Entering and exiting buildings in an open world environment

[KindredGamer]

Hello Everyone,

I've had a search around the forums and i cant quite find an answer to this one. I'm working on an open world, post-apoc (fallout) style map, with abandoned buildings littering the map. With that said, what is the best way to transition from the outside map to an interior cell? For instance - Is it better to add a (used) trigger near each door in the map, which triggers a level change (the level being the interior). OR keep both interiors and exteriors together on the map. Going back to fallout, each door trigger would teleport you to an interior cell, would that be possible in udk?

Any advice would be appreciated. Many thanks in advance!

[jak_carver]

What you want to do is go with hard loads; setup a trigger at your "doors" that hard loads the next area. This is how most open world games do it. You seem to have the right idea already, just go with it.

Don't forget to take advantage of level streaming by using streaming volumes to load levels in and out during gameplay.

[KindredGamer]

What you want to do is go with hard loads; setup a trigger at your "doors" that hard loads the next area. This is how most open world games do it. You seem to have the right idea already, just go with it.

Don't forget to take advantage of level streaming by using streaming volumes to load levels in and out during gameplay.

Hey thanks jak,

Yep i've been taking advantage of level streaming to load chunks of map, reducing game load. Its just the transition in and out of cells that im having trouble with. When you say "hard load", do you mean a kismet activated map change or level stream? I get where you're coming from, i just don't really know how to apply it in practice with the UDK.

Thanks again!

[jak_carver]

A hard load is when the player sees a loading screen and then a new area is loaded, not level streaming. Think of how in Skyrim you are outdoors, then go into a shop or house, the game hard loads into the new area with a loading screen, etc. This is probably what you would want to do for your type of game.

[KindredGamer]

A hard load is when the player sees a loading screen and then a new area is loaded, not level streaming. Think of how in Skyrim you are outdoors, then go into a shop or house, the game hard loads into the new area with a loading screen, etc. This is probably what you would want to do for your type of game.

Yep, that's exactly what i want to do. The problem however, is choosing the best way to create such a process. For instance - i could set up a triggered event with a simple console command leading to a new map. This however messes things up on re-entry into the gameworld, it will simply cast me back to the start of the level. Any idea's on how to implement the process in a more effective manner.

Thanks jak!

[RichInman]

Yep, that's exactly what i want to do. The problem however, is choosing the best way to create such a process. For instance - i could set up a triggered event with a simple console command leading to a new map. This however messes things up on re-entry into the gameworld, it will simply cast me back to the start of the level. Any idea's on how to implement the process in a more effective manner.

Thanks jak!

This is exactly what I'm looking to do as well. I'm trying to do this with dungeons as well as buildings (just like Skyrim as mentioned). I'm also having an issue where when the maps load they are placing the player at the PlayerStart location and not in front of the door of the dungeon. I've tried using teleporters, but I get the same issue even when I try it this way: 'MapName'#UTTeleporter01.

I know that there is a way to do this, but for some reason it's extremely hard to find someone out there with the knowledge who has shared it.

[RichInman]

Alright, I figured out what I was doing wrong and this issue is actually VERY easily fixed. What you need is a TO teleporter and a FROM teleporter in front of the door/dungeon entrance that you want to make your entrance/exit. Here's how you designate a TO or FROM teleporter:

TO: 1) Enabled is unchecked. 2) URL field is blank
FROM: 1)Enabled is checked 2) URL field has "MapName/TOTeleporterTag

Don't forget that all of the teleporters should have different tags.

To teleport to the dungeon you go from the FROM teleporter in the map, to the TO teleporter in the dungeon. When exiting the dungeon you go from the FROM teleporter in the dungeon, to the TO teleporter in the map. You can have multiple TO teleporters to differentiate between dungeon entrances as long as they have unique tags and are correctly referenced in the FROM teleporter in the dungeon.

I've tested this in my own map and it works exactly how I wanted. It's all about the settings in the teleporter.

[KindredGamer]

RichInman

Im a bit late in replying but extremely helpful information all the same. I hope this serves many RPG developers in the future.

Many thanks!