Trigger Actor vs Trigger Volume

[marcusmattingly]

I am a confused about trigger actors and trigger volumes. What's the difference? When is one more appropriate to use than the other? Can one do something the other can't?

Thanks,
Marcus

[Piranhi]

A trigger actor is used when for example, you want the player to face a switch and 'use' it. A trigger volume can be any size and is used for non-interactive tiggers, such as walking through a volume to set a checkpoint or to initiate an enemy spawn.

[Hourences]

Not much difference really. A trigger can only have a cylinder as radius, a volume gives a bit more flexibility shape wise. I like triggers more, easier to see and place.

You use normal triggers for "non interactive" situations too.

[marcusmattingly]

Thanks to everyone for the replies.


A trigger actor is used when for example, you want the player to face a switch and 'use' it. A trigger volume can be any size and is used for non-interactive tiggers, such as walking through a volume to set a checkpoint or to initiate an enemy spawn.

This is exactly the thing I am wanting to do. I want to have a switch that opens a door when looked at and then used. Can someone guide me to any tutorials that deal with this kind of situation?

I have played with trigger volumes and I am fine with handling the Touch event on those, I just need to know how to trigger something upon "use" and make sure that the player is near to the switch and facing it.

Any guidance appreciated.

Thanks again.

Marcus

[Crozz]

Check out the example map that's included in UDK, they have a trigger there that you must use in order to place a bomb.

[marcusmattingly]

@Crozz,

Awesome! Geez, I don't know why it never occurred to me to look at the map included with the UDK.

Thanks again.

[frogspasm]

One more interesting note: Triggers seem not to be triggered by collision with KAssets, while Trigger volumes do.

If this notion is wrong, I would love to know!

[mtcoder]

I tend to use trigger actors when the player can interact with them via touch or location, IE the player model can access them. Anytime I need a trigger to fire off from other situations, such as firing a weapon at a hanging target, etc I use trigger volumes, they work a bit better at handling various non-player objects like weapon projectiles. Just my opinion, I find trigger volumes don't like to "untouch" at times as well.

So its really depends on what you want to accomplish.