NEW Triggers: Transport Unit in Line, Transport Unit in Circle

Topic Subject: NEW Triggers: Transport Unit in Line, Transport Unit in Circle

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HailToTheOboe
Bitten by a radioactive ostrich

posted 12 February 2009 04:54 PM EDT (US)

A while ago, Elriched released a trailer for his Thrynn scenario, and part of the title sequence had a whole bunch of walls sliding into place to spell out the title. I thought it was a pretty cool effect.

So rather than waiting for Thrynn's release, I coded some similar triggers for myself so I could use them for my Christmas Cinematic entry back in December. Some people were impressed by the special effects I accomplished using them and requested me to release the triggers, so here they are.

These triggers are single-player only, and require the Trigger Loader by Mythic Freak and invent00r
Trigger Loader

Transport Unit in Line

Description: This trigger takes one object and a destination, and teleports the object to many points in a line towards the destination, creating the illusion of smooth movement. Automatically stops when the target is reached.

How to use
LOOP: YES

Condition: Always, or Timer MS Accurate with a short time. The faster the loop, the less choppy the motion will appear.

Effect: Transport Unit in Line

Parameters:
Source Unit: Select the unit that you want to move.
Target Unit: Select a unit at the destination you want to move towards (you can use cinematic block)
Step Size: Distance that the unit will move every time the trigger is fired. Higher step size means faster, but choppier motion.

Transport Unit in Circle

Description: This trigger takes one object and a location, and teleports the object along a circular path around the central location.

How to use
LOOP: YES

Condition: Always, or Timer MS Accurate with a short time.

Effect: Transport Unit in Circle

Parameters:
Source Unit: Select the unit that you want to move.
Target Unit: Select a unit to act as the cenre of the circle (you can use cinematic block)
Height: Choose the height of the circle above the ground (if the unit can be teleported to arbitrary heights)
Radius: Choose the size of the circle (distance between object and centre)
Phase: Choose the starting angle between 0 and 360 degrees. Zero means the object starts rotating from due north of the centre, 180 means it starts from due south of the centre.
Clockwise:Change direction of rotation.

Moving in a circle and a line not enough for you?

No problem. Try Transporting one unit in a line towards another unit who is also being transported in a line somewhere else. You can make nearly endless shapes and patterns by combining multiple lines and circles.

What is this good for?

Anything you want it to be good for. In Let Heaven and Nature Sing, I used it to simulate Northern Lights, a sleigh crossing the sky, children sliding down hills of snow, sun rising and setting, and more, but there is really no limit.
If you make multiple units orbet the same target, you can make a halo.
If you loop "change unit type" you can have special effects like "Curse SFX" moving around.
If you replace the radius or height of a circle with trQuestVarGet("radius") or trQuestVarGet("height"), you can modify the QVs over time to get spirals, helices, and other shapes.

I have submitted a very short demo scenario with a few examples. You can watch it to see these triggers in action, and take a look at the triggers to better understand how I did it.
http://aom.heavengames.com/downloads/showfile.php?fileid=8496
Play the .scn file that is appropriate for your version of AoM

Finally, the trigger code itself. Paste the following code into your typetest.xml in your trigger or trigger2 directory, after the rest of your effects.



