"Sentinel" Automatic Cannon [Pics] [Beta11] [Updated]

[ScorpDK]

the MOG is the most powerful weapon, strategy-wise of the sentinel...while it doesn't do much damage by itself (if any) it hinders the enemy from doing any actions himself, and renders him defenseless to nearby allies or other sentinels, or simply throw them against the wall (SPLAT!) or over the edge of the map...XD

I got the UT3 version of Face_Classic map, and when you place one MOG-sentinel on each of the little podests on each side of the flag room, you have a 75% chance that the flag never exits the base XD And besides, it's just ROCKS to send your enemies sliding over the floor, aim rather casually at them with your sniper rifle, unscoped of course, and blow their heads off before they stand up again...

As for the upgrades, everybody got ideas, but i doubt he can make a system that emulates every downloadable weapon...simply because every weapon and projectile have a custom setup (see the difference between a locked-on rocket, a AVRiL and a Scavenger Orb, all 3 are tracking projectiles, but each one has a different setup, different functions called, etc)

What would be possible, tho, is that he makes a script template, so players can add their own custom addons (still didn't figure out how to export scripts from their packages, otherwise i would have taken a look at Mr.Evil's work already, always curious and hungering for modding), which is the easiest solution, and very practical.

BTW, Mr.Evil, have you planned to add a mutator function to scale the turrets total hitpoints, shield and damage-scale? Just noticed how powerful some of the weapons are (best example is the Grenadelauncher, once it drops a load and you're inside the room, you're doomed XD)

[†TYRANICK†™]

the MOG is the most powerful weapon, strategy-wise of the sentinel...while it doesn't do much damage by itself (if any) it hinders the enemy from doing any actions himself, and renders him defenseless to nearby allies or other sentinels, or simply throw them against the wall (SPLAT!) or over the edge of the map...XD

I got the UT3 version of Face_Classic map, and when you place one MOG-sentinel on each of the little podests on each side of the flag room, you have a 75% chance that the flag never exits the base XD And besides, it's just ROCKS to send your enemies sliding over the floor, aim rather casually at them with your sniper rifle, unscoped of course, and blow their heads off before they stand up again...

As for the upgrades, everybody got ideas, but i doubt he can make a system that emulates every downloadable weapon...simply because every weapon and projectile have a custom setup (see the difference between a locked-on rocket, a AVRiL and a Scavenger Orb, all 3 are tracking projectiles, but each one has a different setup, different functions called, etc)

What would be possible, tho, is that he makes a script template, so players can add their own custom addons (still didn't figure out how to export scripts from their packages, otherwise i would have taken a look at Mr.Evil's work already, always curious and hungering for modding), which is the easiest solution, and very practical.

BTW, Mr.Evil, have you planned to add a mutator function to scale the turrets total hitpoints, shield and damage-scale? Just noticed how powerful some of the weapons are (best example is the Grenadelauncher, once it drops a load and you're inside the room, you're doomed XD)

Seems to me you contradicted your self there or im just being misconceptional as usual lol

Exactly what I mean ! some kind of system like the weapons and vehicle editor from UT04 but as a sub menu via the sentinel it self...

Seeing as a bot can use custom weapons, i cant see how the same function couldnt be applied to the sentinel, it just holds the gun you want and fire it...no complicated work neccisary since he's already added custom weapons the MOG and the other thing, cant see how it would be hard for any other weapon the community makes.

Still regardless, cant wait to see this advance more

[ScorpDK]

Seeing as a bot can use custom weapons, i cant see how the same function couldnt be applied to the sentinel, it just holds the gun you want and fire it...no complicated work neccisary since he's already added custom weapons the MOG and the other thing, cant see how it would be hard for any other weapon the community makes.

