Hello everyone,
Thankfully it has been quite some time since I have last had to ask a question here. My project has come a long way since I started all those months ago, however, I have ran into a new snag here recently. The issue I am facing now is this: I finally figure out that any placeable with a walkmesh must be 'static' and that works great, unfortunately what is happening to my one placeable - a series of walkways suspended from trees - is the walkmesh extends from the vertecies down to the ground level. The result: multiple triagular shaped walkmesh faces criss-crossing each other, and as said before, extending to the ground level.
I have tried multiple things in attempts to remedy including: switching the mesh between a 'poly' and 'mesh', or editing the surface mesh on the ground within the editor. This conundrum of mine has me quite stymied, and I know I'm not exactly an expert on the whole concept of creating walkable placeables; it has be a bit baffled especially with the settings menu within the editor. I am not sure if I am missing anything, but I hope this gives you guys an idea of my little predicament.
Cheers,
Savo
Placeable's Walkmesh odd Behaviour
Débuté par
R_Savo
, janv. 24 2013 05:21
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#3
Posté 24 janvier 2013 - 03:00
Lugaid of the Red Stripes
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It would help to describe more precisely what you're trying to do. It sounds like you want creatures to be able to walk both under the walkways and over them, but this simply isn't possible in the engine- you can't have any overlapping walkmeshes, every X-Y coordinate has only one walkable Z coordinate. This can be faked, though, in a couple of ways.
First is to duplicate the area, and make the walkways into environmental objects in one. This means that one area is for walking around on the ground, and the second area is for walking above. You can use a few walkmesh helpers to place a couple of badguys up top, though, to make the view from the ground more lively.
The other option is just to be really clever in how you lay out your walkways. You might have a few 'fake' EO walkways that the player can walk under, then have your real, walkable walkways positioned over unwalkable terrain (buildings, slopes, debris) so that the player would never think to try to walk under them.
The last, messy option, is to use transitions or other kinds of scripts to jump the PC from one side to another, instead of letting them walk.
First is to duplicate the area, and make the walkways into environmental objects in one. This means that one area is for walking around on the ground, and the second area is for walking above. You can use a few walkmesh helpers to place a couple of badguys up top, though, to make the view from the ground more lively.
The other option is just to be really clever in how you lay out your walkways. You might have a few 'fake' EO walkways that the player can walk under, then have your real, walkable walkways positioned over unwalkable terrain (buildings, slopes, debris) so that the player would never think to try to walk under them.
The last, messy option, is to use transitions or other kinds of scripts to jump the PC from one side to another, instead of letting them walk.
#4
Posté 24 janvier 2013 - 09:58
Dann-J
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Walkable placeables aren't really designed to butt up against each other when set to 'static'. The edges are supposed to plunge down to the terrain in order to make a continuous walkable area across them (from terrain, to placeable, and back to terrain again).
If you want to butt things up against each other, you have two reliable options:
- Set the placeables to environmental objects and use manually placed 'walkmesh helpers' (under miscellaneous placeables I think), to define the walkable areas.
- Combine the walkable placeables together in a model editor into one single placeable.
You might get lucky trying to patch static placeables together using walkmesh helpers to bridge the gaps, but the tendancy for the walkmesh to plunge down to the terrain is difficult to overcome. You can go mad trying to precisely align things together. MAD I tell you! HAHAHAHAHA!
If you want to butt things up against each other, you have two reliable options:
- Set the placeables to environmental objects and use manually placed 'walkmesh helpers' (under miscellaneous placeables I think), to define the walkable areas.
- Combine the walkable placeables together in a model editor into one single placeable.
You might get lucky trying to patch static placeables together using walkmesh helpers to bridge the gaps, but the tendancy for the walkmesh to plunge down to the terrain is difficult to overcome. You can go mad trying to precisely align things together. MAD I tell you! HAHAHAHAHA!