<Effect name="Transport Units in Line">
      <Param name="SrcObject" dispName="Source Units" varType="unit">default</Param>
  <Param name="DstObject" dispName="Target Unit" varType="unit">default</Param>
  <Param name="StepSize" dispName="Step Size" varType="float">1</Param>
  <Command>trUnitSelectClear();</Command>
      <Command loop="" loopParm="SrcObject">trUnitSelect("%SrcObject%");</Command>
<Command>for(id=0;>1) {}</Command>
<Command>id=kbGetBlockID("%SrcObject%")*kbGetBlockID("%DstObject%")-kbGetBlockID("%SrcObject%");</Command>
<Command>if(%StepSize% > trUnitDistanceToUnit("%DstObject%"))</Command>
<Command>trQuestVarSet("transportcheck"+id,1);</Command>
<Command>if(trQuestVarGet("transportcheck"+id)==0){</Command>
<Command>trVectorQuestVarSet("SrcObjPos", kbGetBlockPosition("%SrcObject%"));</Command>
<Command>trVectorQuestVarSet("DstObjPos", kbGetBlockPosition("%DstObject%"));</Command>
<Command>trVectorQuestVarSet("diff", trVectorQuestVarGet("DstObjPos")-trVectorQuestVarGet("SrcObjPos"));</Command>
<Command>trQuestVarSet("diffmag",Math_sqrt(trVectorQuestVarGetX("diff")*trVectorQuestVarGetX("diff")+trVectorQuestVarGetY("diff")*trVectorQuestVarGetY("diff")+trVectorQuestVarGetZ("diff")*trVectorQuestVarGetZ("diff")));</Command>
<Command>trVectorQuestVarSet("diffu", xsVectorSet(trVectorQuestVarGetX("diff")/trQuestVarGet("diffmag"),trVectorQuestVarGetY("diff")/trQuestVarGet("diffmag"),trVectorQuestVarGetZ("diff")/trQuestVarGet("diffmag")));</Command>
<Command>trQuestVarSet("stepx",trVectorQuestVarGetX("SrcObjPos")+1.0*%StepSize%*trVectorQuestVarGetX("diffu"));</Command>
<Command>trQuestVarSet("stepy",trVectorQuestVarGetY("SrcObjPos")+1.0*%StepSize%*trVectorQuestVarGetY("diffu"));</Command>
<Command>trQuestVarSet("stepz",trVectorQuestVarGetZ("SrcObjPos")+1.0*%StepSize%*trVectorQuestVarGetZ("diffu"));</Command>
<Command>trVectorQuestVarSet("currentstep", xsVectorSet(trQuestVarGet("stepx"),trQuestVarGet("stepy"),trQuestVarGet("stepz")));</Command>
<Command>trUnitTeleport(trVectorQuestVarGetX("currentstep"),trVectorQuestVarGetY("currentstep"),trVectorQuestVarGetZ("currentstep"));</Command>
<Command>}</Command>
   </Effect>



<Effect name="Transport Units in Circle TL SP">
  <Param name="SrcObject" dispName="Source Units" varType="unit">default</Param> 
  <Param name="DstObject" dispName="Centre Object" varType="unit">default</Param> 
  <Param name="Height" dispName="Height" varType="string">0</Param> 
  <Param name="Radius" dispName="Radius" varType="float">10</Param> 
  <Param name="Phase" dispName="Phase Angle" varType="float">0</Param> 
  <Param name="Step" dispName="Step Size (degrees)" varType="string">5</Param> 
  <Command>for(id=0;>1) {} for(theta=0;>1) {}</Command>
  <Command>for(count=0;>1) {}</Command>
  <Command>id=kbGetBlockID("%SrcObject%")+kbGetBlockID("%DstObject%");</Command> 
  <Command>theta=trQuestVarGet("transportcircle"+id);</Command> 
  <Command>if(trQuestVarGet("circlecount"+id)==0){</Command>
<Command loop="" loopParm="SrcObject">count = count+1; trQuestVarSet("circle"+id+"unit"+count,kbGetBlockID("%SrcObject%"));</Command>
<Command>trQuestVarSet("circlecount"+id,count);</Command>
  <Command>}</Command>
  <Command>for(i=trQuestVarGet("circlecount"+id);>0) {</Command>
  <Command>trUnitSelectClear();</Command>
  <Command>trUnitSelectByID(trQuestVarGet("circle"+id+"unit"+i));</Command>
  <Command>trVectorQuestVarSet("DstObjPos", kbGetBlockPosition("%DstObject%"));</Command> 
  <Command>trQuestVarSet("stepx",trVectorQuestVarGetX("DstObjPos")+1.0*%Radius%*Math_sin(1.0*(1.0*theta+360.0*(1.0*i-1.0)/trQuestVarGet("circlecount"+id)+1.0*%Phase%)*PI/180.0));</Command> 
  <Command>trQuestVarSet("stepy",trVectorQuestVarGetY("DstObjPos")+1.0*%Height%);</Command> 
  <Command>trQuestVarSet("stepz",trVectorQuestVarGetZ("DstObjPos")+1.0*%Radius%*Math_cos(1.0*(1.0*theta+360.0*(1.0*i-1.0)/trQuestVarGet("circlecount"+id)+1.0*%Phase%)*PI/180.0));</Command> 
  <Command>trUnitTeleport(trQuestVarGet("stepx"),trQuestVarGet("stepy"),trQuestVarGet("stepz"));</Command> 
  <Command>}</Command>
  <Command>trQuestVarSet("transportcircle"+id,trQuestVarGet("transportcircle"+id)+1.0*%Step%);</Command> 
  <Command>if(-1.0>=trQuestVarGet("transportcircle"+id)) trQuestVarSet("transportcircle"+id,trQuestVarGet("transportcircle"+id)+360.0);</Command> 
  <Command>if(trQuestVarGet("transportcircle"+id)>=361.0) trQuestVarSet("transportcircle"+id,trQuestVarGet("transportcircle"+id)-360.0);</Command> 
</Effect>

