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Level Design Isn't there anything that block paths?

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TheNoRanking

TheNoRanking

Active member
Feb 6, 2010
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Sweden
#1
This is the map i'm currently working on and it has several floors as u can se in the pic below, and i want the zombies to stay on the floor and not jump over the railing. I still want players and zombies to be able to jump down but i just don't want the paths to see eachother thru the railing. I've tried to use a blocking volume with these classes on, ZombiePathNode, ZombieNode and PathNode but it didn't work. And i know that u can go in to each and every pathnode, one by one, and make a proscribed path, but that will take forever! and if thats the only solution i probably cant realese this map, so please need help!

namnlsl.png
 
#2
The only blocking volume that will work is a class blocker with "actor" in its blocking list, unfortunately this will also block players and zombies.

What I used is a mover set up to a trigger. the movers block the paths when you are doing your rebuild and when you play the triggers shift the movers out of the way so the players never see them.

This is used in ganja-farm-reweeded
 
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#3
i don't really know what you mean by "the movers block the paths when you are doing your rebuild". i will download you map and take a look at it to see if i can figure it out.

but i tried to use a blocking voulme with class actor as u said just to see if it worked but it didn't, look:

namnlsn.png


is there a specific order you have to do like first place out all the pathnodes and then blocking volumes or blockingvolumes first and then pathnodes...?
 
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#5
From the screenie it looks like a simple case of proscribing nodes from each other.
Say you have path node A on top level, and nodes B and C on bottom level:
1) Select pathnode A and go to properties->navigationpoint->proscribed paths
type in whatever id is found for node B (properties->object->name). Then go to the next line and repeat for node C. note that a single node can only have 4 nodes proscribed to it. After you rebuild the paths you should see the denied paths in red colour. Zombies do a good job of not following red arrows.
 
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#8
TheNoRanking said:
great tip and all, but i already know of this. as i said in my first post that will take forever and a lot of the nodes i have to proscribe have way over 4 nodes that shouldn't be connected to it so if i would do that it wouldn't work either, i guess there isn't really a way then...
Click to expand...

It doesn't take forever and everytime you rebuild the paths the ones you have done go red so you can see which are still outstanding. Put 1 hour into it and you may be done. Like AvP said it isn't foolproof but if it turns out to work majority of time then the map should be playable
 
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#10
Obviously I don't know your map as well as you do so I won't push this point any further after this post. But from the screenshots I can't see any nodes that connect to more than 3 nodes on a lower level. You only have to proscribe the nodes that the game builds paths to, not every other node on the level. So the number of floors is irrelevant... Except for how long it will take you to do it of course :S It would be a lot more than an hour but you could start with 1 floor and see if there's an improvement.
 
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#12
The Wanderer said:
I thought blockingvolumes had an option in collision to block paths, and if all else fails why not make an invisible model?
Click to expand...

I think he doesn't want to stop players from jumping down (though that looks like suicide from the screenies), and then there's the fact that grenade launchers don't shoot through blocking volumes most the time, which I consider a bug of that weapon. But hmmm I'd be inclined to agree that this would still be the best solution
 
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#14
I have tried everything that you guys have suggested, and the best solution would probably be a mover as avp2501 said. But now that i have tested this map further i think it's best not to allow players or zombes to jump over the railing at all cause it would just create to much trouble with the big lamp in the middle and all, where the trader is gonna be. But for those who still need's this kind of thing in their map, I'll suggest you use either a mover that moves away when the map starts or considering if it's really that important to have players or/and zombies reaching that area or maybe do some kind of workaround.
 
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#16
this may or may not help you out but the thing about paths is when it connects all the nodes together it only takes account what was there before the node was placed so if you put a blocker or invinisable model after node placement it will ignore it and create a path.

to resolve that issue is to sellect all pathnodes rightclick->order->last

that will make the pathing calculator take into account everything on the map. but remember to do this after each rebuild
 
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#17
Instead of trying proscribed paths, try the opposite. Forced paths should get the way you want since I doubt you want each node going to more than 4 ways. Of course, YES THIS IS TIME CONSUMING. However, it should get a nice workaround and work nicely after you've finished it. Just don't forget to SAVE OFTEN. I haven't quite nailed down the Unreal Editor, but it's a lively one and it does NOT like the undo button.

Alternatively, you can make a ton of volumes to block everything, build just paths, then go the the build options and disable the build all button from rebuilding paths. After the paths have built, delete all those volumes. Now you should never have to worry about the pathing... although instead of deleting the volumes in case... just move them all down a few times and then leave them completely inaccessible to the players/specimens. Then just move them all up back into place if you need to work on pathing more... so you don't have to recreate the volumes later.
 
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#18
Here is a dirty way of doing it and I think it was Xienen who mentioned it (not sure)

when you are close to completing the map, put blocking volumes where you want to break the paths, rebuild and then delete the volumes.
Save the map without rebuilding,

the paths will still be broken but you will be able to pass through them as they are no longer present :)
the zeds will think the volumes are there due to the broken paths,


Although I prefer the forced path method as stated above, as it is much cleaner, although the zeds will look like they are all walking in a direct pattern rather than staggered which gives it that realistic motion.

2 choices there.
 
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