dumptruck, I've found an obscure bug which affects the kill count if a map includes trigger-spawned Rotfish. I was going to email you about this, but I think an explanation of this bug might be useful for others, because it illustrates something about the engine which isn't obvious. So, I thought I'd post this here, where others can see it.

I noticed the issue in the map pd_ionous, but it should affect any map with trigger-spawned Rotfish.

The bug is that the "total monsters" count becomes incorrect after a trigger-spawned Rotfish is triggered, but the incorrect count only becomes visible to the player if they save their game, then load the saved game.

To see the bug while playing pd_ionous: simply play up to the point where the three Rotfish have been triggered and have appeared, then save and load. Assuming you're playing on Normal skill, the "total monsters" count in the status bar should be 19 when you save, but after loading, the count will jump to 22. But there really are only 19 monsters, so it becomes impossible to get 100% kills.

The tl;dr solution is to increment the total_monsters global in swimmonster_start() instead of in swimmonster_start_go(). But I expect it's not obvious why that fixes the issue, or even why the issue happens at all, so I'll explain.

There are two things going on here:

====================

Thing #1: Why the total_monsters global becomes incorrect when a trigger-spawned Rotfish is triggered

This comes down to the way progs_dump currently fixes the old Rotfish kill count bug that was present in id's original code. The old bug existed because total_monsters got incremented twice for every Rotfish, once in swimmonster_start(), and again in swimmonster_start_go().

progs_dump currently fixes this by removing the increment from swimmonster_start(), and leaving the one in swimmonster_start_go(). However, this creates an inconsistency with walking/flying monsters, because those monsters increment total_monsters in walkmonster/flymonster_start(), and not in walkmonster/flymonster_start_go().

In the usual case where a Rotfish is spawned normally, this inconsistency doesn't make a difference.

But the inconsistency causes a problem when a Rotfish is trigger-spawned. In this case, total_monsters gets incremented twice per Rotfish:

1) The first time is on map start. monster_fish() calls swimmonster_start(), which calls monster_teleport(), which increments total_monsters.

2) The second time is when the Rotfish is triggered. monster_teleport_delay() sets self.think to monster_teleport_go(). When this is called, it calls self.think1(), which is swimmonster_start_go(), which increments total_monsters again.

====================

Thing #2: Why the change to total_monsters only becomes visible to the player after they load a saved game

This comes down to the way the engine divides things between the server and client.

This applies even when a player is playing locally (i.e. when the Quake executable is acting as both the server and the client).

The progs.dat code runs on the server-side. Variables such as total_monsters are also on the server-side, and the client-side does not have direct knowledge of them.

When a player spawns for the first time, or loads a saved game, the server sends the value of total_monsters to the client, so that the client can display that number in the status bar (and during the intermission).

However, if total_monsters changes on the server after that, the server does not automatically inform the client that the value has changed. This is the thing that isn't obvious. It's why, in this case, the player doesn't immediately see that total_monsters has changed after a Rotfish is triggered, even though the variable has changed on the server-side.

Loading a saved game forces the server to send the current value of total_monsters to the client. This is why the bug becomes visible to the player after they load.

====================

(As an aside, which isn't relevant in this case, but might help someone: if a mod actually wants to update total_monsters mid-game, and wants to notify clients of the change, the answer is to send a SVC_UPDATESTAT message to the clients. Both of the mission packs, and various mods, include code showing how to do this.

But this isn't relevant to the issue I've explained here, because the code obviously isn't supposed to increment total_monsters mid-game.)

====================

But, yes, the solution in this case is just to increment total_monsters in swimmonster_start() instead of in swimmonster_start_go().

dumptruck, I hope the above makes sense? If anything is unclear, please let me know. 

Good catch. All of the above makes total sense. Thank you for such a detailed explanation. 

No problem. progs_dump is a really good resource for mappers. Happy to give whatever help I can.

I've identified some other bugs, which don't require as much explanation as the above, all of which seem fixable.

I'd like to send suggestions as to how to fix them -- what's the best way to do this? Should I do the whole GitHub thing where I send you a pull request for each fix? Or would it be better if I just email you with descriptions and code snippets? 

I am traveling soon so I may not merge them for a week or longer. Thanks. 

Cool -- it'll probably be a good few days before I'm in a position to start uploading to GitHub in any case. Hope you have pleasant travels. 

progs_dump devkit version 1.1.1 is available with lots of bug fixes thanks to QuakeC MVP iw

DOE's multi-floor elevators have been added with bug fixes and improvements. A demo map is included.

Screenshot

http://www.quaketastic.com/files/single_player/mods/progs_dump_devkit_v111.zip

If you are currently working with 1.1.0, I highly recommend porting your mod over to this version.