NEW: Transport Units in Circle Heading

Same as Transport Units in Circle, but replaced the "Height" Parameter with "Heading Relative to Centre," which controls the units heading with respect to the centre of the circle. Zero points towards the centre, 180 points outwards, and 90/-90 point along the circle, and any other angle works as well. I replaced the height parameter because I needed one more, and as far as I can tell, heading does not matter for most units that you can set the height of.




<Effect name="Transport Units in Circle Heading TL SP">
  <Param name="SrcObject" dispName="Source Units" varType="unit">default</Param> 
  <Param name="DstObject" dispName="Centre Object" varType="unit">default</Param> 
  <Param name="Heading" dispName="Heading" varType="string">0</Param> 
  <Param name="Radius" dispName="Radius" varType="float">10</Param> 
  <Param name="Phase" dispName="Phase Angle" varType="float">0</Param> 
  <Param name="Step" dispName="Step Size (degrees)" varType="string">5</Param> 
  <Command>for(id=0;>1) {} for(theta=0;>1) {}</Command>
  <Command>for(count=0;>1) {}</Command>
  <Command>id=kbGetBlockID("%SrcObject%")+kbGetBlockID("%DstObject%");</Command> 
  <Command>theta=trQuestVarGet("transportcircle"+id);</Command> 
  <Command>if(trQuestVarGet("circlecount"+id)==0){</Command>
<Command loop="" loopParm="SrcObject">count = count+1; trQuestVarSet("circle"+id+"unit"+count,kbGetBlockID("%SrcObject%"));</Command>
<Command>trQuestVarSet("circlecount"+id,count);</Command>
  <Command>}</Command>
  <Command>for(i=trQuestVarGet("circlecount"+id);>0) {</Command>
  <Command>trUnitSelectClear();</Command>
  <Command>trUnitSelectByID(trQuestVarGet("circle"+id+"unit"+i));</Command>
  <Command>trVectorQuestVarSet("DstObjPos", kbGetBlockPosition("%DstObject%"));</Command> 
  <Command>trQuestVarSet("stepx",trVectorQuestVarGetX("DstObjPos")+1.0*%Radius%*Math_sin(1.0*(1.0*theta+360.0*(1.0*i-1.0)/trQuestVarGet("circlecount"+id)+1.0*%Phase%)*PI/180.0));</Command> 
  <Command>trQuestVarSet("stepy",trVectorQuestVarGetY("DstObjPos"));</Command> 
  <Command>trQuestVarSet("stepz",trVectorQuestVarGetZ("DstObjPos")+1.0*%Radius%*Math_cos(1.0*(1.0*theta+360.0*(1.0*i-1.0)/trQuestVarGet("circlecount"+id)+1.0*%Phase%)*PI/180.0));</Command> 
  <Command>trUnitTeleport(trQuestVarGet("stepx"),trQuestVarGet("stepy"),trQuestVarGet("stepz"));</Command> 
  <Command>trUnitSetHeading(theta+%Phase%+360.0*(i-1.0)/trQuestVarGet("circlecount"+id)+180.0+%Heading%);</Command> 
  <Command>}</Command>
  <Command>trQuestVarSet("transportcircle"+id,trQuestVarGet("transportcircle"+id)+1.0*%Step%);</Command> 
  <Command>if(-1.0>=trQuestVarGet("transportcircle"+id)) trQuestVarSet("transportcircle"+id,trQuestVarGet("transportcircle"+id)+360.0);</Command> 
  <Command>if(trQuestVarGet("transportcircle"+id)>=361.0) trQuestVarSet("transportcircle"+id,trQuestVarGet("transportcircle"+id)-360.0);</Command> 
</Effect>

