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Rideable Motorcycle Alternative Travel System Concept

Started by Naethanyl , Nov 09 2010 03:45 PM

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#1
Naethanyl
Posted 09 November 2010 - 03:45 PM

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I'm new to these paticular forums, but not to the concept of personal modifications for gaming. Anyway, I came across Fallout 3: Wanderer's Edition, which sweepingly changes gameplay functionality, immersion, roleplaying, and realism. I was certainly impressed at the amount of work that went into it. However, despite all of the good things that FWE presented, especially it's new alternative travel system, which included a motorcycle known as the "Wasteland Explorer" which acted as a more realistic substitute for the fast travel system in the game, I did have some issues. Here's the link to the mod and it's description and credits below:

https://sites.google...ges/06immersion

Wasteland Explorer Altertnative travel System
Spoiler


This is an excellent module. I love it, as it makes it incredibly more realistic and fun, as your now dependent on transportation to get across the wasteland that has needs to be taken care of. However, it isn't rideable in real time, unfortunately. And, there's all those cars and other motorcycles out on the ruined highways and in parking lots, probably full of old utilizable parts and active (and thus usable), explodable fuel. Furthermore, my time in Iraq and Afghanistan has proven that necessity is always the mother of invention, as insurgents or just general [censored]s would rig not only corpses like what was shown in Fallout 3, but also broken down Cars and motorcycles. This is just a question- is it possible to turn cars and motorcycles into an interactable part of the environment, such as a container, that would hold repair components, scrap metal, fuel, and possibly (though rarely) other supplies such as food, medicine, weapons, ammo or even armor? And even further more, could I turn that Car into a proximity activated or looting activated trap?

Though I was disappointed at the fact the "Waste Land Explorer" was unrideable in real time, I found a mod that was able to implement it at least usably in to the UI. It was called "Drivable Motorcycle" by J3X for obvious reasons, and it allowed you to get a variety of motorcycles to fit your style. Here's the link to the page:

http://www.fallout3n...ile.php?id=6005

And it's Remake

http://www.fallout3n...ile.php?id=6005

Spoiler


Well, as good as this mod is, unfortunately, it doesn't do a real time mounting and dismounting from the the bike. The bike's handlebars unfortunately don't turn with the direction you point them in (like the horse would in oblivion), and the sound is god awful. Also not shown is getting a jarring or injuring effect from going to fast over something or hitting something. The bike also has friggin miniguns. MINIGUNS! What is this, Machete? While it is badass, it's completely out of balance and needs retuning. The animations do not show any paticular lean associated with riding a bike; nor does the bike lean while turning like a bike would in real life. Is there any way to script in a mount system that was at least similar in nature to oblivion? Is there anyway to get this working?

Edited by Naethanyl, 09 November 2010 - 03:55 PM.

#2
Psymon
Posted 09 November 2010 - 04:46 PM

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It was more than the mini-guns that made that motorcycle a cheat.

You could outrun anything, It seemed to have the same traction on all surfaces including the ability to travel up impossible slopes, it seemed to take no damage.

This was true of all 3 versions I found.

If you could address those issues then you have found a playtester.

#3
andyw
Posted 10 November 2010 - 06:01 PM

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Well, as good as this mod is, unfortunately, it doesn't do a real time mounting and dismounting from the the bike. The bike's handlebars unfortunately don't turn with the direction you point them in (like the horse would in oblivion), and the sound is god awful. Also not shown is getting a jarring or injuring effect from going to fast over something or hitting something. The bike also has friggin miniguns. MINIGUNS! What is this, Machete? While it is badass, it's completely out of balance and needs retuning. The animations do not show any paticular lean associated with riding a bike; nor does the bike lean while turning like a bike would in real life. Is there any way to script in a mount system that was at least similar in nature to oblivion? Is there anyway to get this working?

On the specific issue of lean animations, this would be really hard to fix. The scripting available to modders doesn't allow the player or NPCs to be rotated around any axis except the vertical, and while it is possible to add new animations it's not especially user friendly. In particular, I'm not aware of any way of moving smoothly from one so-called 'idle' animation to another (in this case, from one angle of lean to another).

