Plug n Play Helicopter

[LordSnod]

Tried out this helicopter and it definitely works pretty well! I've been working on an RAH-66 Comanche model (currently have the a mid-range poly setup that I will eventually make lower poly to fit within engine budgets, with normal maps baked from a super high poly model), you can see an old work-in-progress version here: http://trystan.us/Art_Gallery_Pages/...e_Gallery.html

The only thing I would do differently is how the helicopter is controlled/flies(and after re-reading my entire post below I now realize that this probably changes everything haha). Essentially it seems unrealistic in the way the controls affect the helicopters movement; currently its setup where WASD controls forward, backward and left/right strafing movement, while 'Space' elevates the helicopter upwards and 'C' makes the heli go downwards.

This setup seems based more on a limited form of movement that doesn't follow the natural design of helicopter physics. For Example, this currently has Space and C controlling the vertical position of the helicopter in the world, while the actual tilt of the helicopter and its vertical thrust have no effect on its vertical position(if the blades are tilted forward it just goes forward without losing any vertical lift, remaining at the same height until the player pushes space or C). It feels more like a hovering space ship hanging in the sky without gravity etc. Another example with this setup is that there isn't really much momentum, once you release the forward/left/right/backward input the helicopter immediately starts slowing down as if its flying in water as opposed to air, and if you fly really fast in one direction and then instantly switch to the opposite direction, the heli starts to move in that oppposite direction before the actual tilt of the heli's main rotor is properly angled in that direction(thus feels like the main rotor isn't actually affecting directional thrust).

The way I'm used to flying helicopters in games is more like the setup in the Battlefield Series (Battlefield 2, Vietnam, DC mod for BF1942, BF Bad Company 2 etc). **This is just my personal preference for how a helicopter flies in a game and the keys used to control it **
The setup in Battlefield is closely based on the real world application of helicopter physics where the main rotor blades are used for vertical thrust(via collective throttle input) as well as directional movement(pitch and roll), and the smaller tail rotor is used to control left and right rotation(yaw) and of course counter rotation to the main rotor for stability(thus when the rear rotor gets damage/destroyed the helicopter begins spinning out of control).

The controls for the Battlefield style of flying have it setup where WASD control Throttle and YAW rotation, and the Arrow Keys(or alternately the mouse) control Pitch and Roll. So essentially there is no specific key used to define the heli's "vertical position/height", because the vertical position/height is derived from the combination of all the key inputs in relation to the heli's orientation and the world's gravity.

Battlefield Key Setup:
*W and D keys* - The throttle always defaults to the amount required for the helicopter to hover when there is no player input, while the key 'W' is used to increase the throttle to the maximum amount and the 'S' key is used to reduce the throttle to below the default amount. So for example if I get into a heli, it wouldn't take off/move at all until I press the W key to increase the throttle, and it should essentially fly upwards until I release the W key or if I start to press the S key(which would reduce throttle and the heli would begin to descend until I released the S key.

*A and D keys* - These would control the YAW for the heli (the left and right rotation). So when the player is hovering and presses 'A' the helicopter will rotate left until he releases the key or presses 'D' which would then cause the helicopter to rotate right until 'D' is released.

*Arrow keys* - The 'forward' and 'backward' arrow keys control the pitch of the helicopter, while the 'left' and 'right' arrow keys control the roll of the helicopter. For example, a player enters the helicopter and presses and holds the 'W' key for maximum throttle and thus the helicopter takes off vertically, and then the player presses and holds the forward arrow key and the helicopter will pitch its nose forward towards the ground, thus transitioning the thrust from the main rotor blades into forward momentum. The player then releases the forward arrow key when the heli is angled enough to be moving fast in the forward direction(and before he nose dives into the ground ), and the heli remains oriented at that angle until the player decides to change the pitch/roll/rotation or throttle etc. How fast the helicopter moves forward and its vertical position is a balance between the pitch of the heli and the amount of throttle being applied; if the player were to release the 'W' key so the throttle returns to the default amount and the heli is still pitched forward(nose toward the ground), the heli would begin to descend and plunge into the ground unless the player corrects the pitch by pressin the 'Down' arrow key which would then start pitching the heli backwards(nose pointing to the sky).
For the 'Left' and 'Right' arrow keys, the same principles apply, only they control the left and right roll of the heli's orientation. So if the player is hovering and presses the 'Left' arrow key, the helicopter will roll to the left(aka the heli would be angled toward its left side, so if the pilot looks out the heli to his left he would be facing more towards the ground instead of the horizon). Same idea goes for pressing the 'Right' arrow key. Essentially "Pitch" and "Roll" control the direction in which the helicopter will fly, and the balance between throttle amount and pitch/roll determines how fast the heli will fly(and the balance between the pitch/roll and throttle also determines the vertical lift of the heli, aka if its going higher or lower)


Didn't intend to write so much haha, but that's the best way I can describe everything without leaving out any details

I realize that it would probably require a huge overhaul of the whole flying setup that your heli currently uses, since it's not just a change in the input keys but also the way the heli's physics interact with eachother and the environment. If you have any questions on anything I wrote please let me know! I would seriously LOVE to see the Battlefield style setup implemented , but I fear that it might require the whole movement system of this current setup to be rewritten almost from scratch hehe, would really like to have my comanche flying like a beast!