I hope people find these useful or handy.

Updates

March 15, 2009 - added Step Size to Transport Units in Circle

March 15, 2009 - added Transport Units in Circle Heading

Jan 4, 2010 - replaced Circle and Circle Heading with a better version that lets you select multiple units, and it will space them evenly in the circle.

[This message has been edited by HailToTheOboe (edited 01-07-2010 @ 10:47 PM).]

Author

Replies:

invent00r
Mortal

posted 12 February 2009 05:11 PM EDT (US) 1 / 49

Very nice! Well done.

You could make one with a little randomizer, so it moves the straight line a little bit drunk? Or so circles don't look so damn perfect.

-invent00r

My Work: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

WIP: Master XS Battle Micro AI
Paused: AI (%4.247)
Os segredos s�o de quem os souber guardar.

Weed Basket
Carrier-pigeon of bad news
(id: Baske)

posted 12 February 2009 05:17 PM EDT (US) 2 / 49

My basic knowledge of triggering, thanks to following Elrich's progress and his explenations, I think making rugged circles/lines is an extremely time-consuming undertaking

�Si vis pacem, para bellum�

rlpLeYs
Mortal
(id: TriggerGuy)

posted 12 February 2009 05:20 PM EDT (US) 3 / 49

kewl, can you show us some screen shots of you doing something?

�o.O O.o�.o O�FYI: I DO NOT ABUSE DRUGS�O o..o O�My Seal�O o.�O o..o O�Of Seriousness�O o..o O�

Old Bachus
Mortal

posted 12 February 2009 05:21 PM EDT (US) 4 / 49

Pimpalicious.

Old Bachus, Napoleon of Spam turned half decent forumer
>>Winner of Most Improved AoMH Forumer '09<<
~If you can read this, thank a teacher. If it isn't in Danish, thank King Alfred.~
>>My work<<

"Once you've stooped to Cash4Gold type stuff, you no longer are a celebrity." - Mozzy

Mythic_Freak
Mortal

posted 12 February 2009 05:27 PM EDT (US) 5 / 49

Very cool. Nice work!

If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it? - Einstein, A.
Master XS - AoM Code Reference - Trigger Loader - Trigger Requests - Chess

Wow, I never thought that I would actually know something before nottud did... it's actually not all that satisfying ~ Steak

HailToTheOboe
Bitten by a radioactive ostrich

posted 12 February 2009 05:56 PM EDT (US) 6 / 49

invent00r:
I forgot about random numbers

I've been avoiding them because QV randomize doesn't work online in vanilla, but I forgot they still worked in single player.

kewl, can you show us some screen shots of you doing something?

I can show you a minute long cinematic with a few examples once it gets approved in the DL section.
Unfortunately a screenshot doesn't say a whole lot because this is all about motion.
Here's a little screenshot. The wall is moving in a circle, and the dust shows its path.
There's already some good examples of me using these in Let Heaven and Nature Sing.