It might be possible for a really brilliant model animator who knows Fallout's game engine inside out... but I haven't seen any examples. I'd love to be proved wrong, but I don't think it's happening any time soon.

Mount/Dismount animations are also tricky, though if you've got a good animator willing to make them then it should be possible. My hoverchair mod (see my signature) uses some existing furniture animations which sort of do the trick. Though my mod also suffers somewhat from the 'overpowered badass' syndrome :shrug:. I did try to compensate by making its handling a bit tricky. It takes a certain amount of practice to be able to use it in a combat situation and it chews through ammo, but it does make running away very easy.

#4
Naethanyl
Posted 10 November 2010 - 08:57 PM

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On the specific issue of lean animations, this would be really hard to fix. The scripting available to modders doesn't allow the player or NPCs to be rotated around any axis except the vertical, and while it is possible to add new animations it's not especially user friendly. In particular, I'm not aware of any way of moving smoothly from one so-called 'idle' animation to another (in this case, from one angle of lean to another).

It might be possible for a really brilliant model animator who knows Fallout's game engine inside out... but I haven't seen any examples. I'd love to be proved wrong, but I don't think it's happening any time soon.

Mount/Dismount animations are also tricky, though if you've got a good animator willing to make them then it should be possible. My hoverchair mod (see my signature) uses some existing furniture animations which sort of do the trick. Though my mod also suffers somewhat from the 'overpowered badass' syndrome :shrug:. I did try to compensate by making its handling a bit tricky. It takes a certain amount of practice to be able to use it in a combat situation and it chews through ammo, but it does make running away very easy.


Okay, how exactly did you create your mod? I'm not exactly clear on how J3x made his, but how did you even manage to get something like the weapons, storage and configurations without clipping or error in there with the design and scripting process? What programs did you use in it's creation? Your mod seems like an entirely more reasonable mod to go off of, and instead of holding my hand, could you give me a reference or tutorial that I could use, or at least a base?

As for the animation process, I think I can solve that relatively easily. If I can find a movable, useable Motorcycle skeleton for Blender 3D, chances are that I can either animate the skeleton and/or motorbike and replay the animations in nifskope. Here's an example of using custom animations and changing idles

http://www.fallout3n...file.php?id=634 (Umpa animations mod- It's a blast watching the wasteland dance!)


Another example is the Fallout 3 Re Animated Mod:

http://www.fallout3n...ile.php?id=7670

I'm sure it can be done with the proper programs and scripts, as well as skeletons.

Edited by Naethanyl, 10 November 2010 - 10:12 PM.

#5
andyw
Posted 11 November 2010 - 03:30 PM

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Okay, how exactly did you create your mod? I'm not exactly clear on how J3x made his, but how did you even manage to get something like the weapons, storage and configurations without clipping or error in there with the design and scripting process? What programs did you use in it's creation? Your mod seems like an entirely more reasonable mod to go off of, and instead of holding my hand, could you give me a reference or tutorial that I could use, or at least a base?

As for the animation process, I think I can solve that relatively easily. If I can find a movable, useable Motorcycle skeleton for Blender 3D, chances are that I can either animate the skeleton and/or motorbike and replay the animations in nifskope. Here's an example of using custom animations and changing idles

http://www.fallout3n...file.php?id=634 (Umpa animations mod- It's a blast watching the wasteland dance!)


Another example is the Fallout 3 Re Animated Mod:

http://www.fallout3n...ile.php?id=7670

I'm sure it can be done with the proper programs and scripts, as well as skeletons.

Whew. Well, there was no one tutorial I used, instead there was a great deal of piecemeal googling for specific tutorials, hints and discussions whenever I found a point in the process where I didn't know what I was doing. A lot of searching these forums for discussions of modding techniques. Also looking on the wikis for the GECK and The Elder Scrolls Construction Set (TESCS). It would be beyond me to pull it all together, sorry.

