What do you think will be possible with LUA?

[o_rannibunny]

I just wanted to find out if I got that whole LUA idea right, that I don't miss out on a completely amazing feature, even before the action begun ^_^

What I heard about LUA is, that it's a script language, which can have it's code executed as C-code. I imagine this being a lot more powerful than how it worked in Quake and Half-Life, where you could use predefined values and commands in your simple scripts as you can actually read and write instead of working around that with alias ^_^

I can think of 5 different possible uses for LUA as of now:

1 I'm sure already that Mappers will be able to directly access most of the server variables, being able to set certain amounts of ammo, teleport entities, create, move and destroy entities, and possibly much more I can't even imagine yet.
They probably won't be able to create new weapons or give different classes different weapons (even though that might turn out to be fun as well)

2 The HUD will probably be very editable via LUA.
I really want to see that in action. I already had quite a lot of fun doing my own HUD in ETF, which let me move and resize everything and show certain things depending on certain requirements (class, team, map, maybe more)

3 I really hope you'll be able to edit your config via LUA. I have no idea what you might do with it but I fear if the config will be editable at all, we'll face the harshest restrictions here, for I don't think it should help you to aim or use grenades, neither fighting nor concing. About concing I have the greatest fears because I think it might be possible to script certain concs in certain situations (2fort lift or maybe even balc-to-balc)
But it would also allow you a lot of simple customizations without giving you an unfair advantage. Especially if you only play one or maybe up to three classes or all of them (or at least have a config for all of them ^_^)
All I want to say is: it would probably be a tremendous help in control (specials and the like) and communication but it shouldn't be unrestricted.

4 The last use I can think of is by running it on servers doing... whatever, I don't know. Maybe enable votes, maybe protect the children who enjoy blowing people to bits from the s-word, whatever it may be, or collecting stats, etc.

5 Okay, while thinking about possible use 4 I came up with possible use 5: running it on clients to collect stats, contacts, reconnect, and bypass the s-word-protection.


Feel free to shower me with abuse, comment on any of my suggestions and add new ones.

[o_fooleycooley]

1) Yeah, this is the main implementation of LUA.

2) The HUD won't be LUA'd, at least for the first release. That's not to say it isn't open to a degree of customization (you can change graphics, font sizes & styles) but don't expect to be able to do stuff like create a vertical health bar next to your crosshair. You get one numerical health reading which you can move, change the colour of, change the font of, change the size of... but that's it.

Again, this is just current implementation and is mostly down to how messy the core valve HUD stuff is. There is the idea of letting mappers hide/show certain HUD elements to suit the style of the map but currently that's as far as HUD LUA goes.

3) No chance in hell. We want to move away from that whole TFC "Half the planet used _special because it was there while the other half considered it a cheat*". You will be able to make your own scripts and these will largely be the same as TFCs - with the exception that _special is non-existant and there will be no functionality to match what it was capable of.

4) Server minimods (like what you pointed out) have existed just fine without the use of LUA in the past. I can't comment if we're leaving this area open to LUA editing but I feel either way it won't really matter.

5) Too much client control just leads to abuse and cheating.

*And used it anyway? Lawlz. ;)

[o_zydell]

I see a TEAM YELLOW HUD V1.0Beta coming up!!!!

[o_xstioph]

so will you be able to do scripts like:
if rpg_ammo > 0
{ weapon_rpg}
else
{ weapons_supershotgun }

(if rpg ammo is greater than 0, use rpg if not, use supershotgun...)

That's one thing I really missed in HL death match... with ~15 weapons it would have made configuring keys a lot smoother... Though in fortress games it might not be as usefull as you mainly carry 2-3 weapons (+melee). But I still see some possibilities.

[Circuitous]

Lua doesn't control scripts, so... no, probably not.

Doesn't it automatically switch weapons if you fire empty anyhow?

[o_skull]

Originally Posted by Xstioph

so will you be able to do scripts like:
if rpg_ammo > 0
{ weapon_rpg}
else
{ weapons_supershotgun }

(if rpg ammo is greater than 0, use rpg if not, use supershotgun...)

That's one thing I really missed in HL death match... with ~15 weapons it would have made configuring keys a lot smoother... Though in fortress games it might not be as usefull as you mainly carry 2-3 weapons (+melee). But I still see some possibilities.

that's noobish you know? using all your rpg ammo before reaching the shotty.

[o_wlvy]

I always found that

bind "mwheeldown" "lastinv"

works fine, just you sometimes have to switch to shotty when you spawn. Unless you add that shotgun cmd (tfc_weapon_shotgun?) in your soldier.cfg and turn ec to 1

[o_rannibunny]

actually, I used something like what Xstioph suggested since back in QWTF. It doesn't work as good anymore, since the weaponswitch animations are too long, but it still works:
(I use the old QWTF weaponslot thingies to imply how it doesn't work as good, now)

alias +1 "impulse 1; wait; impulse 2; wait; impulse 3; wait; impulse 7; wait; +attack"
alias -1 "-attack"
alias +2 "impulse 6; wait; +attack"
alias -2 "-attack"
alias +3 "impulse 1; wait; impulse 4; wait; impulse 5; wait; impulse 8; wait; +attack"
alias -3 "-attack"

bind mouse1 +1
bind mouse2 +2
bind mouse3 +3

now what does this do? I'll tell you for +1, you'll be able to guess the others:
it switches to the axe and waits (very short amount of time)
tries to switch to the shotty (won't work if no ammo/no weapon)
tries to switch to the supershotty (won't work if no ammo/no weapon)
tries to switch to the Rocketlauncher (won't work if no ammo/no weapon)
and FIRES!

I just realized, that it'd probably be more logical to have the thunderbolt on mouse1 and the rl on mouse3 since one is a little hitscanny, while the RL definitely isn't. But who cares ^_^

[o_sobe green]

Woa hold on a second, so setting default gravity for a map is possible with LUA? I mean this by I don't have to do anything with ents to give a low gravity effect right? What would something like that look like?

[o_rannibunny]

I'm not sure if I got the question right but... well, just like an ordinary low-g-map.
I think the fun starts when you combine these entities with LUA, so you can have a button in your map that reduces the gravity ^_^

[o_leandros]

I'm no mapper but I don't see how that should be a problem.

[o_ihmhi]

Originally Posted by rannibunny

...give different classes different weapons...

This actually can be done in TFC. Play the escape maps, like area 49; in a lot of these maps there are weapons you can pick up (like the super shotgun). In one map with Pyros in it (I think it was an Area 49 map, forget which one), the Pyro ends up with a shotgun, super shotgun, wrench, and rocket launcher 20 minutes into the map.

So while you may not be able to spawn the class with the weapon, it can definitely be picked up by any class if it were placed in the map.

[o_rannibunny]

Hehe, cool, I didn't know that.

[o_nezumi]

I think the problem was taking weapons away.

[o_leandros]

The default pyro weapons are stripped in area49, but you might spawn with them if a lot of people spawn at once. area49_2 gives civs a sshotgun/rpg and _3 gives you a knife as well, so it's all doable.