I think making rugged circles/lines is an extremely time-consuming undertaking

It doesn't have to be. If you make unit 1 move in a large circle around unit 2, and make unit 2 move in a very small circle around unit 3 at a different rate, Unit 1 will look like it's making a somewhat irregular circle pattern, if unit 2 and unit 3 are invisibile things like cinematic blocks.

[This message has been edited by HailToTheOboe (edited 02-12-2009 @ 06:47 PM).]

Nick The Hun
Mortal
(id: Nick_The_Hunn)

posted 13 February 2009 02:04 AM EDT (US) 7 / 49

single-player only

IS THAT SERIOUSLY?!

New Project: 'Anatolia'

Elrich
Hero

posted 13 February 2009 09:27 AM EDT (US) 8 / 49

Yes, the core command of the effect, trUnitTeleport, does not work online, but the possiblities of this unappreciated command are numerous...

In all your science of the mind, seeking blind through flesh and bone
Find the blood inside this stone
Well, I know I've never shown what I feel, I've always known
I plan my vengeance on my own - and I was always alone

Nick The Hun
Mortal
(id: Nick_The_Hunn)

posted 13 February 2009 09:34 AM EDT (US) 9 / 49

thats why i would massacre 100 people for having it being able at multiplayer

New Project: 'Anatolia'

Yeebaagooon
EXCO Emeritus

posted 13 February 2009 01:26 PM EDT (US) 10 / 49

Perfect, you finally released them

.

Too bad I can't get them to work

.

They'd be perfect for the final boss in Ripto.

~~______________________________________~~ Yeebaagooon ~~______________________________________~~
~~____________________~~ AoMH Seraph ~~____________________~~
"You can't trust yeebaagooon to lead a rebelion, He would send everyone to steal mirrors so he could bask in his own brilliance." - Out Reach
"Yeebaagooon had never seen a more handsome man in all his life. He couldn't control himself, He needed to act. Gripping the mirror in his strong arms he kissed the figure before him..." - Out Reach
AoMH: Unfinished Scenarios|Singleplayer: Codename Ripto|Multiplayer: Minigames Z|CSC 7
Ex Seraphs Dictator, Spore Heaven Seraph

HailToTheOboe
Bitten by a radioactive ostrich

posted 13 February 2009 04:49 PM EDT (US) 11 / 49

http://aom.heavengames.com/downloads/showfile.php?fileid=8496
Short demonstration is up. Play the one for the version of AoM you have (vanilla and TT require different version of trigger loader so there are 2 scn files in there)

Yeb:
Have you Activate Trigger Loader'd in a trigger chronologically older than the transport triggers? If you have but its still not working, try looking at how I set them up in the demo, and if there is still a problem can you post some specifics of what you are doing and what isn't happening, and I'll try to help.

Quoted from Nick the Hun:
thats why i would massacre 100 people for having it being able at multiplayer

I already massacred 100 people trying, and no luck. You can get close by transforming spy though, can't you?

Also, if anyone has suggestions for other variations of the triggers you'd like to me make go ahead, but keep in mind a lot of things can already be accomplished with just these 2 triggers and some creativity.

Here are some things I have in mind:

Adding an "irregularity" parameter to introduce a bit of randomness in to the motion. 0 irregularity would be perfect line and circle

"Stop at Target" parameter for Line, instead of auto-stopping.

Adding a step size (angle) to the Circle one, so you don't have to work purely with timer to adjust speed

Something to let you control the heading. which would be easier if Math_atan() worked between -1 and -2, ahem

Mythic_Freak
Mortal

posted 13 February 2009 06:05 PM EDT (US) 12 / 49

Math_atan() worked between -1 and -2, ahem

I gave full credit to Matei, so only he and his complex math are to blame.

sneaky_squirrel
Mortal

posted 13 February 2009 08:35 PM EDT (US) 13 / 49

Just saw the demo ;p, is there any way you could make army versions so I could add this to battlefield heroes XD?

The Gods have left us, therefore making the old world crumble and turn into ashes...

But as the gods return, from the ashes of the old world, shall rise a more beautiful and powerful new world, and life will begin once more, if they hadn't closed...dang you ES.

