MTM2.com

Ok I don't know if this should be posted here or in Traxx. But anyway i want to put a flashing light on a checkpoint marker I made.
By that I mean turning light(like on Monster Patrol), not flashing on and off. Also i want it to actually show the light beam. Is that possible or not?

Yes it is possible.You could possibly take the textures of Monster patrol to make your own of a spinning light.Next you could apply the NightGraphiX thing to the checkpoint.I dont know much about this yet! but in the models section somewhere there is a model called the Zilla lights which when in the night have a beam of light.This also has a help file so that you camn make objects which emitt light.Dont know much about the NightGraphiX but i'm learning

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---> HAC-MAN
---> Keep On Hackin'
---> Hacman@start.com.au

A funny thing....
I noticed on my Straightaway entry (MCStraightaway) The flying pigs have lights... on dusk or night setting,if you drive onto the bridge and turn around, wait 'til the pigs fly past they seem to have headlights shining towards you! I have no idea why this happens!

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Keep on Monster Truckin'

EmceeMart

<center><IMG SRC="http://mtm2.com/~mtmg/Models/Custom/Mtmcpics/zlights.jpg" border=0></center>

The lights in question are these and can be downloaded by clicking here .

As Winterkill has rightly pointed out, any object that has a light and beam in the game has exploited the game's object properties for trains. If you download the zilla zip (it's only 95k) you'll find the fullest explanation available and it's viewable as html.

Now, to address your rotating light trick. Yes, uh, maybe, it can be done. However, it's very hard to do. Probably harder than it's worth. What you'd have to do is create a body-less model where the beam points horizontally to the ground. Then rotate and save it a few times (this will take some calculating to center the beam, let me tell you). Now, create an animated bin using those light models. When the control bin is inserted into the track, set it to moving, speed zero, then place its beam inside the model you want to have with the light - could be a snazzy checkpoint, could be a lighthouse ;-) Anyway, that's the principle behind it. It's much harder to execute.


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- Phineus

edit: there goes my optimism showing itself again. Remember that an x is an x is an x is an x. That may pose a problem or two. Anyway, if you do decide to experiment with it, please let us know how you make out.


[This message has been edited by Phineus (edited 15-05-2000).]

Ok guys first attempt.... Bin would turn but light stayed in place and was way in front of bin.
Next step I think is going to be a "control wall" behind the actual visible part of the bin. That will work for position, but don't know if it will make it turn.

Here's a thought...has anyone tried to take a single light control portion of a truck file and inserted it into a sit file or sumthing along those lines? Not sure if it would actually work...Do you think the game engine would interpret the information from the sit file as it would from the truck file?????hmmmm.
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Just thinking outloud,
Chachoze

Well I have tried just about everything i can think of to make a rotating light. Animated bin won't work and if you put an animated transparent "control wall" in it gives you an error. Something like "zero integer divided by zero". But if anyone else has any ideas please let me know. For now i am just gonna build the light into the model and have a control wall to position the light in the right spot.

Thats good to know winterkill. I havent messed around much with mtm2 sit files but i have with mtm1sit. Heres a question..since moving obects in mtm2 have a light(train)then i assume there must be an entry in the sit file for that models position etc...is there light control data along with that models entry in the sit?like in a trk file?if so can u change for instance where the light is pointing etc..and is there a setting to make the light rotate as in a trk file?
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Still just thinking out loud....
Chachoze

I just reviewed my own notes on lights, and, at the risk of being redundant, I'd like to repeat some of it here with a few added comments.

<HR WIDTH="50%">

The first rule to understand is that Lights are NOT a part of the bin.  There is nothing special about a model that makes it so that it can have a light.  All models can have a light.  All of them!

Where does the light come from ?

