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Notes on the jump - mod request

The section related to UnrealScript and modding. This board is for coders to discuss and exchange experiences or ask questions.
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Buster
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Notes on the jump - mod request

Post by Buster »

Notes on the jump - mod request

A big part of the Unreal single player game is the jump puzzles. Also, being able to jump to various spots in a map gives a player an advantage in many DM maps. Yet, the jump in Unreal is rather simple.

There's only the one type of jump. When the jump button/key is pressed for more than the double-click rate (usually set to 0.25) the jump is begun, even if you don't release the key, but it needs to be released for the next jump. The jump is of an average height, and the whole thing takes approx 1.25 sec. You can't jump again until you're back on solid ground, approx 1 sec later on a flat surface. If you jump up an incline you can jump again before the 1 sec is up. All fairly simple. I'd like to have a few options, like a couple different types of jumps.

1. Quick Jump
A quick tap (and release) of the button/key (a single click that's the double-click rate of 0.25 or less). The jump height is less than average, and the whole thing takes less time (approx 0.75 sec) than a normal jump. You can jump again only when at least 0.5 sec has passed.

2a. Normal Jump - regular click
A click of the button/key that's more than 0.3 sec. Even if the key is not released the jump begins. The jump is of an average height, etc. The same as the jump in Unreal already is, the jump taking approx 1.25 sec. One change is you can only jump again when at least 0.75 sec has passed, even when jumping up an incline.
2b. Normal Jump - holding the key
While doing a normal jump you don't release the button/key, but hold it down instead. The jump will begin at approx 0.3 sec, as the Normal Jump above, and won't reset until 0.75 sec has passed. Also, you'll need to be on solid ground as you do for a normal jump. But if you're holding the button/key instead of releasing it, the 0.75 sec has passed and the next jump has reset and you're on solid ground, you'll begin the next jump. In simple terms, holding the key is like an auto-jump. Saves clicking lots when doing lots of serial jumps.

3. Super Jump
Just as the double-tap forward gives you a quick rush forward, a double-tap of the jump button/key (two clicks that are each less than the double-click rate of 0,25 sec) gives you a super jump. Another way to activate a Super Jump would be a quick Duck and release immediately followed by a Quick (or Normal or either) Jump click. I prefer the double-tap way to activate this jump. The jump height is more than a normal jump, of course, and the jump takes more time to complete/reset. These numbers will depend on the height of the jump. Let's just use the whole jump taking a bit more than 1.5 sec, and won't reset for the next jump until approx 1.2 sec has passed, etc. Using the double-tap way actually makes it harder (and more tiring) to do a series of Super Jumps.

4. Mid-air Duck
Click and holding the Duck button/key while in mid-air (during the jump) will slightly decrease how fast you're moving, slightly decrease the rate at which you fall (after reaching the highest point in the jump), but does not affect the actual height of the jump or distance traveled (if jumping forward, etc). This gives the player the ability to simulate gliding (or sort of hovering) through the air, allowing time to take a few mid-air shots. But you'll be a slower moving target, too.

NOW, with all that said, I'd like to take this Unreal Jump (mod/mut) a step further. Let's give it a second (class) mode. The first thing this second mode needs is Air Control, which already exists. This allows you to manipulate the direction you're moving while in mid-air. DONE. So, with Air Control enabled, there's only one thing that my next Unreal Jump mode needs. I like to call this second mode:

5.  Unreal Flight
Using all the changes I've already mentioned, turning these jumps into flight needs only ONE thing. After starting the initial jump, and if the time until the next jump (reset) has passed, you DO NOT need to be on solid ground to perform the next jump. Toss in the different types of jumps and you've got different types of wing flaps simulated, with the Mid-air Duck seeming very much like glider's flight or a bird soaring on thermals.

I have very little knowledge of UScript (etc), and even less talent scripting mods like this, so I'm putting this idea out here, on Oldunreal. Maybe one of you, far more talented than myself, might want to see if these different jumps and the flight idea can actually be done. Without seeing how it actually looks and feels like in-game I don't really know if it's close to simulating winged (a bird's) flight.

To keep a game-play balance while using this flight mode in a single player game it may be a good idea to restrict player to using the Nali model. It's a larger target, and it's more fesible that the Nali's levitation evolved into a form of flight. It's sort of like levitating during a jump, anyways.

I sure hope somebody will at least consider giving it a go. I'd love to see if what I envision in my head is what turns out in-game.
Last edited by Buster on Tue Jul 10, 2018 6:37 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Buster
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Re: Notes on the jump - mod request

Post by Buster »

An idea for a custom animation sequence for these special jumps (and the flight mode) is:

Jump is triggered, there's a quick half-duck, and then the rising off the ground begins and the body straightens out, like it does already for the jump. During to top (arc) of the jump the legs pull up (another quick half-duck), and then the legs straighten out back into the normal pose during the falling part of the jump.

This may make it look as if character is pushing (jumping) through the air instead of the swimming animation that's used during [TAB] Fly. I always thought it looked kind of stupid, flattened out like it is. Maybe the way with the little crouches will look a bit better.
Gatherstone - Unreal by Design
https://gatherstone.oldunreal.com

OK - he falls
Keep it Unreal !!
:-)_~
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Buster
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Re: Notes on the jump - mod request

Post by Buster »

Now that I've (obsessively) thought about this topic a little more I think the Super jump should be done by using a double-tap:

3. Super Jump
Just as the double-tap forward gives you a quick rush forward, a double-tap of the jump button/key (two clicks that are each less than the double-click rate of 0,25 sec) gives you a super jump. The jump height is more than a normal jump, of course, and the jump takes more time to complete/reset. Let's say the height is 50% more than a normal one, and the whole jump takes a bit more than 1.5 sec (or more, I'm not sure), and won't reset for the next jump until approx 1.2 sec has passed, etc. Using the double-tap way actually makes it harder (and more tiring) to do a series of Super Jumps.

So, I was thinking that adding a fourth type of jump, using the quick Duck and release immediately followed by a Normal Jump click would give you a crazy straight upward Matrix Jump. This type of jump is pretty cool (if not very practical in most Unreal maps), but it's best used only as a Jump Mode, and NOT a part of the Unreal Flight idea.

(A Matrix mode, maybe?)
Pair the Matrix Jump with the Matrix Crouch. That is, holding the Duck key while in mid-air during a Matrix Jump let's you hover in one spot, still able to look around and shoot.
Gatherstone - Unreal by Design
https://gatherstone.oldunreal.com

OK - he falls
Keep it Unreal !!
:-)_~
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