1.1.1 changelog

* Added func_elvtr_button and ELEVATOR functionality to func_new_plat (iw)
* Fix Fiends never going into their pain animation (iw)
* Fix a critical bug involving func_elvtr_button (iw)
* Address various FTEQCC warnings (iw)
* Fix kill count bug with trigger-spawned Rotfish (iw)
* Fixed qc syntax errors in monsters.qc (iw)
* Fix various issues involving gravity and ladders (iw)
* Make trigger_ladder ignore bad (up/down) angles (iw)
* Fix items not respawning in deathmatch mode (iw)
* Fix a "friendly monster" bug in trigger spawned monsters (iw)
* Fix pain_target never firing in some cases (iw)
* Fix item_health collision with BSP model entities (iw)
* Fix the weapon_shotgun spawnflag test (iw)
* Allow "wait" to be set for elevators (iw)
* other tweaks to DOE elevator code in doeplats.qc (iw)
* pd_elevator demo level (iw)

Source is included and can also be found on GitHub

@Preach - you may want to take a look at the commit re: the trigger spawned Rotfish. iw found an interesting issue and the solution is well documented.

The next release of pd_ will focus on adding coop spawnflags and possibly new coop features. 

Sorry I meant this commit here. 

Moving static entities? 

 

Ummm not sure about that - what would you use them for? 

Decoration for things like a group of fishes. It was my struggle when I made beez. They were bounded by a bouncing box. Or a turning satellite. 

Here's a playlist for a new series of videos on progs_dump. Will explore the features and show how to set them up. Also will examine mods and packs that use the devkit. Aimed at new mappers but good info dumps for the experienced mapper as well.

3 videos now and more to come. 

progs_dump Version 1.1.2 is live

Download it here

This release includes a new sample map pd_lightning, that displays the lightning trap entities in more detail in addition to the trap_shooter_triggered entity.

Here's the changelog:

* Added newflags.qc (iw)
* Added new spawnflags (iw)
4096 Not in Coop
8192 Not in Single Player
32768 Not on Hard Only
65536 Not on Nightmare Only
* Fixed collision issues in trap_shooter, trap_spikeshooter, trap_switched_shooter
* Added workaround for if(string) engine bug (iw)
* Added function SUB_UseAndForgetTargets() to subs.qc (iw)
* Fixed sight_target firing targets multiple times (iw)
* Fixed pain_target not using targetname2/3/4 (iw)
* Fixed messages not displaying with sight_trigger (iw)
* Make weapons fire their targets in Coop and DM2 modes (iw)
* Prevent keys firing multiple targets multiple times in Coop (iw)
* Fixes to func_bob (iw)
* Fixed messages not displaying with func_counter (iw)
* Fixed "delay" making func_counter not work (iw)
* Added SUB_DislodgeRestingEntities to subs.qc (iw)
* Fixed func_breakable debris sometimes floating (iw)
* Added pd_lightning demo map
* Fixed func_laser audio issue when used with func_counter
* Added GNU License and source to my_mod directory

pd_lightning screenshot

More updates will be coming in the weeks ahead but we wanted these bug fixes available as soon as possible.

A HUGE thank you to iw for all his hard work improving this mod! 

In my enthusiastic rush to get version 1.1.2 of the devkit out the door I neglected to document the new spawflags iw has generously coded in. Here are the comments from the newflags.qc for everyone's reference. I will update the manual with this same info soon and share it.

/*
========================================================================

NEW SPAWNFLAGS FOR ALL ENTITIES

========================================================================


This file was created for progs_dump by Ian "iw" Walshaw, August 2019.

It defines functions which can be called to implement the following new
spawnflags:

4096 Not in Coop
8192 Not in Single Player
32768 Not on Hard Only
65536 Not on Nightmare Only

(Spawnflag 16384 is not used here because it's already used for
something else in progs_dump.)

The new spawnflags complement and complete the set of built-in
spawnflags provided by the engine, which of course are:

256 Not on Easy
512 Not on Normal
1024 Not on Hard or Nightmare
2048 Not in Deathmatch

In conjunction with the old spawnflags, the new spawnflags make it
possible to exclude any entity from any combination of game modes and/or
skill levels.


"Not in Coop" and "Not in Single Player"
----------------------------------------

These spawnflags were inspired by Quoth 2 (Kell and Necros, 2008), which included two additional spawnflags for all entities: "Not in Coop" and
"Coop Only". In contrast to Quoth 2, the spawnflags implemented here
are "Not in Coop" and "Not in Single Player", for symmetry with the
built-in "Not in Deathmatch" spawnflag.


"Not on Hard Only" and "Not on Nightmare Only"
----------------------------------------------

The set of built-in spawnflags doesn't allow a mapper to treat the Hard
and Nightmare skill levels differently, because it only includes one
spawnflag, 1024, which excludes an entity from both Hard and Nightmare.
The new "Not on Hard Only" and "Not on Nightmare Only" spawnflags allow
the mapper to exclude an entity from one of these skill levels without
affecting the other.


========================================================================
*/ 

Here's a new video that covers some of the big fixes and features of the latest version 1.1.2

This goes into detail on the lightning trail entities (ltrail) from Quake's 2nd mission pack, Dissolution of Eternity.

