Can an object itself be an hp_whatever?

[BNG Da BZ Fool]

For example I made a walker and named quite a few of the parts themselves as the parts like the cannons, guns, turret X and Y instead of using triangles for HP's. Will I encounter problems doing this kind of stuff? I made sure to reset the axises to the center of the objects so they fire in a forward direction. Just wondered what shortcuts I can get away with to simplify the modeling process.

Also, once I get everything attached then I'm going to attempt to animate the walker and build all of the associated animation files for stuff like the Skel, Idle, Walk, Turn, Sit, and Die sequences to see what's possible.

[Avatar]

The 'HP' makes the geometry hidden...  as it's not actually needed.  All that's needed is a marker to position whatever the HP is being used for.

Some HP's HAVE to have their special names, like HP_EYEPOINT, in order to function, but others have their function called in the ODF, and can be any object.

For instance, I've used objects for lights:
lightHard1 = "midspot1"
lightName1 = "spotblue"

Now, this sort of thing has drawbacks, such as this next one hiding the weapon slot name for humans (but the AI don't seem to have problems using it)...

For weapons:
weaponHard1 = "rocketlauncher"
weaponName1 = "gtaggun_c"

You do have to be careful with some part names, as it seems like 'cockpit' for instance used to do bad things...  and all of the other special parts like the walker head and feet, but for the most part as long as the function isn't special and part of the name (ie "hp_smoke") you can replace with a model part.

-Av-

[Commando]

weaponHard# are now hard-coded to use the official types, rocket, cannon, gun, special, mortar.  I think it is a side effect of one of Ken's changes.  In 1.2, you could make custom hardpoints, but the ammo meter would be wrong.

[Nielk1]

But remember, assault form pack weapons don't exist in the game leaving an open point available. And the new power up filters.

[BNG Da BZ Fool]

Okay, so it can be done but not really recommended due to possible undesirable side effects...Tanks BNG.

[Avatar]

weaponHard# are now hard-coded to use the official types, rocket, cannon, gun, special, mortar.  I think it is a side effect of one of Ken's changes.  In 1.2, you could make custom hardpoints, but the ammo meter would be wrong.

Ack...  I missed that.  Darn, several of my Titans had non-standard Hp's for weapons for various reasons, some of which aren't necessary anymore (the take crates flag...).

-Av-

[mrtwosheds]

The hp's are also needed to display effects correctly, like lights and muzzle flashes, effects will not be rendered inside solid polys.

[Avatar]

Um, they always have been...  rendered inside polys, that is. I like smoke, for instance, for the Ancient Hadeans, and everything they have smokes in some way...  straight from the object.

Some have issues, though, for example lights don't have an issue unless you make the object 2 sided ("object__2") and then they get confused and do weird things...

Now, whether you can see them or not when rendered inside a poly is another story...  they're there but blocked if the effect isn't larger than the object... that's why muzzle flashes should be done using an HP, as you want to see the whole effect.

Of course, as always, it's best to stick as close to the stock setup as possible.  You should only 'cheat' or take shortcuts when it's the only way to get the effect/result you want.

Coffee...

-Av-

[mrtwosheds]

Now, whether you can see them or not when rendered inside a poly is another story...

That is what I meant.
HP_'s are important for a good looking model.