The modelling package I used was Blender, along with NifScripts for exporting to (approximately) Fallout 3 format .nifs, plus a fair amount of hand editing of .nifs in NifSkope. Falcon8204 helped me immensely by doing most of the modelling - as a general rule the good bits are his and the bad bits are mine :). I used GIMP for a little texturing, but quickly switched to using stock Bethesda textures.

One of the big problems with any vehicle mod is tracking the terrain. I believe that the J3X motorcycle basically used the player to follow terrain, in that it used an animation to force the player model into a pose, but left the player character still able to run around - with modifications to run speed, and a lot of scripting to achieve motorbike specific effects. The ridable creatures mod did exactly what you'd expect, holding the player in position above a creature with minimal AI, then using the PlayGroup commands to play its movement animations and so force it to move, turn etc. The same trick would work for a wheeled creature such as a robot... or a motorbike.

I use a system where I have an object with no rendering information in the .nif (so invisible) but with a collision mesh. This rotates when it touches the ground, and I can detect that and move the chair upwards - or move the chair down if the ground detector doesn't read anything. Doing this means that I have complete control over the rate of upward movement or downward fall, but it means a ton of scripting, and it isn't completely reliable. I need to use two ground detectors in case one clips straight through the ground and becomes useless.

The fact that the chair is hovering means I have a lot of leeway in following the terrain, something that really wouldn't work for a wheeled vehicle.

As far as getting the weapons to fit in with the chair, I simply keep them at the same position as the chair; their meshes are offset in Blender so they sit in the right position. Rotating them about their local axis moves them up and down. The chair model (when in motion) has a minimal collision mesh tucked inside it, as do the weapons, so they don't interfere with each other. The collision mesh is needed to avoid a game engine problem which would make them vanish unpredictably. I swap out the chair model and replace it with one that has a proper collision mesh when the player dismounts, and I swap them back when the player mounts.

... Or the other way round :).

The weapons are fired using the FireWeapon command, which opens a whole new can of worms as that command is seriously buggy; Bethesda only meant it to be used in a very few specifically scripted instances.

I hope that helps a bit, and maybe gives you some ideas for alternative approaches :D!

#6
Naethanyl
Posted 12 November 2010 - 12:20 AM

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Whew. Well, there was no one tutorial I used, instead there was a great deal of piecemeal googling for specific tutorials, hints and discussions whenever I found a point in the process where I didn't know what I was doing. A lot of searching these forums for discussions of modding techniques. Also looking on the wikis for the GECK and The Elder Scrolls Construction Set (TESCS). It would be beyond me to pull it all together, sorry.

The modelling package I used was Blender, along with NifScripts for exporting to (approximately) Fallout 3 format .nifs, plus a fair amount of hand editing of .nifs in NifSkope. Falcon8204 helped me immensely by doing most of the modelling - as a general rule the good bits are his and the bad bits are mine :). I used GIMP for a little texturing, but quickly switched to using stock Bethesda textures.

One of the big problems with any vehicle mod is tracking the terrain. I believe that the J3X motorcycle basically used the player to follow terrain, in that it used an animation to force the player model into a pose, but left the player character still able to run around - with modifications to run speed, and a lot of scripting to achieve motorbike specific effects. The ridable creatures mod did exactly what you'd expect, holding the player in position above a creature with minimal AI, then using the PlayGroup commands to play its movement animations and so force it to move, turn etc. The same trick would work for a wheeled creature such as a robot... or a motorbike.

I use a system where I have an object with no rendering information in the .nif (so invisible) but with a collision mesh. This rotates when it touches the ground, and I can detect that and move the chair upwards - or move the chair down if the ground detector doesn't read anything. Doing this means that I have complete control over the rate of upward movement or downward fall, but it means a ton of scripting, and it isn't completely reliable. I need to use two ground detectors in case one clips straight through the ground and becomes useless.

The fact that the chair is hovering means I have a lot of leeway in following the terrain, something that really wouldn't work for a wheeled vehicle.

