Curved trains?

iQue

L1: Registered
Apr 16, 2009
15
5
Hey guys

Since it's my first post on the forum I'm just gonna go ahead and introduce myself. I am a complete newb when it comes to TF2 mapping, I just got started yesterday after having the greatest idea ever (cough). I've started with making some basic sketches of how the map is going to look, style, layout etc, but haven't gotten around to do anything in hammer yet, basically because I already have troubles making a small room, haha. I have played TF2 since release though and I'm well aware of how the classes work and how to make it interesting for everyone.

I thought about making a CTF map with gameplay inspired by turbine, but with an hydro inspired alpine setting. I don't really have anything to show yet and it'll take a few years before the map is out, but I thought I'd let you guys know :p I play competitive and I'm gonna try to keep it fun for both pub and comp

Now, I have no idea how the trains work, but I've only ever seen trains "on the ground" and with straight tracks in the maps in game (well, freight etc). Is it possible to have a curved train track with the train turning with it somehow? Would it also be possible to have the train go above the ground either on pillars or simply on some sort of bridge?

Basically I want the train to go fairly low on some sort of bridge, classes should be able to run under the train track without feeling claustrophobic and soldiers and demomen should be able to jump over it if they want to. More of an aesthetic thing than something that changes gameplay dramatically.

Is this possible with the tools already available? Or do I have to make a lot of custom assets to get this to work? That's all I need to know.

Have a nice day, and you can expect my map somewhere around a year from now ;)
 
Last edited:

Apom

L6: Sharp Member
Sep 14, 2008
366
65
It's possible (payloads do it after all), but the fact that the rain models don't have articulate wheels will probably stand out if you do a curved track. If you're going that way, you will probably need to remodel them. Besides, all experiments with multi-parts rain (like frontier) tend to show it's awfully complicated to do them without bugs.
 

TMP

Ancient Pyro Main
aa
Aug 11, 2008
947
560
It's not any harder to make a cart be on a different substance

Go look at pl_cranetop.
 

MangyCarface

Mapper
aa
Feb 26, 2008
1,626
1,325
One of the reasons Frontier's flatbed car is so small is that the turning radius of the regular cars is so unacceptably high that you cannot pull off a 90 degree turn in game without either a horrible aesthetic or an enormous amount of space.

You adjust the turning function of a tracktrain using the distance between wheels keyvalue- this is based on the location of the tracktrain's origin, and determines where the two turning points will be placed along the track.
 

iQue

L1: Registered
Apr 16, 2009
15
5
You adjust the turning function of a tracktrain using the distance between wheels keyvalue- this is based on the location of the tracktrain's origin, and determines where the two turning points will be placed along the track.

Thanks for clarifying. Might seem like too much job for just a small thing then... Unless my map turn out bigger than I thought

Cheers