Actually, the sentinel does NOT hold and fire a weapon...=o
the sentinel head IS the weapon...i studied Mr.Evil's 2004 Sentinel code thoroughly back when i modded it.
Each upgrade is a different script, and each sentinel weapon is also a script, which emulates the weapon with it's own code, by translating the weapon's mechanism into the sentinels own weaponry...
sounds confusing? maybe, but it's hard to explain.
think about converting a player weapon into a vehicle weapon...the script refers normally to the weapon and the player, not the turret and the vehicle, so you have to rewrite it.

A custom addon means YOU, as player/modder, can add any weapon you want, aslong as you know how to write it, without Mr.Evil's interference.

[†TYRANICK†™]

Nah thats not confusing dont worry, i know my way around ;D

Well thats unfortunate really, but i guess theres no other way to do it? Just seems its being designed complicatedly.

Well I guess if we keep the mod alive we can expect it to develop, or easier would be for me to learn how to properly mod ut3 and do it my self

Hmmm

I was thinking you could make a seperate mutator that calls all of these functions before the game starts, some kind of select and choose, then again since you'd said it would need to be re-written ten i guess this also isnt feaible



Oh well

[ScorpDK]

adding projectile weapons without special functions like tracking or stuff that the weapon needs to handle, is rather easy...just taking a existing sentinel "head", changing the script entries for the name, description and cost, attack range, fire rate, etc, and finally changing the projectile fired to our desired weapon's projectile (like redeemer primary, shock 'balls', bio globs, etc), and that's about it...of course, gravity-affected projectiles will need some adjustments, but that's a minor concern.
Hitscan weapons (minigun, sniper rifle, beam weapons like linkgun secondary or shock rifle primary) are completely scripted in the head, and are a bit trickier, but not much, if you know how to change the entries.

All in all, making custom additions is rather easy if you know the script you're working with and know how to convert it... the more complex part would be to make a custom head mesh for the turret... or finding something useful among the static meshes XD

[Mr Evil]

I wonder if there's an easy way to make enemy bots not see a cloaked ceiling Sent...

They should have the same degree of invisibility to bots as the Invisibility power-up. I will see if I can sort them out.

Well is there anyway to set in the config to set the number of ammo boxes you need to deploy a turret...

Like I mentioned earlier, you should be able to configure the mutator to put down only large ammo, it's just not working at the moment.

...Does this replace the redeemer?

...maybe you could add this kind of system to your turret to allow us to upgrade the sentinals with whatever custom weapon we download!..

...Ability to move turrets?...

...Self healing nanides...

I was going to have Redeemer replacement as an option, but decided against it because the Redeemer is the best way of getting rid of a Sentinel.

Allowing Sentinels to use any custom weapon is theoretically possible, but normal weapons assume that they are being held by a player or a bot, so I'd have to program the Sentinel to behave like a bot to weapons, but not actually behave like a bot in-game. It would be very convoluted, whereas the current system is very simple.

I considered having an upgrade that would add tracks to a Sentinel so it could move on its own, but I think it would change the gameplay too much. If you want to do it manually, the best you can do is "recycle" it and place a new one. That wastes some ammo of course, but you should have put it in the right place in the first place

A self-repair upgrade is possible, but it would be very powerful.

BTW, Mr.Evil, have you planned to add a mutator function to scale the turrets total hitpoints, shield and damage-scale? Just noticed how powerful some of the weapons are (best example is the Grenadelauncher, once it drops a load and you're inside the room, you're doomed XD)

Things like weapon damage I will tweak as the beta progresses. I have considered making extra mutators to change things like that, but then again probably not, as I prefer to keep the number of options down.



Custom weapons and mutators are things that anyone with a little coding experience can do. I am going to release the source code with the final version. Until then, you can extract it from the compiled package either via the editor (add ModPackages=UTMutator_Sentinel to UTEditor.ini then in the actor browser, click on "Export all scripts") or via the command line with the UT3.exe switch "batchexport".

[ScorpDK]

Custom weapons and mutators are things that anyone with a little coding experience can do. I am going to release the source code with the final version. Until then, you can extract it from the compiled package either via the editor (add ModPackages=UTMutator_Sentinel to UTEditor.ini then in the actor browser, click on "Export all scripts") or via the command line with the UT3.exe switch "batchexport".