#5
Posté 25 janvier 2013 - 03:08
R_Savo
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Thank you all for your input,
All of what you guys have said is very helpful, and I believe I am beginning to better understand the way the engine is working. From what I can gather, the issue I am facing is that I do not want any of the walkway to touch thee ground, but the toolset is enforcing the action in the best way it can. Resulting in the walkmesh extending downwards to the ground. I am going to try raising the ground level so that it touches the placeable's walkmesh at a certain point and then hide it with a tree; it is my hope that this will trick the engine into thinking it is one continuous mesh.
Believe me when I say: I have lost a fair amount of hair over this one, heh, and I can feel the madness settling in to my mind.
Thanks again everyone for your assistance, I will see if I can't post a screenshot of my work here to show exactly what is happening.
Savo
All of what you guys have said is very helpful, and I believe I am beginning to better understand the way the engine is working. From what I can gather, the issue I am facing is that I do not want any of the walkway to touch thee ground, but the toolset is enforcing the action in the best way it can. Resulting in the walkmesh extending downwards to the ground. I am going to try raising the ground level so that it touches the placeable's walkmesh at a certain point and then hide it with a tree; it is my hope that this will trick the engine into thinking it is one continuous mesh.
Believe me when I say: I have lost a fair amount of hair over this one, heh, and I can feel the madness settling in to my mind.
Thanks again everyone for your assistance, I will see if I can't post a screenshot of my work here to show exactly what is happening.
Savo
#7
Posté 28 janvier 2013 - 03:46
R_Savo
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All right everyone,
Here is some screenshots I took of the editor and in game. Hopefully this will allow guys to come to some sort of conclusion as to what is happening.
Toolset:
http://imageshack.us.../toolset01.png/
In game:
http://imageshack.us...38/ingameq.png/
Here is some screenshots I took of the editor and in game. Hopefully this will allow guys to come to some sort of conclusion as to what is happening.
Toolset:
http://imageshack.us.../toolset01.png/
In game:
http://imageshack.us...38/ingameq.png/
#8
Posté 28 janvier 2013 - 01:45
kamal_
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You are still not giving us enough information to properly help, and the screenshots are so dimly lit I can't figure out what you are trying to do.
Is anything going to be walking around on the ground?
Is there a reason you're not just using walkmesh cutters around the object?
Is anything going to be walking around on the ground?
Is there a reason you're not just using walkmesh cutters around the object?
Modifié par kamal_, 28 janvier 2013 - 01:46 .
#9
Posté 28 janvier 2013 - 06:28
Lugaid of the Red Stripes
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It might be better to set the placeable to walkable or even environmental object, and then use a resized walkmesh helper, trimmed by walkmesh cutters, to create your elevated walkmesh.
#10
Posté 31 janvier 2013 - 01:06
R_Savo
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I'll try to explain it a bit more clearly. What I want to be able to do is make the platform in the screenshots walkable. Nothing will be walking on the ground underneath, so there is no issue in regards to conflicting/overlapping. walkmeshes. I just want to be able to create a walkmesh in my 3D editor as part of the model and import it into the game; much the same as it is with the dock placeable already available with the base game.
I'm not entirely sure how I would use the walkmesh cutter in this situation as my understanding of that tool is to create a non-walkable space, which in the case of the wooden platform, I'd like it to be walkable. I have also considered using a walkmesh helper, but for some reason the ones that come with the game don't actually work in the editor. When I place them they do not appear and ultimately do nothing. If there is a walkmesh helper out there that is created by someone more intelligent than I, I will gladly try it. However, I would just much prefer to make the custom walkmeshes along with the models before exporting them from my 3D modelling application.
I hope this helps make what I'm doing more clear, feel free to ask any questions that might help, I will answer each and everyone as best I can. I also apologize for my ignorance in this matter, I've worked on it as long as I could before coming to the forum as I don't like to ask redundant questions.
