Pls Help: Rising waterfalls/ import new StaticMeshActor.u

[legacy-WinkyBoy]

I'm trying to create an Assault map where one task is to open a water valve and raise the level of some water. The UDN RisingWater Tutorial has this to say about moving water with a waterfall, regarding the problem that the BOTTOM of the emitter needs to move while the top does not:

A possible solution for the waterfall is to add a moving invisible Static Mesh at the bottom of the waterfall, and make the particles die when they hit this Static Mesh: set UseCollision to True in the Collision settings of the emitter, and set MaxCollisions to 1. Then you have to make sure the invisible Static Mesh is the first (and last) thing the particles will hit, so make sure none of the particles will hit the terrain or they'll die too soon. If the Static Mesh now moves together with the surface of the water, the end of the waterfall will move as well. In Build 927, particles don't collide on a normal Mover, so you have to use a new Static Mesh subclass and again set bStatic to False like the MovingWaterVolume.

I've already performed many searches here (as well as Google) and gone through lot of trial-and-error failures trying to do this without help, but I'm wasting so much time now - my specific problem I've run into is that I just don't know how to export and re-import an invisible StaticMesh the way they describe. I've been working with SMs already ... but my brain just isn't working for this.

If anyone can explain this better for me, I would greatly appreciate it. Anyone?

[legacy-Prefablab]

Re: Request for Help: Please explain rising waterfalls

- my specific problem I've run into is that I just don't know how to export and re-import an invisible StaticMesh the way they describe. I've been working with SMs already ... but my brain just isn't working for this.

If anyone can explain this better for me, I would greatly appreciate it. Anyone?

It's simple, apply a negative alpha texture to the staticmesh and you'll have your invisible staticmesh........

LDM-OpenRange for lawdogs uses invisible movers to trigger sounds....with collision set to false...

[legacy-WinkyBoy]

Thanks, Prefab!! I'm going to test it out right now. I need to keep collision on, of course, since that's specifically what I need for this to work. I'll report back on how it works for me.

[legacy-WinkyBoy]

Unfortunately, it isn't helping. The problem is that I need an invisible moveable staticmesh that isn't a mover. I can make a staticmesh invisible just by turning its Advanced -> bHidden to true -- but if I add it as a mover, the emitter ignores it, like UDN says.

I'm trying again to figure out how to export, modify, & import a staticmesh...

[legacy-WinkyBoy]

Okay, three posts in a row...

I have this VERY close to being able to test. I've created a new MovingStaticMeshActor.u in the UDE (with bStatic set to False in its defautproperties), then renamed it MyLevel.u and imported it - so now in the actor browser I find Actor -> StaticMeshActor -> MovingStaticMeshActor

But what the heck do I DO with it?? The only way I've been adding regular staticmeshes is to select one in the staticmesh browser, then right-click in the viewport and say " add StaticMesh: 'yourPackage.yourMesh' " -- but this always adds a staticmesh using the StaticMeshActor script, and I can't figure out how to use the one I just created.

... again, anyone?