As far as getting the weapons to fit in with the chair, I simply keep them at the same position as the chair; their meshes are offset in Blender so they sit in the right position. Rotating them about their local axis moves them up and down. The chair model (when in motion) has a minimal collision mesh tucked inside it, as do the weapons, so they don't interfere with each other. The collision mesh is needed to avoid a game engine problem which would make them vanish unpredictably. I swap out the chair model and replace it with one that has a proper collision mesh when the player dismounts, and I swap them back when the player mounts.

... Or the other way round :).

The weapons are fired using the FireWeapon command, which opens a whole new can of worms as that command is seriously buggy; Bethesda only meant it to be used in a very few specifically scripted instances.

I hope that helps a bit, and maybe gives you some ideas for alternative approaches :D!



Well I downloaded some .dae files from Google 3D Warehouse of motorcycles, and I should be able to import them into blender without too much trouble. I'll post you an image of what they look like when i have a chance.

Unfortunately, I had no idea so as to make the parents and childs for the skeleton, and was at a loss until I found this website:

http://3d-synthesis....alsenglish.html

Watch all the videos that are offered there.

Cool, huh? We might even be able to make the highwayman from fallout 2 into a reality, no? Anyway, Philippe Roubal details the process on how to make a car, but nothing on a motorcycle, save in this one PDF on the last page:

http://3d-synthesis....on_Tutorial.pdf

I'm going to read up on the GUI and shape manipulation for Blender. That way I can implement what needs to be done with a motorcycle and it's dynamics, or at least in terms of it's mechanical function with the front, and possibly rear fork. it depends.

But if you can help me with implementing collision meshes, scripts and movement, I'm sure we can get hise done in no time!

#7
andyw
Posted 12 November 2010 - 12:18 PM

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Well I downloaded some .dae files from Google 3D Warehouse of motorcycles, and I should be able to import them into blender without too much trouble. I'll post you an image of what they look like when i have a chance.

Unfortunately, I had no idea so as to make the parents and childs for the skeleton, and was at a loss until I found this website:

http://3d-synthesis....alsenglish.html

Watch all the videos that are offered there.

Cool, huh? We might even be able to make the highwayman from fallout 2 into a reality, no? Anyway, Philippe Roubal details the process on how to make a car, but nothing on a motorcycle, save in this one PDF on the last page:

http://3d-synthesis....on_Tutorial.pdf

I'm going to read up on the GUI and shape manipulation for Blender. That way I can implement what needs to be done with a motorcycle and it's dynamics, or at least in terms of it's mechanical function with the front, and possibly rear fork. it depends.

But if you can help me with implementing collision meshes, scripts and movement, I'm sure we can get hise done in no time!

Well, I'll try and offer advice where I can. Bear in mind that getting animation on a model in Blender doesn't necessarily mean you'll be able to use it in Fallout - we're limited by the features in the game/graphics engine and by the NifTools blender exporter. I have very little knowledge of animating things in Fallout, but I'd personally suggest you start with something very simple (a motorbike sized cuboid, perhaps) and check that you can actually animate it as you want. I think that for some things 3DS Max might be better than Blender.

Someone else might be able to give better advice than me on animating things, though :).

#8
Naethanyl
Posted 15 November 2010 - 08:13 PM

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Here are the links to the models I wanted to try to use. I was trying to look for more "Retro" or "Mad Maxy" Looks that fit the fallout Cannon with both the motorcycles and offroad vehicles. They're .dae files, which allows me to open them in 3D Blender with no conversion from Google Sketchup. Anyway, here they are. The links are below the the title.

Triumph Speed Triple
Spoiler

Hmmm. This is an interesting model to place to a paticular faction. For me, it says: "Brotherhood of Steel" due to it's more technological Look.

Harley Davidson Fatboy
Spoiler

I think this one is clear: Merc, slaver and raider bike. It's a harley, right? It SCREAMS "I'm part of a gang, don't &%^$ with me."

Honda Hornet
Spoiler

Aesthetically nice dual performance bike. It looks more like it's more technologically advanced, and probably belongs to a more wealthy wastelander.

Jawa/ Wanderer 350W
Spoiler

This is an interesting model. It's aethestics look like a utilitarian/performance motorbike. I'm thinking this is the first bike the character gets, due to the fact it's a "Wanderer" model, ironically.

