Smoke markers, exploding aircraft and conversations

[Rich_R 1087]

I've followed the very helpful links to the various resources offered up in these forums by cant find the answers to the following three questions;

Want to have a smoke marker already popped when the mission starts (the type used for marking pick up locations), how do I do that?

I know how to have to have text appear in the middle or bottom of the screen but how do I make it come across in green or blue conversation mode as if it's a preset response from hq?

I would like to script an allied aircraft blowing up at a certain point. I can create the trigger but how to create the on board explosion?

Thanks for the help or links!

[onlyrazor 11]

Hey there,

I'm not exactly a pro, but this one I should know.

(I don't know if it works in Multiplayer, though)

For the smoke, create a trigger and an empty marker, named SMOKE1

Then, place the trigger over something, let's say a US soldier, and set the "Triggered by" to BLUFOR

Next, in the "On act." field, place this code:

smoke = "SmokeShellRed" createVehicle (getMarkerPos "SMOKE1")

This should make a red smoke grenade spawn where you placed the marker

As for the plane:

Create a trigger on the path of the plane.

Then set the "Triggered by" option to BLUFOR (assuming the plane is, let's say a C130)

Name your plane PLANE

Then, in the "On act.", enter this line of code

PLANE setDamage 1

When the plane hits the trigger, it will blow up and leave a nice trail of flames in the sky. :D

Sorry, can't help with the conversations, though.

Edited November 6, 2010 by OnlyRazor

[Rich_R 1087]

Great stuff, I'll try those tonight!

Thanks for the quick response!

[AZCoder 921]

You can also script a bomb to go off in a plane using can_collide option, but its tricky. I have an example on another thread, although setDamage is a good and simple way as mentioned above.

For conversations in color, you can either use the radio commands like sideRadio, or if you want something custom you will have to create it in description.ext. Look up that file under the community pages of this site; it goes into decent detail. Also recommend Mr Murrays editing guide for learning description.ext.

[RangerX3X 0]

For the chat - place the following in the on activation field of a trigger or a waypoint -

[West, "HQ"] sideChat "Eagle One Seven Three, we have an extraction request at location Fi-67."

The chat will appear from "Crossroad" - no need to have any unit actually named this.

[West, "airbase"] sideChat "Crossroad - cannot comply."

The chat will appear as "Firefly Base" - no need to have any unit actually named this.

This is the simplest method to do this.

[Rich_R 1087]

Just wanted to give feedback on the advice quite kindly given;

Only Razor -the set damage worked perfectly...exactly wanted I wanted...thanks

I couldn't get the smoke to work....followed the instructions but nothing seems to happen.

Ranger - your suggestion worked perfectly as well, I think considering this is my first mission, it'll do in a pinch without having to get deep in a description file and CSV files.

AZ Coder I do have the community pages bookmarked but for a lot of the stuff unless you know what you're looking at it doesnt make much sense.

I've downloaded a copy of the guide and looks like it'll be printed off when no ones looking at work tomo:)

[RangerX3X 0]

I couldn't get the smoke to work....followed the instructions but nothing seems to happen.

Using a marker position does not work with smoke for some reason these days.

Best thing to do is make the spot you want the smoke to be an object such as a road cone or something else, or if you don't want anything there use a game logic.

For some of my para jumps I mark the front and back end of the DZ's like this:

In the on activation field of a trigger:

Smoke1 = "SmokeShellGreen" createVehicle getpos DZ1Start; Smoke2 = "SmokeShellRed" createVehicle getpos DZ1Finish;

Then I place two game logics on the map and name them DZ1Start & DZ1Finish:

Side: Game Logic

Class: Locations

Unit: Location

Edited November 5, 2010 by RangerX3X
Correct close quote

[AZCoder 921]

I only meant to search for this page http://community.bistudio.com/wiki/Description.ext

Although sideChat is by far simpler. Only if you want something custom would you need it. Murrays guide explains it better than the link.

Also smoke should work with markers. getMarkerPos "markerNameQuoted"

[onlyrazor 11]

I just tested the method I mentioned and it seems to work for me. Dunno why it isn't for you.

Just in case there's something wrong with my original code, I'm going to post this again.

I placed myself as a US Army rifleman and placed a marker named smokered in front of me. Then, I positioned a trigger set to be triggered by BLUFOR over my unit and entered this into the "On Act." field.

smoke = "SmokeShellRed" createVehicle (getMarkerPos "smokered")

Edited November 5, 2010 by OnlyRazor

[AZCoder 921]

OnlyRazor: that's because your first post says getMarkerPos SMOKE1 instead of getMarkerPos "SMOKE1"

Don't worry, we all forget quotes on the the marker name now and then ;)

[onlyrazor 11]

Yeah that was probably it. I didn't really test the original code out because my ArmA wasn't running. My original code is now fixed :)

[Rich_R 1087]

Tried it again with the amended code...worked perfectly...thanks!