HailToTheOboe
Bitten by a radioactive ostrich

posted 13 February 2009 08:36 PM EDT (US) 14 / 49

single-player only,

nottud
Demigod

posted 14 February 2009 05:10 AM EDT (US) 15 / 49

The only way to teleport online is to use immediate garrison but even that woul be no use for this trick.

The boy with the mad imagination
Prepare for the ultimate duel!
Learn to use all my triggers and what you can do with them. Visit here.
Find out and download the transform trigger here.
Play some minigames I have created outside AOM including some 3D games here.

Yeebaagooon
EXCO Emeritus

posted 14 February 2009 05:39 AM EDT (US) 16 / 49

Hail, I don't have your trigger loader.

I tried the circle and straight line triggers but they did not work. I had the straight line of an achilles to another achilles like in your demo looped with always as a condition. And yes, I did select the units.

But the good news is I messed about in your demo and found something. If you double the hgiht of the QV you used for that cool arkantos effect you get a double funnel effect with a reflection! It's super awesome. Perfect for Ripto.

You have GOT to try this double funnel with:

A different myth unit from each culture (Birth SFX, greek is best)

Hero birth (cool fan)

Curse SFX

Fireball

Implode Sphere SFX (blue power sphere)

Osiris birth (Crazy!)

UI GP range indicator (matrix)

Traitors SFX (Crazy souls)

Hero death (Soul fountain)

Tornado (lol)

Conversion SFX

[This message has been edited by Yeebaagooon (edited 02-14-2009 @ 01:05 PM).]

sneaky_squirrel
Mortal

posted 14 February 2009 10:08 AM EDT (US) 17 / 49

I just found out it was singleplayer the hard way.

Yeebaagooon
EXCO Emeritus

posted 14 February 2009 10:29 AM EDT (US) 18 / 49

Check these out!

I say it's possible to make a double helix using this. Just gimme the activation trigger

[This message has been edited by Yeebaagooon (edited 02-14-2009 @ 11:17 AM).]

Brightpup
Immortal
(id: ChaosRobie)

posted 14 February 2009 12:09 PM EDT (US) 19 / 49

Jesus... that video was amazing.

Elrich
Hero

posted 14 February 2009 12:49 PM EDT (US) 20 / 49

devastating...simply devastating...

Yeebaagooon
EXCO Emeritus

posted 14 February 2009 01:03 PM EDT (US) 21 / 49

They are incredible, but we need the activation trigger first

HailToTheOboe
Bitten by a radioactive ostrich

posted 14 February 2009 01:18 PM EDT (US) 22 / 49

Trigger loader is 9 months old yeeb...

http://aom.heavengames.com/downloads/showfile.php?fileid=7609

Double helix is definitely possible, as are many many other shapes and patterns.

I like the one with UI range indicators.

Another really good one is looping healing SFX and you get a white shimmery curtain as they move.

[This message has been edited by HailToTheOboe (edited 02-14-2009 @ 01:19 PM).]

Yeebaagooon
EXCO Emeritus

posted 14 February 2009 01:26 PM EDT (US) 23 / 49

Sorry, that doesn't give me the actual code. You have a trigger in the first group that has some sort of activation effect.

HailToTheOboe
Bitten by a radioactive ostrich

posted 14 February 2009 01:32 PM EDT (US) 24 / 49

Download the trigger loader, and put typeLoader.xml (or typeLoaderX.xml) in your trigger folder, and that will give you the Activate Trigger Loader effect.

That will give you access to the trig functions that are needed for this trigger

plus

dozens of other useful triggers and effects including QV arrays, strings and vectors!

[This message has been edited by HailToTheOboe (edited 02-14-2009 @ 01:34 PM).]

Yeebaagooon
EXCO Emeritus

posted 14 February 2009 01:41 PM EDT (US) 25 / 49

That file isn't included. Can you paste the code here please?

[This message has been edited by Yeebaagooon (edited 02-14-2009 @ 01:43 PM).]

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