[gedden]

Ok, I have 3 distrinctly different ways of accomplishing this...


however, they are *all hacks in one way or another, and rely on values that are used by other parts of the game....


I wont post the third way yet, its pretty damm complicated and im not done yet (basically spawning invisible objects which live and die instantly, and simply serve to push the target objects... ). When I get this working, ill post it.

anyway, the basis of the first two is that while you cant give the shockwave a negative value, you CAN give the shockwave taper a negative value, and since the taper is just multiplied by the shockwave value, a negative taper simply acts like a positive taper with a negative shock.

So a beam that pulls an object (with a normal locomotor) towards it would be as follows....

;------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weapon TractorBeam   ;slower one, not contunious
  PrimaryDamage           = 0.0001
  PrimaryDamageRadius     = 10.0
  ScatterRadiusVsInfantry = 6.0     ;When this weapon is used against infantry, it can randomly miss by as much as this distance.
  AttackRange             = 200.0
  MinTargetPitch          = -15
  MaxTargetPitch          = 60 
  DamageType              = EXPLOSION
  DeathType               = NORMAL
  WeaponSpeed             = 8
  WeaponRecoil            = 2
  LaserName               = YankeeLaserBeam
  LaserBoneName           = TurretMS01
  ProjectileExhaust           = MissileExhaust
  FireFX                  = Lazr_WeaponFX_LaserCrusader
  RadiusDamageAffects     = ALLIES ENEMIES NEUTRALS
  DelayBetweenShots       = 500
  ClipSize                = 0
  ClipReloadTime          = 0  ProjectileCollidesWith  = STRUCTURES WALLS 

  AntiAirborneVehicle   = Yes
  AntiAirborneInfantry  = Yes
  AntiGround            = Yes
  ;ShockWaveAmount       = 6
  ;ShockWaveRadius       = 10
  ;ShockWaveTaperOff     = -6

  ShockWaveAmount       = 6.5
  ShockWaveRadius       = 10
  ShockWaveTaperOff     = -6

End

the problem with using the shockwave is two fold...


1. shockwave blasts objects in TWO directions, not one (UP and AWAY).....
the code above is careful to to pull (let it slide) while not augmenting the up direction too much.... thats the way I like
There are two *other ways to fix this as well....
a. set the world gravity really damm high..... and just adjust air-pane lift values.. that works really well.
b. in the target objects locomotor, add: StickToGround = Yes... that makes it so it cant lift off....

2. target objects weight and locomoter values effect this... may be a good thing (sepeerate for planes....)

So thats the first tractorbeam. The second is smoother, and the third is turning out well... ill let yall know.

[Vger]

The Magnetron tractor beam was a slow controled beam that brought the unit to it and raised it to a point that both anti-air and ant-ground could hit the unit being tractored.
Can you control the hight of the unit directly instead of modifying the gravity since that can change everything and throw the effects off.

[gedden]

um yes actually,
Hit it with two blasts (both negative and positive tapers simultanoiusly) and you'll sent it into the air, then use another tractor beam like the one above to pull the object. the negative taper should be enough to keep it air-borne...

and then pull it with the above tractor beam.....

[Ambershee]

Alternatively, just remove the "UP" part of the shockwave

[Vger]

Can you set your DelayBetweenShots to 0 and see what happens. Also when doing that can you try a negative decimal value for ShockWaveTaperOff.
Maybe by doing those you can get a slow and controlled continuous attraction.
The two shock wave approach may work but the values for them must be small.

[gedden]

Alternatively, just remove the "UP" part of the shockwave

I looked for quite a while to figure out if that was possible, and I could not find any reference to it... did I simply miss somthing, or was that just a lame joke?

[Vger]

well there goes the controlled idea

[gedden]

again, im still working on a 3rd way of doing it, its not complete yet, but the movment is completely smooth.

I checked out your mod, and it says you have more than a handfull of guys just working on the ini files. Im sure a big group of guys that have been doing this for longer than I have could prob. finish this up faster....


man, makes me wish I just wish I had 15 min with the source code, I would totally implement about 4 of 5 accessor functions and we would have complete control over units......

[Ambershee]

looked for quite a while to figure out if that was possible, and I could not find any reference to it... did I simply miss somthing, or was that just a lame joke?

Well, the shockwave must have an ini entry somewhere that uses the two different "throw" types that you described. Both of those "throw" types are hard-coded and so cannot be edited themselves, save for the force for each and the duration of the effect. Surely, just replacing the current two entries with something more suitable can achieve the desired effect?

I checked out your mod, and it says you have more than a handfull of guys just working on the ini files. Im sure a big group of guys that have been doing this for longer than I have could prob. finish this up faster....

Me? Well, we've eight people working with ini files; but only two of these are to do with the Generals mod - the rest are dealing with the soft architecture for another project. When it comes down to it, we're still busy making the whole 'Zero G' thing run smoothly and properly, instead of being a bit fubar at times!

man, makes me wish I just wish I had 15 min with the source code, I would totally implement about 4 of 5 accessor functions and we would have complete control over units......

With access to that kind of power I could finally introduce REAL broadside firepower, and the possibility of more than simple three weapons and simple firing arcs. Mwahahahaha, MWAHAHAHAHAH, MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA

*ahem*

[gedden]

Ambershee:

ahh ok, you were just asking. I thought you knew somthing I did not or was just polking fun =)

I was actually refereing to V_ger1's mod, but that zero g thing sounds cool.

Sadly these are the only shockwave types I have encountered:
ShockWaveAmount
ShockWaveRadius
ShockWaveTaperOff

Perhaps i mis-spoke earlier. The "ShockWaveAmount" move opposing units in two directions, UP and AWAY, it also has a multiplier for x, y and z rotation....

Sadly I have no found a way to individually alter a specific property (targets location xyz or rotation xyz).