Now Here's the offroad Vehicles:

1968 Ford Mustang (Modified and Stock)
Modified:
Spoiler

Unmodified:
Spoiler

Comon, this is America! Ford defined american automotive excellence, heck it DEFINED Automotive science. What not better to speed around the wasteland with in your iconic hot rod?
However, due to lore and copyrights, it might be referred to as a "Corvega Stallion", and have a more heavily modified suspension to handle to the rough degraded highways.

1978 Ford Blazer Crawlers (K5; Desert Rock and Stock)
K5 Desert Rock Crawler Blazer
Spoiler

K5 Stock Crawler Blazer
Spoiler

Here are the heavily modifed "Corvega Blazer Crawlers". These are good all terrain transports for paticularly harsh terrain in the east and offroading.

Ford Camioneta and F150
The "Mad Max" F150 Model
Spoiler

Camioneta
Spoiler

This truck fills the gap between "Harsh Offroad" and "Roadish" travel. It's for people who like to do both. You'll recognize the F150 from Mad Max, as it was used by raiders in the movie.

The Sand Rail Speeder:
Stock Model (Without Weapons)
Spoiler

This is a true Wastelander's Vehicle. Built from piecemeal hardware, it's barely holding itself together; but it's moddable, cheap, and capable of filling any niche you need it to.

#9
Naethanyl
Posted 16 November 2010 - 01:11 PM

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Well, I'll try and offer advice where I can. Bear in mind that getting animation on a model in Blender doesn't necessarily mean you'll be able to use it in Fallout - we're limited by the features in the game/graphics engine and by the NifTools blender exporter. I have very little knowledge of animating things in Fallout, but I'd personally suggest you start with something very simple (a motorbike sized cuboid, perhaps) and check that you can actually animate it as you want. I think that for some things 3DS Max might be better than Blender.

Someone else might be able to give better advice than me on animating things, though :).


I got an Email from the site director of 3D Synthesis, Phillipe Rouballe stating I can use his models. Surprisingly, it's easier to set up a motorbike then a car!

That's also a very good point, andyw. I'll set up a primitive motorbike cuboid before I import any models in.

#10
andyw
Posted 16 November 2010 - 01:19 PM

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Some nice models, and well done on getting permission to use them :goodjob:.

Good luck with the import/animate experiments :).

#11
Naethanyl
Posted 16 November 2010 - 06:38 PM

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Well, I have the model imported [It's the blazer] And the scripts pretty much converted, now it's just a matter of getting on the darn thing and observing how it works. How do I script in key controls for this thing?

#12
andyw
Posted 17 November 2010 - 12:55 PM

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Well, I have the model imported [It's the blazer] And the scripts pretty much converted, now it's just a matter of getting on the darn thing and observing how it works. How do I script in key controls for this thing?

Might be an idea to put questions like this in the GECK forum, as there are more mod makers hanging out there. Perhaps download and study a couple of other mods to see how they do things, too.

There are a couple of ways of controlling things using keys. The most straightforward way for the modder is to use the Fallout Script Extender (google FOSE), but that makes your mod dependent on third-party software that extends the Fallout scripting language (well, duh :D). I'm a bit hazy on the other systems, but I think they rely on using hotkeys to use consumable items from your inventory, with those items having scripts on them that activate OnUse and do an action (plus put a replacement of the item in your inventory).

#13
Naethanyl
Posted 18 November 2010 - 01:04 PM

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Might be an idea to put questions like this in the GECK forum, as there are more mod makers hanging out there. Perhaps download and study a couple of other mods to see how they do things, too.

There are a couple of ways of controlling things using keys. The most straightforward way for the modder is to use the Fallout Script Extender (google FOSE), but that makes your mod dependent on third-party software that extends the Fallout scripting language (well, duh :D). I'm a bit hazy on the other systems, but I think they rely on using hotkeys to use consumable items from your inventory, with those items having scripts on them that activate OnUse and do an action (plus put a replacement of the item in your inventory).


That's a good idea! I'll try posting there if I have a chance!

