- Feb 14, 2011
- 41
- 1
I read somewhere that TF2's collision hulls are A. boxes and B. of fixed orientation (i.e., independent of player direction).
If this is true, than I wonder why this decision was made. The collision hull determines whether splash damage affects the player. The corners of a box are 2^.5 times longer than the shortest path from center to edge, and the player can't determine the location of the corners of this box, meaning the splash damage effect of projectiles within a certain range (from 1 - 1*2^.5 times the length of the collision hull) is entirely unpredictable. A cylinder with constant radius would avoid this issue entirely.
A collision hull with 90 degree corners also makes it easy for players to get stuck on sharp edges and ridges in the map, a problem that I'd call severe for most tf2 maps. Cases in point: the back stairs of badwater, final cap have a tiny raised edge that traps anyone moving against the wall; the final cap room in well has a raised lip on the floor outside spawn that stops players. There are innumerable other examples. Again, pretty much any regular prism besides a box would sidestep this issue.
So a few questions: Am I totally wrong about the shape of the collision hull? I really hope I am. Is it possible to draw collision hulls with a console command? Is it possible to change the collision hulls? Are there some computational reasons why a cylindrical hull (or even better, a pill-shaped ellipsoid hull) wouldn't work?
If this is true, than I wonder why this decision was made. The collision hull determines whether splash damage affects the player. The corners of a box are 2^.5 times longer than the shortest path from center to edge, and the player can't determine the location of the corners of this box, meaning the splash damage effect of projectiles within a certain range (from 1 - 1*2^.5 times the length of the collision hull) is entirely unpredictable. A cylinder with constant radius would avoid this issue entirely.
A collision hull with 90 degree corners also makes it easy for players to get stuck on sharp edges and ridges in the map, a problem that I'd call severe for most tf2 maps. Cases in point: the back stairs of badwater, final cap have a tiny raised edge that traps anyone moving against the wall; the final cap room in well has a raised lip on the floor outside spawn that stops players. There are innumerable other examples. Again, pretty much any regular prism besides a box would sidestep this issue.
So a few questions: Am I totally wrong about the shape of the collision hull? I really hope I am. Is it possible to draw collision hulls with a console command? Is it possible to change the collision hulls? Are there some computational reasons why a cylindrical hull (or even better, a pill-shaped ellipsoid hull) wouldn't work?