Rail Risers and Footsteps

Tigger

L2: Junior Member
Mar 29, 2008
72
8
So.. I want some of the rail risers from the mining models in a payload map I'm making. But the rail models don't have collision meshes, so they don't collide with the player.

I want the players to be able to move on top of them, and I want their footsteps to sound like they're walking on wood.

I've figured out to use playerclip volumes to allow the players to move on them. But is there a way to make their footprints sound like their walking on wooden models? Aside from just putting another brush with a wood texture on it under the tracks?
 

R3dRuM

L6: Sharp Member
Feb 13, 2008
303
19
It doesn't really matter when people are in the game, with a server of 16 or more, you wont even hear your footsteps and no one really cares, look at valves maps, they dont care about footstep noise.
 

Brandished

L5: Dapper Member
Jan 19, 2008
234
311
Aside from just putting another brush with a wood texture on it under the tracks?

This is actually exactly what Valve does for the models that don't have collision meshes. All the starting gates, and some of the other fenced off areas are simply props with shadowless, non-rendered func_doors or func_brushes over lapping them with a texture to match the material the model is made out of.
 

Tigger

L2: Junior Member
Mar 29, 2008
72
8
It doesn't really matter when people are in the game, with a server of 16 or more, you wont even hear your footsteps and no one really cares, look at valves maps, they dont care about footstep noise.

That's... true. But "I" care. For those rare times someone is running down one of them and there's no other sounds I want them to feel like they're there. Not have a weird concrete footstep take them out of the game.
 

Tigger

L2: Junior Member
Mar 29, 2008
72
8
This is actually exactly what Valve does for the models that don't have collision meshes. All the starting gates, and some of the other fenced off areas are simply props with shadowless, non-rendered func_doors or func_brushes over lapping them with a texture to match the material the model is made out of.

Ok.... I'll try that. :)
 

doctor killing

L1: Registered
Dec 24, 2007
21
0
correct me if im worng but doesnt playerclip let soldiers rockets and demomans sticky bombs through, so itll be pretty anoying if your on the other team as a soldier and shooting rockets at their feet and it goes straight through causing them no damage, itll start to get really anoying, so maybe you should use tools-invisable or something to make it solid to everything.

and please correct me if im wrong
 

Brandished

L5: Dapper Member
Jan 19, 2008
234
311
Nope, your correct, the "tools/toolsplayerclip" texture does not block a weapons fire, if you wanted to do that, just use the plain "tools/toolsclip" texture instead.
 

Tigger

L2: Junior Member
Mar 29, 2008
72
8
Hmmm... there's a problem. If I texture a brush with a wood texture and walk on it, I hear wood footprints.

But if I tie that brush to an entity, like a func_static so I can force it to not render, I then hear the default "concrete" footsteps.

I move the brush back into the world, and hear wooden footsteps again. So I don't know how to tie a brush to an entity and get wooden footsteps on a model with no collision mesh.
 

Dox

L8: Fancy Shmancy Member
Oct 26, 2007
588
62
It doesn't really matter when people are in the game, with a server of 16 or more, you wont even hear your footsteps and no one really cares, look at valves maps, they dont care about footstep noise.

I care about footstep noise, otherwise there could be a cloaked spy coming up behind you and you wouldnt even know it...
 

Tigger

L2: Junior Member
Mar 29, 2008
72
8
doesn't func_brush have some parameters? lemme check....

can't find any right now :s

do you have all sides set as wood?


I've tried both having all sides set as wood, and only the one side set as wood. For the one side I've set the other sides to nodraw, and the other sides set as another texture. Curious...
 

Tigger

L2: Junior Member
Mar 29, 2008
72
8
I checked out Goldrush. On the left at the first spawn when your defending there's a raised area using the rail risers. Turns out Valve uses player clip volumes to allow them to support people, and when you walk along the rail area your footsteps are the default concrete sound, not a wooden sound.

I guess if it's good enough for Valve, it's good enough for me.
 

grazr

Old Man Mutant Ninja Turtle
aa
Mar 4, 2008
5,441
3,814
Why do you need to tie your brush to an entity, what are you trying to achieve by doing this?

To be quite fair, even props that do have collision meshes usually have them turned off in tf2.

Several people have said this already and coming from DoD where hearing footsteps allowed you to dominate a map by shooting and killing people through walls. TF2 doesn't do footsteps. With any more than a few people the steps get drowned out by shooting and voices, and on a payload map where people are going to be bottle-necked and cramped together around the bomb, you're putting an aweful lot of effert into something that will probably go unnoticed.

I'm only saying because i used to do the same. In the end you realise how much of a waste of time it is.

Alternatively try "func_wall" see if that gives a better result otherwise you might have to create an invincible func_breakable and set its material to wood. I'm not sure if that might create some lag, or significant load in your map but.. if you really want that sound.
 
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Tigger

L2: Junior Member
Mar 29, 2008
72
8
It might be possible to create a new material that sounds like wood but doesnt render.

Hmmm.... tried creating a VMT based on the playerclip and added the "$surfaceprop" "wood" element. Put that in my level, and instead of the default wood sound I get a sound like hollow wood planks.

Then I tied a normal brush with a wood texture, tied that to a func_wall, then I get normal wood footsteps.