Building a working Train in 1942

[fo0k]

I have seen a couple of attempts at this now in '42 with some complicated solutions..

However, I tried this earlier with a track made in 3dsmax and simply used the BF42 Train as a hull on a willy..

there is no clever collision mesh.. just what you see (e.g. two tracks with a gap in the middle). For the wheel collision mesh I have used a basic peg which is slightly pointed at the bottom (pic below.. its offset so you can see it). I have setup the train springs to have very stiff strength (100) and damping set to 10. Track and Wheel Matid is set to 92. It spawns on the tracks, the wheels sit inside the rails and just cruises the entire length of the track without so much as a glitch. Up and down hills and corners..

Ill add some detail to the visible wheel mesh to make it appear to sit on the tracks more and make them a touch wider and lower the model down to the right height but the concept worked perfectly without having to use clever 'boxing in' techniques..

So what's the big deal?

Have faith in '42! The collision system aint that bad.

[Herrmann]

Wow nice terrain, i like your Map building/styling, very usefull for Mods.

Here a interesting Mod Video about the comming up "Eve of Destruction 2.30" part!

[Swaffy]

I saw that video a week or two ago, and I will say that Battlefield 1942 modders are getting very creative these days. I never thought that the game's engine could be used in these ways. It makes me think that EA Games didn't put much effort in making Battlefield 1942. They could have had iron sights, trains, trenches, tunnels, AP mines, etc.

[freddy]

i think it was a question of getting the game out on the market, it still was way ahead of other games when it came out.

if dice had stayed independent instead of selling out to ea the battlefield series might have looked very different from what it does now

edit: nice work fook btw

[Swaffy]

The maps would also be twice as large.

[Senshi]

fook, don't you think that it still will look glitchy in multiplayer if the train is going fast? At least that's where all other PCOs that rely on multiple colmesh-"rubbing" become glitchy...but it certainly is a relatively easy to do-method.

[fo0k]

I have tried it multiplayer over lan and it remained smooth. clearly thats not as testing as a populated remote server but it's still a worthy test. lan play still suffers a fair bit of network lag regardless of ping, due to te engine. I think its a case of finding the best materials to use for the wheels and track. I have found 92 (concrete) to be an odd choice but very effective for this purpose. fortunately in BF42 land concrete rubbing on concrete works! heheh Speed is certainly the key factor though.. slow and steady will allow it to work under tough pings/server load. Once nice advantage of this simple tracks technique is that players and vehicles can pass over the tracks without needing to pass through specific collision meshes or having to setup custom collision groups. Also the train can derail if hit by a tank or large explosion.. which keep things real. (God forbid that BF42 would ever seem 'unrealistic'

[Swaffy]

That's amazing. Let me know when you're done with that, as I would love to have some one-on-one time with it in-game. I'd enjoy seeing it work, and seeing how it moves along the tracks.

And of course, I'd ram it with a tank to test it's derail capabilities.
.'/

My friends call my modding skills extremely confusing, but you all make me look like I'm tring to build a cube out of LEGOs.