[tegleg]

quite a post there
its basically the cicada with blades that break off so it flies like that.
i know what you mean though, your welcome to try.

shouldnt be that hard to do, try messing with this function.
simulated function SetInputs(float InForward, float InStrafe, float InUp)

[coolguythatrocks]

i dont have 3ds max so i copied the upk to my udk\udkgame\content\vehicles directory but nothing will show up in the content browser even if i click fully load. PLEASE HELP

[tegleg]

ok, dont know why it doesnt show up.
heres the .psk file, just import that to udk in the content browser
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4685265/SK_VH_Heli.PSK

[coolguythatrocks]

ok, dont know why it doesnt show up.
heres the .psk file, just import that to udk in the content browser
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4685265/SK_VH_Heli.PSK

thanks. do you have a texture for it that i can use?

[tegleg]

here you go
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4685265/helibodytex.tga

[coolguythatrocks]

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!

[coolguythatrocks]

can i have a list of all the sockets that need to be made?

[tegleg]

its the same sockets as cicada

[Freko]

Never worked on vehicles in udk bt I'll download & give a try

[3didy]

Hi
thnx for your model,i want both heli,cars,i search goedav for cars as you suggested but found nothing.
Can you give more info about using cars in udk

PS I've been using daz3d,3ds max for few years but very new to udk

[tegleg]

Hi
thnx for your model,i want both heli,cars,i search goedav for cars as you suggested but found nothing.
Can you give more info about using cars in udk

PS I've been using daz3d,3ds max for few years but very new to udk

here you are
http://forums.epicgames.com/showthre...ghlight=geodav

it was the second in the list when i typed geodav into the search

[supernubb]

i really like this design and was wondering if you have the texture and materials in a zip file, because i only saw the black and green rendering. i dont have photoshop or quicktime so i cant really add colors to the mapping so i can give the copter some color.

[tegleg]

not sure what difference a zip file would make?

heres a free online photoshop type thing
http://pixlr.com/

[nish]

hiya have down loaded the plug en play pack and have tried to impliment it but have run in to a few hick ups so to speak
(i am using the latest udk which may be the reason)

i have looked at the script and looks the same but file directory is different

ie for the upk its udk>game>content>ut3> vehicles

1. the vechile factory does not show up in the actors browser
2 . package needs to be fully loaded (not sure if thats an issue )

could you help please ?

thank you in advance

[tegleg]

havnt got round to trying the latest udk builds because the landscape is broken, soon as its fixed ill do an update.

perhaps geodav or someone could answer this?

[nish]

im guessing you did this in the November 2010 build so will try that one next ,

thank you tegleg

[vahid67]

i test these codes in udk 2011-08 but not work ... i spawn helli in kismet with actor factory ( ActorFactoryVehicle , UTActorFactoryAI & UTActorFactorVehicle ) but not move or attack until i enable deathmatch .

in ActorFactoryAI i set -> spawn -> tegvehicle_helli_content , controller class -> none

[tegleg]

what do you expect it to do?
its just a helicopter, you drag the heli_factory from the actor browser onto your map, then get in it and fly it.

theres an ai and gametype for it here

[tegleg]

make sure the vehicleclass (or something) in heli_factory is pointing to the right place.
also as a test, make heli_content placeable and drag that onto your map.

class heli_content extends heli
placeable;

[MAX1009]

This is great .. I appreciate your work

[steadystefano]

nice work, but I got a question, how do I enter the chopper? I tried using "E" keybinds and its not working plus there is no collision when I walk towards the chopper, my just penetrates the mesh, my game extends to gameinfo, is that a concern, ty

[tegleg]

its based on UTVehicle and i tested using UTGame, pawn and controller.
so yes extending gameinfo could be your problem.

[steadystefano]

oki, thanks tegleg

[stvster]

Just a blanket Thanx! for Heli and All your contributions tegleg !

[thetruth233415]

Hi, I am working on a project. Which absolutely requires for me to be able to remove the main chopper blades from ontop. Does anybody know the easiest way to do this?
I have tried expirementing in the physics and animSet editors in the UDK and also in 3ds Max. It appears that the mesh is all one object, but there must be a way to perhaps draw a box, and delete everything in that box (the blades) and leave the rest of the chopper as is, atleast that is my guess....