Thanks, it might just be a good idea to run debug while using your mod and J3X's just to see what scripts are running and how they can be adapted.

Well, anyway, I just thought I might post a little bit more on the mod's integration into the game world.

#14
Naethanyl
Posted 02 December 2010 - 04:47 PM

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I'm interested in putting enemies on motorbikesl; like mounted Talon company mercs, raiders or regulators.

Heck, I'm pretty sure that if I could figure out how operation anchorage added those Chimera tanks, we could probably get that raider truck up and running for use in the mod possibly.

#15
andyw
Posted 02 December 2010 - 05:24 PM

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I'm interested in putting enemies on motorbikesl; like mounted Talon company mercs, raiders or regulators.

Heck, I'm pretty sure that if I could figure out how operation anchorage added those Chimera tanks, we could probably get that raider truck up and running for use in the mod possibly.

I'm pretty sure the Chimera tanks are creatures, like all the robots in the game but bigger. And angrier :).

If you can get all the model set up for a skeleton, and get all the right animations in place, then you can force any creature to move around by using a script command to play the animations. There might be some tricky scripting to get round the fact that the animations only have walk and run speeds.

#16
Psymon
Posted 02 December 2010 - 06:13 PM

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For the vehicles that are creatures - this unfortunately beaten on alpha may provide a way for the player to control separate from his own controls.

It really has nothing to do with true multiplayer but does allow alternate control of other actors (and likely creatures) on the screen.

#17
old Andy
Posted 03 December 2010 - 08:23 AM

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Once you get the motorcycles up and running -I have all kinds of faith in this :)



You wanna work on boats and jetski's? :unsure:
Spoiler

Edited by old_andy, 03 December 2010 - 08:23 AM.

#18
Naethanyl
Posted 12 December 2010 - 11:12 PM

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On the specific issue of lean animations, this would be really hard to fix. The scripting available to modders doesn't allow the player or NPCs to be rotated around any axis except the vertical, and while it is possible to add new animations it's not especially user friendly. In particular, I'm not aware of any way of moving smoothly from one so-called 'idle' animation to another (in this case, from one angle of lean to another).

It might be possible for a really brilliant model animator who knows Fallout's game engine inside out... but I haven't seen any examples. I'd love to be proved wrong, but I don't think it's happening any time soon.

Mount/Dismount animations are also tricky, though if you've got a good animator willing to make them then it should be possible. My hoverchair mod (see my signature) uses some existing furniture animations which sort of do the trick. Though my mod also suffers somewhat from the 'overpowered badass' syndrome :shrug:. I did try to compensate by making its handling a bit tricky. It takes a certain amount of practice to be able to use it in a combat situation and it chews through ammo, but it does make running away very easy.


"Overpowered Badass Syndrome"?

It adds an awesome element of gameplay, my friend, but still, it works, lol!

By the way, I noticed that I get knocked out of the chair every so often by a powerful force, like a death claw. How did you do that?

Edited by Naethanyl, 12 December 2010 - 11:14 PM.

#19
andyw
Posted 13 December 2010 - 11:45 AM

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By the way, I noticed that I get knocked out of the chair every so often by a powerful force, like a death claw. How did you do that?

As far as the game is concerned the player is sitting on a piece of furniture, and player knock-down works by throwing the player off any furniture they're on. It's just the way the game works. I do have to detect the player's no longer on the furniture, and stop holding them in position - otherwise they'd end up standing jammed in the middle of the chair with their legs dragging along the ground :D!

#20
Naethanyl
Posted 14 December 2010 - 12:36 PM

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Well, the good news is that I have it somewhat working. I just wanted to know how to make any explodeable car into a container if that's possible.

#21
andyw
Posted 19 December 2010 - 11:54 AM

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Well, the good news is that I have it somewhat working. I just wanted to know how to make any explodeable car into a container if that's possible.

Somewhat working? Well, even if it isn't really playable yet that's still quite an achievement :goodjob:! Can we see a video, or is it still too early days?