I'm not entirely sure how I would use the walkmesh cutter in this situation as my understanding of that tool is to create a non-walkable space, which in the case of the wooden platform, I'd like it to be walkable. I have also considered using a walkmesh helper, but for some reason the ones that come with the game don't actually work in the editor. When I place them they do not appear and ultimately do nothing. If there is a walkmesh helper out there that is created by someone more intelligent than I, I will gladly try it. However, I would just much prefer to make the custom walkmeshes along with the models before exporting them from my 3D modelling application.
I hope this helps make what I'm doing more clear, feel free to ask any questions that might help, I will answer each and everyone as best I can. I also apologize for my ignorance in this matter, I've worked on it as long as I could before coming to the forum as I don't like to ask redundant questions.
#11
Posté 31 janvier 2013 - 01:29
kamal_
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The walkmesh helpers are invisible (it is red in if you look at it in some camera angles).
I still can't see anything in your screenshot.
If the platform is flat, make it environmental and put a large walkmesh helper at the height you want people to walk. Then cut out the shape of the platform with walkmesh cutters. Tip: it's easier to move the platform walking area to ground level to use the walkmesh cutters around it, as cutting something in the air is imprecise.
I still can't see anything in your screenshot.
If the platform is flat, make it environmental and put a large walkmesh helper at the height you want people to walk. Then cut out the shape of the platform with walkmesh cutters. Tip: it's easier to move the platform walking area to ground level to use the walkmesh cutters around it, as cutting something in the air is imprecise.
#12
Posté 31 janvier 2013 - 01:41
Tchos
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I'll try to help, because I only very recently came to understand what Lugaid here is suggesting, and I found it to work. This applies to an area with all walkable areas at the same height.
Use the terrain painting tool, and paint the whole area as unwalkable (Called "non", I think, in the palette). This step might not be necessary, but I think it's clean this way.
Make all of the platforms into environmental objects. They will then no longer have any influence on the walkmesh. This is necessary for the next step.
Place 1 walkmesh helper. The walkmesh helpers are invisible when you place them, but there are two ways to see them: One is to check your "Area contents" palette, under the "Placeables" tab, because the walkmesh helper is a placeable. You should be able to find it there. Once you select it, it will have a bounding box so you can see it and move it. It will be on the ground, of course, and have to be raised.
The other way of seeing it is to turn on the c3 collision box visibility, but that applies to all objects, and makes it hard to see anything, personally.
Once you have it at the right height and have locked its height, resize it to cover the entire set of walkways and platforms. I suggest only resizing the x and y, and leave the z at 1.
Now, use walkmesh cutters to cut away all parts of the area that should not be walkable. This may take some trial and error since it wants to shape the cutters on the ground, not on the platform, so it might help to lower everything to the ground temporarily as you do this, or else temporarily raise the ground to the height of your platforms.
Bake.
P.S.: I see Kamal beat me to this long response.
Use the terrain painting tool, and paint the whole area as unwalkable (Called "non", I think, in the palette). This step might not be necessary, but I think it's clean this way.
Make all of the platforms into environmental objects. They will then no longer have any influence on the walkmesh. This is necessary for the next step.
Place 1 walkmesh helper. The walkmesh helpers are invisible when you place them, but there are two ways to see them: One is to check your "Area contents" palette, under the "Placeables" tab, because the walkmesh helper is a placeable. You should be able to find it there. Once you select it, it will have a bounding box so you can see it and move it. It will be on the ground, of course, and have to be raised.
The other way of seeing it is to turn on the c3 collision box visibility, but that applies to all objects, and makes it hard to see anything, personally.
Once you have it at the right height and have locked its height, resize it to cover the entire set of walkways and platforms. I suggest only resizing the x and y, and leave the z at 1.
Now, use walkmesh cutters to cut away all parts of the area that should not be walkable. This may take some trial and error since it wants to shape the cutters on the ground, not on the platform, so it might help to lower everything to the ground temporarily as you do this, or else temporarily raise the ground to the height of your platforms.
Bake.
P.S.: I see Kamal beat me to this long response.
Modifié par Tchos, 31 janvier 2013 - 01:42 .
