item_teamflag not being a good parent. ARRRRRGH!!!!

[necro]

I've been beating my head over this for days now. After much testing, I realized there's a fundamental flaw in the item_teamflag entity (the intelligence). Heres the test: Place an item_teamflag somewhere. Put a trigger_multiple somewhere else (nowhere near the teamflag) and parent it to the teamflag. The second a player triggers it, they get the intelligence its parented to.

This makes no sense to me! The trigger_multiple should be the child to the item_teamflag, and just tag along. It shouldn't do the opposite of calling the teamflag to "come here".

Any ideas on a work around? I'm desparately trying to have multiple teamflags in my map, and can't do squat if I can't marry a trigger_multiple to the flags.

 

[Foreverkul]

What are you trying to accomplish though?

 

[necro]

wow, get this. I changed the trigger_multiples to trigger_teleporters and whatya know, they work!! After days of messing around with this, I finally got it to where carrying 1 flag disables another flag as you get close.

HOORAH! Hopefully using teleporters like this doesnt cause wierd bugs later. For now, the only bug I can see is if 2 flags drop on top of each other, someone could pick them both up. If I can get this ironed out, I'll post the vmf

 

[kimangroo]

I seem to remember Drhaphazard trying to do something with multiple flags and having difficulties. I don't know if he successfully solved his problem or not though. Using teleporters to disable flags sounds pretty inventive though.

EDIT: Seems he did solve it here.

 

[zbandito]

I think another way to approach it might be to make it so that picking up one flag enables brushwork making it impossible to grab the other flags until the first flag is captured or returned. Think a set of deadly spikes that are triggered when a teams security system detects one of the flags being taken. Thoughts?

 

[trainRiderJ]

I think another way to approach it might be to make it so that picking up one flag enables brushwork making it impossible to grab the other flags until the first flag is captured or returned. Think a set of deadly spikes that are triggered when a teams security system detects one of the flags being taken. Thoughts?

What happens when two flags are picked up near-simultaneously? You'll have someone stuck in surprise brushes, or worse.

 

[zbandito]

Well worse. Deadly spikes = trigger_hurt brush entities that kill players within the secured zone surrounding the flags. So taking a single flag alone has no inherent danger, but if your team blindly charges all intels simultaneously someone might die. Kind of harsh but it could potentially encourage teamplay communication if the map is set up right.

 

[necro]

lol! I've tried just about everything, including the suggestions you guys just made. Nothing has worked reliably. It's unbelievable. All I want are three teamflags in your own team's base that you have to carry to the CP's. Why valve allowed 1 player to carry multiple flags is beyond me. Seems like a gross oversight.

Yeah, I read up on DrHaphazards ordeal, on this and other sites. Ultimately I'm going to use the same solution he ended up with, of wrapping the flags in respawnroom brushes that strip players of a flag once they approach another flag. I was trying to be more sophisticated by allowing a flag to be dropped in the field and picked up again, but its just been too big a hassle. I'll just have them instantly return to base to simplify things.

Just be aware guys that a trigger_multiple parented to a teamflag will always cause the !activator to obtain the parented teamflag, no matter how far away it is. I bet thats what caused DrHaphazard so much grief (myself too).