I can't really advise on altering the cars. I mean, I think you could just select each base type of the car and turn it into a container in the GECK, but I'm not sure if it would still be explodable. You would certainly create an absolute ton of conflicts with several other mods! However, Scavangable Vehicles mod does exactly this.

Would I be right in thinking that you want to be able to collect fission batteries from these cars? If so, people could just use the Scavangable Vehicles mod. Also, Echonite's Battery Charger can produce new fission batteries from various weapon energy cells, and Highsight's Solar Charger can produce new weapon energy cells from sunlight.

#22
Naethanyl
Posted 03 February 2011 - 08:26 PM

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Somewhat working? Well, even if it isn't really playable yet that's still quite an achievement :goodjob:! Can we see a video, or is it still too early days?

I can't really advise on altering the cars. I mean, I think you could just select each base type of the car and turn it into a container in the GECK, but I'm not sure if it would still be explodable. You would certainly create an absolute ton of conflicts with several other mods! However, Scavangable Vehicles mod does exactly this.

Would I be right in thinking that you want to be able to collect fission batteries from these cars? If so, people could just use the Scavangable Vehicles mod. Also, Echonite's Battery Charger can produce new fission batteries from various weapon energy cells, and Highsight's Solar Charger can produce new weapon energy cells from sunlight.


Well, I'm sorry if I haven't posted here in a while. I assure you that this mod is NOT a still birth or has been aborted. I'm still working on it, but I didn't have access to a working computer in a while, I haven't been able to post. College hasn't exactly been easy on me, and between family dysfunction and an impending surgery, I've litterally been to hell and back. This is not thread necro in the least, but I expect that you guys will see something by the end of the semester.

I've decided that I'm going to use Fallout New Vegas as a platform for testing this, and once I accumulate enough funds to purchase the game, I will begin testing what I've created so far. I don't have anything video worthy just yet. In the mean time, I will be reading up on how to use 3D Blender's GUI and checking in on this thread to keep it going. Oh, by the way, thanks for Pointing me in the right direction concerning the Scavengeable Cars mod. That really helps! Anyway, I will be trying to get something up and running in the mean time.

#23
Naethanyl
Posted 03 February 2011 - 09:00 PM

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[/quote]
Well, the object needs to be placed in the gameworld using the PlaceAtMe script command. That isn't ideal, as it'll never be cleaned up by the game if it's disabled. Even using the MarkForDelete command may not do that. However, so long as you don't repeatedly recreate the object hundreds or millions of times (like every frame) it won't be a real problem. If the object is Havok physics enabled, and ideally an activator, then you might be able to skip the PlaceAtMe step, and just use an object placed in the gameworld using GECK, but you'd probably have to hit the object (or shoot it) to turn on it's physics calculations. I believe the Jetpack mod uses one scripted object to shoot the jetpack and 'wake it up' .

Once the object is properly placed/woken you can move it around using the SetPos and SetAngle commands. You can get its initial co-ordinates with GetPos, although if it has a CollisionObject in its .nif file then that must be attached to the root node - that way, if the object falls GetPos will return the new position correctly.

I use FOSE (Fallout script extender) to check for keypresses using its GetKeyPress command, and that lets me update the script variables holding the hoverchair's position and rotation.

Note that SetPos will move the object around, but the object will clip through absolutely everything, so you need a way to detect obstacles. The Hoverboard mod for New Vegas shoots invisible lasers at invisible teddy bears (seriously!). The teddy bears have a script with an OnHit block - if the block doesn't run, there was something in the way. The hoverchair uses a plank of wood held in front of the chair using SetPos. Crucially, it only uses SetAngle Z to rotate the board, and repeatedly uses GetAngle X and GetAngle Y to see if the board rotated as it touches something.

The object will also clip straight through the ground, so you need to detect the ground level. Creatures (NPCs, robots, animals) never drop far below true ground level, even if they're moved using SetPos, so if you strip an animal of all AI then you can keep it below the object using SetPos X and SetPos Y and read back it's height using GetPos Z.

Hope this helps !

[quote]

This is from this thread here:

http://forums.bethso...6#entry16796616

And this helps alot. Now I just need to find some more damn information on the GECK and scripting.