NOTE: As I type this, the video is still uploading. Should be up within an 1/2 hour of this post. 

Hello,

I can confirm that, as far as rotating entities are concerned, they are really simple to use in H2.

But unfortunately for engine related reasons:

1. Make your entity out of one or more brushes.
2. Add one more cubic brush whose texture is the special ORIGIN texture.
3. The rotation will occur around one of the 3 axis X, Y or Z going through the center of that origin brush, according to which flag you set on your func_door_rotating entity.

If I'm correct, there is no special ORIGIN texture supported in Quake, hence no rotating doors or trains or whatever. :-(

Maybe a point entity with an "origin" property could be used instead, if correctly identified as the rotating door's "origin" thanks to some property? And then HexenC code could be adapted and work?
That doesn't necessarily sound like a loosing battle since QuakeC actually has a SUB_CalcAngleMove function with rotating capabilities... 

Sorry, I was confused by the forum GUI and my message comes faaaar too late. Sorry again! :-( 

Thanks anyway, man!

It's cool to know how other games deals with rotating brushes.

Fortunately Dumptruck already implemented rotating brushes to this mod =D 

progs_dump_devkit_v1121 is now available.

This is a special edition for the upcoming April Fool's jokejam. Please read the readme and manual for complete details. New and updated features are highlighted in the manual.

ALWAYS START A NEW FOLDER WHEN USING PROGS_DUMP.
DO NOT COPY THESE FILES OVER AN EXISTING VERSION.

Download here:
http://www.quaketastic.com/files/single_player/mods/progs_dump_devkit_v1121.zip

or here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Ne1Dho-Q3huQsTGG7FonlB6Pc6vED3VC/view?usp=sharing

Version 1.1.3 is still in development and with any luck, will be released within the next month. 

 

Version 1.1.3 is still in progress. I am hoping to do a beta or similar sometime in September.

Some new features:

1.1.3 July 2020

* Added trigger_changemusic and trigger_cdtrack
* Added trigger_look from NullPointPaladin
* Added new features to trigger_teleport from Zerstörer
* including "stealth" teleporting (no sound or particles) and random destinations
* Added Monster only spawnflag to trigger_teleport
* Added info_teleport_changedest from Qmaster
* this allows mappers to dynamically change the destination of a trigger_teleport
* Added trigger_heal from Custents mod
* Replaced default id1-style noclip behavior with Copper's version
* players will not interact with any touchable objects while in noclip

and a tentative to-do list:

to-do list for 1.1.3 -- WIP and subject to change!

*alternate monster attacks (in progress)
*trigger_script based on cutscene sdk for custom messages
*custom monster sounds
*custom monster models
*custom backpack entity
*custom item drop (e.g. monster drops a key)
*play_debris (trigger debris without breakables)
*complete .def file
*add lspike.mdl and mervbomb.mdl to official assets
 

I forgot to add cutscenes are now working. I surveyed a bunch of methods and ended up using the cutscenes from the Drake Beta devkit. 

After nine months of development a new version of progs_dump is almost ready!

This is a release candidate intended for testing and to preview new features. The final version should be available on December 4th if everything goes as planned.

Please make sure and read the readme and check out the newly expanded manual. There are a ton of new, unique features in this release in addition to some classics from other mods. I am excited to share iw's amazing custom monster code that allows mappers to replace models and sounds easily. This along with some other modifiers allows mappers to make mini-bosses and a larger variety of monsters without any coding. There will be much more info as the weeks progress but for now, check out this new massive release.

Bug reports can be made right here or on GitHub

Or on the Quake Mapping Discord.

Downloads available on Quaketastic and Drive

Manual Title Page

The official release will feature updates to the manual, more information on creating custom monsters and a bunch more I am forgetting at the moment. Stay tuned for updates. 

One of the the new features of progs_dump is an easy way to plug in models and sounds to existing monsters to make variants without coding. These variants are not replacements but live along side the original entities. Here's a "plug-in" monster that mappers can easily add to their progs_dump projects. I am planning on making more of these and hopefully, others will too.

This one is called a "Hellrath" and uses a monster_shalrath as a base. Voreballs are now made of lava and do 1.5 damage above the standard voreball. It uses Chillo's "breasted" version of the Shalrath with some lame skin edits by me. Also some new sounds and 600 HP. 

I know a couple of people who aren't on Discord may follow development here so a little update:

First, I am a bit behind where I need to be to get this next version out. So the tentative release date is now December 11th.

Second, if you are using Version 1.2.0 RC1, be advised the spawnflags for the item_backpack have changed. The item wasn't really ready in RC1 anyway so I doubt this will affect anyone. But thought it best to share the info.

We have some nice new skins for item_backpack by "starshipwaters" but you are of course free to use any model/skin you want by setting the mdl_body key.

Backpacks
additional Grunt skin