It is a built-in part of the mtm2 game!  When you set the model property to "moving", the mtm2 game interprets that information and thinks you have inserted a train into your track.  You will notice that all objects set to moving will make train sounds.  One of the first tracks to use moving cars was Cape Hatteras by Yeastman.  It is widely known that that track had to be placed above the sound pod in the pod.ini list or the train noises would drive you off the rails.  Little known, however, was that if you run Cape Hatt at night, each and every vehicle set to moving has a huge train headlight floating just in front of it (and a red tail light behind it).  And why not, since, after all, train engines have them, don't they?  In summary, the moving feature was built into mtm2 for the use of trains.  Moving objects have train horns and train headlights.

Making any sort of light is just our way of exploiting this moving train feature for other purposes.

[ ... ]

To come straight to the point, when a model is set to moving, the light beam will appear at the (x,y,z) intercept (50, 2004, 3927) and it will point in a positive direction along the z axis.

<HR WIDTH="50%">

And there's the thing. The pin point spot of the beam occurs at the same place (locus?) regardless of the model's orientation. Yes, it is theoretically possible to aim the beam in any direction in relation to the model. However, this is done by the model's orientation and NOT the light's position. As a result, we see that my earlier idea of creating a lighthouse effect is mistaken. The reason being, that we cannot move the light's source location - which is a constant and is hard coded in the game.

<HR WIDTH="50%">

Now, on this idea of simulating a truck light. It seems, not unreasonably, that the game reads the track and truck codes in a rather exclusive manner (i.e., if trk then truck, else sit then track end lol). It may be unfortunate that there is no overlap or sharing of properties, but it's certainly not hard to understand. Will mtm2 ever get a new patch? It seems unlikely.

>>is there light control data along with that models entry in the sit

Nope. The property "moving" is what triggers the light to come on.


I guess the best we can get is animated textures to imitate the moving light. Sort of like FE's checkpoint lights.


Anyway, I hope this helps clarify matters a bit.


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- Phineus

I will try to experiment an idea that i thought of today.In MTM2SW POD RACER my and Rygon are trying to do an effect a bit like this.You could have the spinning light but make half transparent 2d models which immitate the beam of light.In most weather effects it would look bad but if you painted it with the right colours and inserted the 2d model accoprding to the way the light is pointing in dusk,night or pitch black this would look good.On MTM2SW Pod Racer for MTM2 on a gas planet we have lasers which shoot out of a gun thingy if the animation & colours are right and you have inserted the BIN right it does look like there is a big lightup just before the laser shoots out.This idea could be converted onto trucks i think haven't tried it yet!Thought this coould spark up some more ideas

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---> HAC-MAN
---> Keep On Hackin'
---> Hacman@start.com.au

Thanx HacMan that does give me an idea. The only thing is making the textures so that it will work in the game right....

The bin will be easy to build but getting the textures right will be the pain.

Thats alright.Do you want me to send you a copy of the BIN mode i was talking about.The colours are right so you could change it to your needs.You can use the textures from it.If you want it what colour I have a hole spectrum of these laser turrets.I also have a list of colours which work properly in the night so you can use the colours which all work in the night time as if they are a light

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---> HAC-MAN
---> Keep On Hackin'
---> Hacman@start.com.au

just an idea...thinking aloud.
OK.. I understand (now) the "every moving .bin is interpreted as a train" in MTM2.
So what about this...
If you create a model with lights (make it a stationary train or whatever)... Then make an animated model that rotates around the light emitting .bin.
Say some kinda carousel with every other frame set as black or white.. or on or off?
Would that be possible? and would that create the effect desired? I dunno... I'm no .bin maker.,.. but it seems kinda logical.
IF a rotating animated model (or texture) can be made "invisible" ... then better still!
As I say... just ideas, trying to share the wealth.

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Keep on Monster Truckin'

EmceeMart

>>but it seems kinda logical

Yep, exactly. But that's what threw me. The position of the light is static so no matter how you rotate the model, the position remains the same. Can't work this way. However, reospeed has come up with something. I haven't had time to look at it yet.

Sorry guys like Phineus said it didn't work, tried it. I tried just about everything i could think of. lol

[This message has been edited by REOSPEED (edited 19-05-2000).]