Ohhh, thanks...didn't know about that. But then again, i never learned anything by reading from others, rather than fooling around on my own until something actually worked out =D

[†TYRANICK†™]

Ahh good to here evil, cant wait to play around with it fully

[Miko]

a whole reference to the whole sonic emitter idea
http://utforums.epicgames.com/showthread.php?t=604737

[ScorpDK]

i wouldn't mind starting with that as my first project, as it is...rather simple and gives me a idea how weaponry of the turret works in UT3 (i'm still basing myself on UT2k4)

[ScorpDK]

Something funny here...i see how the whole sentinel is set up in 3 parts... a base, a rotator piece and a weapon. :O
You know, when i made my first Sentinel weapon, back in Quake3 TA days, it was set up the same way, because i couldn't figure out a way to make the turret head turn around as i wanted it to...this makes me feel kinda comfortable here XD
Time to have a look at a weapon now =D

EDIT: Screenshot of Good Times
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a3...t/shot0074.jpg

[ScorpDK]

Hmmmm...it seems i can't compile using the exported scripts...lots of garbage got in there that causes errors in the compiler, let's see what i can strip off to make it work...
NOW i know why people say we shouldn't try to export the source for editing...too much __default__ **** that takes ages to filter out...:O

Okay, So it looks like if i want to compile, i need to have all the scripts from the Original Sentinel (obvious, kinda), but, i need to add them as ModPackages= entry, which, as they're not compiled, forces them to get recompiled...now, getting errors because there's exported class definitions inside the default properties block... since i don't know which ones affect which, i better wait for the final version before i fool around any further.

As for the Sonic Emitter, i got something done that should work out, but the graphical effect of the projectile is different (as i don't really know how to make cool effects with UT3 editor yet)

[Mr Evil]

Something funny here...i see how the whole sentinel is set up in 3 parts... a base, a rotator piece and a weapon. :O
You know, when i made my first Sentinel weapon, back in Quake3 TA days, it was set up the same way, because i couldn't figure out a way to make the turret head turn around as i wanted it to...this makes me feel kinda comfortable here XD
Time to have a look at a weapon now =D

EDIT: Screenshot of Good Times
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a3...t/shot0074.jpg

I didn't know you'd done something like this before. I never liked Q3, but I missed out there.

Getting all the rotations right gave me a headache, and it's still not perfect. That's not actually why it's split in three though, that's because I started out by searching all Epic's packages for a model to use, and the one I found just happened to be in three pieces.

Hmmmm...it seems i can't compile using the exported scripts...lots of garbage got in there that causes errors in the compiler, let's see what i can strip off to make it work...
NOW i know why people say we shouldn't try to export the source for editing...too much __default__ **** that takes ages to filter out...:O

Okay, So it looks like if i want to compile, i need to have all the scripts from the Original Sentinel (obvious, kinda), but, i need to add them as ModPackages= entry, which, as they're not compiled, forces them to get recompiled...now, getting errors because there's exported class definitions inside the default properties block... since i don't know which ones affect which, i better wait for the final version before i fool around any further.

As for the Sonic Emitter, i got something done that should work out, but the graphical effect of the projectile is different (as i don't really know how to make cool effects with UT3 editor yet)

You shouldn't need to recompile my stuff. Put the already compiled packages in your unpublished directory structure and put your weapon in its own package.

I can imagine that all the extra sub-objects are a mess, but you don't need any in a custom weapon, so just ignore them (only the Sentinels themselves, the Shield upgrade and some projectiles declare their own sub-objects).

[MasterB]

This is probably a stupid question but….
When I upgrade to a rocket launcher, what shoots out is not a rocket, it’s more electric looking.
Is that planned?

Mr Evil,
Could you respond to this? It seems odd to me.

[ORGAN]

That is really cool, I like it a lot =)