Easy Newb question

[cirkut5732]

Hey everyone i got a easy newb question, ive been reading the tutorials here and learned alot but cant seem to find a simple and im sure easy answer to my question so here it goes..
   I create my player unit then create another unit now first of all when i create unit 2 a blue line is drawn from unit 2 to unit 1 making him automatically part of my group as in when i click the preview button he follows me around and i can give him orders, ok i do not want that i want him to stand there mounted at a m2 machine gun when i hit preview I dont know the snippet  for mounting a soldier to a m2 but ill find it unless you wanna tell me hehe, so ya 2 questions..
 1. How do i make 2 units so unit 2 doesnt follow me around and i cant give him orders and
 2. how do I make unit 2 "pre"mounted to a m2 machinge gun when i click preview

Oh i guess i have one more question sorry.....
3. When i make roads..you know making the yellow questionmarks in a line (very slow process)
when i click preview there all glitchy and overlapping yet when i go back to edit mode and zoom all the way in the yellow question mark boxes are perfectly in line...whats the problem with that??

Thank you to all who respond much obliged

[Planck]

Ok

1./

Place yourself and the other unit on the map. Go into Groups Mode (F2), select the other unit by left clicking and holding the left button down....... now drag away from your unit, as if dragging an imaginary line, then release the left button.
The blue line should now have disappeared.

2./

unitname moveInGunner vehiclename
Should do the job.
Give your unit a name in its name field and do the same for the M2 machinegun.

3./

Not many people put large amounts of road down in the mission editor nowadays, they do tend to have clipping problems.


Planck

[cirkut5732]

Awesome! thank you for the quick reply! im sure ill be back for more help!

[bedges]

i would add that the 'shapes' of items placed in the editor don't always - in fact very seldom - match with the shapes of the objects in the game world. the general direction, yes; but the actual dimensions, probably not. only experimentation and shoogling them around a bit will reveal the right distances to set between them.

good luck, and welcome to the forum

[Blanco]

indeed, respect for the guy who made this with the mapfact bauelementen  

[macguba]

i would add that the 'shapes' of items placed in the editor don't always - in fact very seldom - match with the shapes of the objects in the game world.

That is indeed true, but actually its even worse than that.   The centre of the icon does not represent the centre of where the object will be.   The only way to place items accurately is with trial and error and lots of Previews.

(Actually its even worse than that:  object1 setPos getPos object1 will sometimes make an object move.)

[cirkut5732]

well that sucks about the roads i had a great design i wanted to do for a map, Ive noticed walls do it too, If anyone knows how to place walls and roads so they dont clip please let me know other thatn that i got one more question

1. i make a unit mount him in a jeep set a waypoint and click preview and he drives nowhere, Im assuming i need to put something in the init box to make him start the vehicle?? is this right??

[Triggerhappy]

if you're using moveingunner then he can't drive
you have to use moveindriver (with the same syntax as above)

[cirkut5732]

ya sorry if i wrote the wrong command, i did use the moveindriver command and he still wont move, as soon as i unmount him he runs to his waypoint just fine but once i stick him back in the jeep he wont go anywhere, do i need a command to have him turn the enginge on? i have a guy in a boat with a waypoint to the beach and he goes there fine ive tried several jeeps and a hummer with same results any thoughts??

[cirkut5732]

oh ya one more thing would i have any succes building my roads with like that wrpedit program? not make a whole map but add to a map in that sense? I mean how did the opflash crew get the roads not to clip??

[macguba]

Always use assignAs commands as well as moveIn commands.   moveIn does move the unit, but he doesn't "know" he is in a vehicle.

wrpedit is for editing islands.   You could use it to add a road to an existing island, but then your mission would take place on an addon island which would put people off playing it.    

With a bit of patience you can place road sections so that the player won't notice that it isn't quite perfect.    Straight sections get quicker the further you go:  place two then copy them to place four, then copy that to place eight and so on.    However, placing objects in OFP is always a tedious business.

[Planck]

There are 2 ways to add roads.

One is via the mission editor, and, as you know they tend to clip with the landscape....etc etc.

The other way is to embed them into island .wrp files with an island creation/editing tool such as WrpEdit.
I wouldn't recommend you add roads or other objects to the original OFP islands, unless you are using a copy of said island.
The downside to this method, as far as making a mission is concerned, is, everyone who wants to play your mission would need the edited island also.

However you could always build your own island.   ;D


Planck

[Fragorl]

One possibility for adding lots of objects is to just add one or two and check the distances between em once they look good in mission (by looking in mission.sqm). Remember that in mission.sqm the coords go x-z-y i think. Simply add more stuff directly into your mission.sqm by checking the x/y/z differences for the 'good' objects. Excel is good here for doing lots of repetitive calculations. Copy& paste your values into mission.sqm. Voila!

Also, I advise against using 'hint formats' in mission to get the positions. They always seem to be inaccurate. Stick with mission.sqm

Edit: repeating what macguba said largely.

[cirkut5732]

Hey sorry guys to keep posting like this but i still cant get that damn jeep to move so Im gonna write out my steps and tell me what im doing wrong please! and macguba thank you for the assign all command
so here is my process
1.create empty jeep name it jeepa
2.create west soldier name it solda
3.open solda properties and in the init box ive tried two things a) solda moveindriver jeepa
and b) solda assignasdriver jeepa; sold a moveindriver jeepa
both commands mount him in the jeep just fine
4.click on waypoints highlight the solda unit and click on the map to make my waypoint make it a MOVE waypoint
5.thats it i preview it and nothing happens, Ive used this same process for a guy in a boat and he moves, I cant hear the jeep engine on either but no ones replied on if i have to turn the jeep on so ya again sorry to keep bugging
thanks to all

[bedges]

jeepas creepas, where'd you get those peepas.....

what version of flashpoint are you using? i was told that in earlier versions you couldn't tell an AI vehicle unit to go someplace by clicking the map in-game without also telling it to start the engine. i have no experience of this, as it always works fine for me, without an explicit "engine on" command.

are you assigning the solda as a driver before you get him in the jeepa?

sometimes if a waypoint is very far away an AI will take aaaages to decide how to get there. is the waypoint far away? are you giving the solda enough time?

check the slider values on the jeepa. is there enough fuel?

it seems a silly question, but is the jeepa on a road? doesn't have to be, but if it's behind a bush or a house.... nah, it would still move then, that can't be it.

seems an odd problem, but then odd problems go hand in hand with mission editing. keep at it, and don't let it dishearten you. just imagine the feeling of elation the first time you'll see the jeepa move properly. it'll be like the birth of your first child. in a jeepa.

[cirkut5732]

I'm using v1.96 with a bunch of add-ons, all should  be up to date.
Ive figured out thru a little clicking that if i move the waypoint a inch or 2 away from where it was the jeep will move, Wich is great the jeep moved but there was no obstruction in the path so i dont see how moving the waypoint a inch made it work but hey it did! probably a bug
  Thanks guys ill be back!! lol