. Now your character was away for a long time, so missed out on a lot including a massive war. When you check the Androsynth Homeworld, you find all the cities to be in ruins. The state of the ruins suggests not an orbital bombardment but a massive ground assault. What's strange that no bodies can be found! When one of your crew finds a working computer with log of events, he goes insane and starts destroying everything. Saying something about 'Them' coming for him, just knowing was enough to alert 'Them'. Destroying the information, thus ignorance is bliss, was the only protection we had. He survived, but when being brought back to the ship, new cuts seem to form
Although the Orz, who now live in Androsynth space, are fish-like in appearance the Androsynth logs hint that the Orz are ghost-like entities. After remembering this, I couldn't resist trying to put something like it in Amnesia.
Think of this concept, an entity that passes through all doors and walls and can hurt you whenever it wants. All of the locked doors and debris serve to hinder your escape from a dangerous lab/city from 'Them'!
Think about it, how many times have we felt secure after putting a blockade on a door to keep the monster(s) out? I felt good knowing I had escaped the monster, especially the Grunt/Brute in Amnesia. Now imagine a monster going through that blocked door as if it weren't there at all!
Design: I started with making a Kaernk-Class monster to be my alien entity that's ghost like. I could use whatever particle system I wanted to be the visual aspect of the entity (let our minds envision the rest, based on notes I leave as a basis).
Problem: While the design of the monster entity would be easy for the most part, I do have one hurdle that I'm not positive to the solution. I tried to see if I can make a monster walk through a wall, but have the player unable to walk through the same wall. When setting a special wall as only objects can pass through it but 'characters' cannot, it seems that monsters as well as players are part of the 'characters' category. Not knowing how to do scripted events, I have no solution to this problem.
Can any of you figure out how to do this? Can only a monster pass through walls and doors but not you? If not, then how do we make the illusion of this effect. Sorry for a long start up, but I figured it was needed to paint the type situation I wanted for an Amnesia Custom Story.
RE: Ghost-like entity help - TheGreatCthulhu - 01-19-2013
I'm not sure about doing it the way you originally intended (maybe in a FC, but I'll let the people who have better knowledge of all the customizable features of the game answer that), however, you can "fake" the effect by having a monster spawn in front of a door (at predefined places, and only if the door is closed), and having some particle effects (like, a billowing smoke, or electric bolts and plasma) to cover it up. This way, the monster would appear to be briefly hindered by the blocked door, only to "teleport" inside the room - kind of like the ghosts of Silent Hill 4, who laboriously drag their bodies through a wall before they enter a room.
Who knows, it might even be possible to create a similar "wall corruption" effect, using the setting which makes all the particles aligned in one plane (can't recall exactly what's it called an the moment, but it's the same thing used to make the effect of paper floating on water).
RE: Ghost-like entity help - Acies - 01-19-2013
I have an idea of how to do this, something which I figured out while importing my first "monster" - but I have never tested it so no guarantees!
In the .ent file you can set how tall objects the monster may climb. I think the default value is around 0.3m(?). If one were to set it to a value higher than 4m (the walls are 4m) and create a room which has no collision the monster could possibly simply travel over the walls if the
ShowEnemyPlayerPosition(string& asName);
Was issued!
RE: Ghost-like entity help - Statyk - 01-19-2013
(01-19-2013, 03:01 PM)Acies Wrote: I have an idea of how to do this, something which I figured out while importing my first "monster" - but I have never tested it so no guarantees!
In the .ent file you can set how tall objects the monster may climb. I think the default value is around 0.3m(?). If one were to set it to a value higher than 4m (the walls are 4m) and create a room which has no collision the monster could possibly simply travel over the walls if the
ShowEnemyPlayerPosition(string& asName);
Was issued!
But then the ceilings are still an issue. Instead, simply make it so the walls are made into static .ent and make the bodies have player collision, but not non-char collision. Just be careful. If the player is carrying something and throws it, it'll go through the wall. Make sure the player can't pick up things at this time/in this area.
RE: Ghost-like entity help - Acies - 01-19-2013
Oh, I meant make the ceilings non-collision. Stupid brain.. The monster is supposed to climb over the walls - hopefully once appearing it will seem as if he "hovers" out of the wall landing on the ground.
RE: Ghost-like entity help - The Rock Worm - 01-19-2013
(01-19-2013, 06:49 PM)Statyk Wrote: But then the ceilings are still an issue. Instead, simply make it so the walls are made into static .ent and make the bodies have player collision, but not non-char collision. Just be careful. If the player is carrying something and throws it, it'll go through the wall. Make sure the player can't pick up things at this time/in this area.
Good advice, I will have to try that. At the time of my test, I had only seen a char collision. If it has a player collision, then this could work!
Great point about the throwing objects bit. I was planning on having you remove debris to try and get out, but I probably will instead put static debris blocking the way, forcing you to take the long way around.
EDIT: Looked at my model editor body options and say only a "Collide with Character" and "Collide with Non-Character" options (in relation to this discussion). I don't see a "Collide with Player" option. Am I missing something?
I didn't want to fake it so I'd like a real monster to follow through walls, but don't see how this can be done right now.