How to make a basic elevator?

Mar 23, 2010
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I want a basic linear elevator that is activated when you step on it.

I have:
A movelinear with move distance of 98, and the direction is up
A trigger_multiple with the same inputs/outputs of a respawn room door.
Code:
OnEndTouchAll 	 door_spawnroom_red_01 	 Close 	   	 0.00 	 No
OnStartTouchAll 	door_spawnroom_red_01 	Open 	  	0.00 	No

Do I need it to be a func_door? or what?

Thanks,
Prestige
 

NoodleCollie

Stoat fiend
aa
Jul 30, 2009
383
335
The simplest way to do this would be to make your elevator a func_door and set it to "open" when touched. This would, of course, require you to calculate the lip that the "door" would need to have so that the plaform would move to the correct position; look at the full length you need to move from the top face of the elevator platform right up to where the top face of the platform should be level with when open, then take away the thickness of the platform and insert this into the lip value as a negative number. For example, if the platform needed to move upwards by a distance of 100 units and the platform itself was 16 units thick, the lip would need to be -84 units; the func_door would move its normal thickness (16 units) and then need to recede an extra 84 units "into the wall", hence the -84 lip.

In Mach4, for example, the lifts take you up when you touch them and as such you can't travel down on one; if you wanted this feature you'd need to set the "Toggle" spawnflag of the func_door and this should toggle the lift's position each time you step on it. In theory that should work but I'm not 100% sure.
 
Last edited:
Feb 17, 2009
1,165
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Just remember to not use elevators in your TF2 maps. Usually TF2 mappers try not to use them. ;)
 

Jakkarra

L4: Comfortable Member
Aug 26, 2009
167
36
The reasoning behind this is that elevators have a slight bug in TF2, they cause the player's view to jitter while moving, due to problems with moving brushes as a whole, even the kart has this problem sometimes.

That, and players don't often appreciate having to wait for the elevator to return after another player has used it.

Oh, and the fact that people don't like having to rely on these sorts of things for movement, same with ladders really. If possible, try to use a ramp or stairs.
 

gamemaster1996

L13: Stunning Member
Sep 30, 2009
1,064
134
Or there's a few elevator prefabs at fpsbanana as lets face it prefabs save time. :)
 
Mar 23, 2010
1,872
1,696
are elevators really really bad? I got one in the map (gonna be two when mirrored), and 2 in the spawn (its a double decker spawn). I can easily replace those with stairs though.....

I know there is something w/ lag and "shakiness", but 2 shouldn't be too bad, right?
 

Jakkarra

L4: Comfortable Member
Aug 26, 2009
167
36
I'd suggest replacing them with stairs if at all possible, Elevators just arent very good, Sorry, mate.
 

Micnax

Back from the dead (again)
aa
Apr 25, 2009
2,109
1,585
are elevators really really bad? I got one in the map (gonna be two when mirrored), and 2 in the spawn (its a double decker spawn). I can easily replace those with stairs though.....

I know there is something w/ lag and "shakiness", but 2 shouldn't be too bad, right?

Use stairs. They're much easier to make, easier to navigate and are much better anyway. ;)
 

l3eeron

L8: Fancy Shmancy Member
Jan 4, 2008
593
88
for me personally, I hate elevators. Spawn room elevators... meh, it's gimmicky but not game breaking. Elevators out on the battle field in almost all cases are disruptive to the game flow and negates the finely tuned balance of movement ratio between the classes.
 
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Tehrasha

L3: Member
Nov 5, 2009
115
28
I would never use elevators as the only way to access an area.
But I dont see why they would be a bad idea as a alternate route.

With stairs as the primary route, elevators can be a shortcut, but with slower 'firing rate' than a ladder.

I really dont understand what people define as 'game breaking' when it comes to elevators and ladders. To me it shows an inability of the player to adapt to a different game mechanic. If you are a kickass sniper on 2fort but you keep getting back-stabbed on $map by spies using a ladder or elevator, the answer is not 'this map is broken'. The answer is either 'I need to find another place to snipe from' or 'I need to change my playstyle when on this $map'.
 

Cynick

L4: Comfortable Member
Feb 7, 2010
153
284
I think the main problem with elevators is not that it's an unfamiliar mechanic to everyone but that TF2 *sometimes* decides to have very poor collisions between dynamic platforms and the player. I've played on a few maps with buggy elevators which the player would fall through roughly half way up.

Another reason is that TF2 is supposed to be fast-paced and waiting for an elevator to come back down really breaks the flow of the battle. Whereas with stairs, the battle keeps going if someone tries to escape up them, they pretty much get a free escape by taking the elevator.

Also, an elevator often splits up the team in a team-based game, which is bad. (Think about a slow elevator--you could have a line of people waiting for the elevator).
 
Mar 23, 2010
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yeah. i removed the elevator. its now a kewl tri-staircase (or is going to be).
 

Pocket

Half a Lambert is better than one.
aa
Nov 14, 2009
4,694
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Another reason is that TF2 is supposed to be fast-paced and waiting for an elevator to come back down really breaks the flow of the battle. Whereas with stairs, the battle keeps going if someone tries to escape up them, they pretty much get a free escape by taking the elevator.

That could be sort of solved by making the elevator a [ame=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paternoster]Paternoster[/ame]. Which should be easy enough to make using a path_track, and might fit in a map that's set in Europe somewhere. There are still the technical issues to worry about though.
 
Mar 23, 2010
1,872
1,696
That could be sort of solved by making the elevator a Paternoster. Which should be easy enough to make using a path_track, and might fit in a map that's set in Europe somewhere. There are still the technical issues to worry about though.

ha. thats cool. too much work for something so little IMO.