Edited by Naethanyl, 03 February 2011 - 10:03 PM.

#24
andyw
Posted 08 February 2011 - 06:25 PM

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There's a surprising amount of information in the GECK wiki, accessed through the 'Help -> Contents' button in the GECK. A fair few tutorials too. I'm afraid, though, that the only way you're going to learn more than the absolute basics is to repeatedly try something, mess it up, figure it out, ask for help on the GECK forum, try again, eventually succeed and move on to the next bit. Oh, and be prepared every now and again to rip it all up and start over with a new scripting structure.

It sounds daunting, but it's definitely do-able.

#25
Shield Watcher
Posted 08 February 2011 - 08:38 PM

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There's a surprising amount of information in the GECK wiki, accessed through the 'Help -> Contents' button in the GECK. A fair few tutorials too. I'm afraid, though, that the only way you're going to learn more than the absolute basics is to repeatedly try something, mess it up, figure it out, ask for help on the GECK forum, try again, eventually succeed and move on to the next bit. Oh, and be prepared every now and again to rip it all up and start over with a new scripting structure.

It sounds daunting, but it's definitely do-able.



Interesting idea.
However, I think the basic FT wanderer bike does a great job in itself without upsetting the game balance.

A rideable bike might work if dealt with realistically. For instance, it shouldn`t really get very far very fast due to maintenance levels and improper spare parts. More so, riding along cross country would probably shake up the bike and wear it down even faster and that`s on the not so rough terrain; FO3 is full of undulating rocky ground with only a few clear roads. In fact, attempting to speed away over this ground while being chased by a Deathclaw would probably rsult in the biker crashing or bumping his bike and falling off and even if he didn`t, he`d be bobbing about so much, the deathclaw might well catch him up. If the bike was made like this, needing real care it could work.

If the rideable bike is a speed master rolling everywhere with ease then it won`t be such a great idea.

Also, let`s not forget that some AI should be given the odd rideable bike as well, since it would seem strange that the Player is the only one with one and would not make life so easy for him (Player on bike being chased by raider biker)..

But this is all supposition.

#26
Naethanyl
Posted 03 March 2011 - 01:45 AM

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Actually,

I'm thinking that I might add vehicles as a form of creature. That way they can be targeted in VATS and be interacted with by other NPC's, like horses.

Hell, why not add horses too? I mean it wouldn't be much of a western without em.

I was reading about the two mods here:

http://www.fallout3n...ile.php?id=3330

http://geck.bethsoft....php/GetSitting <- Can anyone help me confirm whether this script works or not for mounting creatures in fallout? (I just checked it: it should work... I think.)

Plus, there are several articles about creature mounts at the TESIV Construction Set Wiki.

http://cs.elderscrol....php/GetSitting

http://cs.elderscrol...dable_Creatures

Edited by Naethanyl, 22 March 2011 - 02:57 PM.

#27
Naethanyl
Posted 22 March 2011 - 03:00 PM

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Interesting idea.
However, I think the basic FT wanderer bike does a great job in itself without upsetting the game balance.

A rideable bike might work if dealt with realistically. For instance, it shouldn`t really get very far very fast due to maintenance levels and improper spare parts. More so, riding along cross country would probably shake up the bike and wear it down even faster and that`s on the not so rough terrain; FO3 is full of undulating rocky ground with only a few clear roads. In fact, attempting to speed away over this ground while being chased by a Deathclaw would probably rsult in the biker crashing or bumping his bike and falling off and even if he didn`t, he`d be bobbing about so much, the deathclaw might well catch him up. If the bike was made like this, needing real care it could work.

If the rideable bike is a speed master rolling everywhere with ease then it won`t be such a great idea.

Also, let`s not forget that some AI should be given the odd rideable bike as well, since it would seem strange that the Player is the only one with one and would not make life so easy for him (Player on bike being chased by raider biker)..

But this is all supposition.


These are incredibly valid concerns- and trust me- I will post a document that will explain these things in a few weeks that addresses your concerns.
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