Incase you are curious I am an intern and I am creating a whiteroom and I need to use a chopper as my test vehicle. I am working on brining in a vehicle that the team has ownership of, but for my own ( temporary )purposes it would be great if somebody could instruct me how to remove them, thanks.

[tegleg]

the main blades on top are 'removed' on this heli by scaling the blade bone to 0.
i dont have the script here to tell you exactly where but a trace is made between 2 sockets, one in the centre and 1 on the end of a blade.
if something blocks the trace the bone is scaled to 0 and a dynamic static mesh of a broken blade is spawned.

edit:
if you mean you dont want the blades on from the start then yes select the blades in 3ds max and press delete.

[thetruth233415]

In max i exploded the group and deleted the propellors. Now back in the udk i have the heli skel mesh with no propelors and it is placeable as so. However when i play in editor, the blades are somehow there!!!???
Too me this seems quite bizare, as a beginner I feel like it makes no sense. I would assume they re-appear in real-time because of an animation or something.

[tegleg]

that is bizare indeed.
are you sure you overwrote the correct mesh?
what exactly are you trying to do?

[exittoexist]

Is there a button to decrease the height of the heli? If not how can i do it?

[tegleg]

space = up
c = down

just like the cicada

[Arcashomalo]

Hello Tegleg, I just download your helicopter and it work , but the 3d Max model included No , can I ask you , which version of 3Ds Max you Need to open it? Because I have the 2008, 2009 and 2010 but No one can open de Max file .

So thanks for reply , thanks a lot ! Bye.

[tegleg]

3ds max 2011

[Arcashomalo]

Ok thank you!

[Zelzahim]

What am i doing wrong? I got it in the UDK, i can view the mesh and all this, but i have no idea how to actually get it functioning? Not very advanced at all this, so help is appreciated

[tegleg]

once you have added and compiled the scripts, google if you dont know how,
in the editor, open the content browser (where you see the meshes and everything) look at the top of that floating window and click the Actors tab.
look for Vehicles, click the little + to expand it, select the helicopter, drag it onto your map, press play and go flying around

[TB0Y298]

hello there

heres another wonderful vehicle for yall to play with, a helicopter. November UDK and Newer.
theres still a bit to do before its how i want it but most of the basics are all there so i thaught id share it.
*there are various fixes in this thread*

it has animated rotor blades that snap off on a collision (well certain collisions, feedback please?).

the tail rotor doesnt break yet, if someone knows how to change what happens on player input? ie no right and left turn.
and how to add rotational force to a vehicle, for spinning out of controll.

This zip has all the scripts and package files as well as the 3ds .max file.
by downloading this file you agree to give feedback http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4685265/Tegleg_VH_Heli.zip

as usual put the files in your udk instalation in the folders indicated in the zip.

Check this out for an added bonus!, heres the same model beautifuly reconstructed by UnWheelModeller, many many thanks .
Its just the VH_Heli.pk file.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4685265/VH_HeliPk.zip



Making Your Own
Double click the heli Skelital Mesh in udk, View - Skeleton and Bone Names for a visual reference.
Heres the bone names and a diagram of the heirarchy. as well as the mesh to be skinned.
The model should be in 3 seperate meshs. Body, Main Rotor and Rear Rotor. mesh names are not important, bone names are.
Export it in the same way you would a car with a body and wheels (search goedav tutorials)

0 = dont skin this bone to anything.

Bones - Mesh

Main - body
| | |
| | AnimBone - 0
| | |
| | RotorBone - Main Rotor
| | | |
| | | RotorBone002 - 0
| | |
| | RotorBone001 - 0
| |
| GunBase - 0
| |
| GunRotate - Gun
|
RAnimBone - 0
|
RRotorBone - *Rear Rotor*

Note: *Rear Rotor* (the bone not the mesh) is rotated 90 degrees along the X axis.
ei if you dont rotate the bone, it will spin in the same direction as the main rotor.

place RotorBone001 and RotorBone002 at the ends of the main rotor blades, these are used in the script to detect a collision that will break the blades off.

AnimBone is the pivot point for the Main rotors.
RAnimBone is the pivot point for the Rear rotors.
GunBase is the pivot point for the Gun.

once its in UDK, open the Socket Manager and create a new socket called GunViewSocket
this is where the camera attaches to the heli.
look at Cicada for other sockets you might want to copy.

ask if you need further details

heres a little vid of the blades breaking, bits of blade come flying off but you cant really see it in the vid. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6INuRr7ZjU

enjoy

you could almost do a udk remake of this (by far the best heli game, add a bit of combat and its perfect)

Hello,
I cant find it in the "Actor Classes" section in UDK.
And ive also get warnings. Please Help me!
I need a chopper!