[Tutorial] Personal Triggers (!activator, !self)

[Helix]

INDIVIDUAL TRIGGERING. THE "!" OUTPUT AND "TARGETNAME" OUTPUT!

Hey there, long time ago since my last visit I hope to return with a blow with this.

So, this is a tutorial for entity workers. Sometimes it is useful to let only one player get affected by several triggers. This is a very powerful function in Hammer, you can do things beyond imagination!

There are several ways to let this happen. But all of them have differences. Right now I will only discuss 2 ways. Maybe I can add more later.

Individual triggering: !

! likes you. ! is very useful. What is ''!'' ?
Well it is hard to describe the absolute correct way, but to say it very simple: "!" is a command towards several entities who are involved with the entity that fires it.

Hehe, yeah don't worry I will give you an example.
Every time you wish to use this, you will let something change in an entity that is involved.

!activator
!activator says it all, pretty much. !activator means that you will let something happen with the individual person that triggers the trigger that will fire the !activator command
So, let's say the players that triggers a trigger_multiple will be set on fire. Only that person, and nobody else unless someone else also hits that trigger. (That means it is still individual)

Recipe:
1 trigger_multiple

Preparation:
trigger_multiple outputs:
-!activator (IS SOMETIMES DISPLAYED IN RED, WORRY NOT! IT WILL WORK. JUST MAKE SURE THE OUTPUT IS 100% CORRECT AND IT WILL WORK)
-Ignite

That's it. Now the person that hits the trigger will be set on fire. It's fun isn't it?

!self
!self means that the entity that fires the !self command will be affected by that same command. It is pretty useless in my opinion because you can either use !self or you can use the targetname of the entity. So:

Recipe:
1 func_button

Preperation:
func_button outputs:
-!self
-Kill

But it would be the same as:

func_botton outputs:
-func_button
-Kill

That is what I mean.
You can try to experiment with it yourself, as long as you understand what it does. Hopefully you will do that now.

Individual triggering: "targetname"

This is what I personally LOVE. It is so extremely powerfull and usefull. But hang on, please do not try to understand this if you are not an advanced mapper.

What can it do?
Let one individual player get affected by all kinds of stuff, as long as that stuff has a filter.

I am going to give one raw example;

Goal:
When a player hits a trigger_multiple, a trigger_push somewhere else in the map will only affect this player. (same thing as with the "!" trigger. Anyone who ALSO hits this trigger will be affected ALSO, but this time the "!" is required, you will see.)


Recipe:
1 trigger_multiple
1 filter_activator_name
1 trigger_push

Preparation:
filter_activator_name settings:
targetname: <your choice>, will be filter_activator_name in this tut.
filtermode: Allow entities that match criteria (depending on the situation, you might want to allow or disallow, in this case we will allow because we want the player to ALLOW something when it hits the trigger_multiple).
filtername: <your choice>, will be X in this tut.

trigger_push settings:
filtername: filter_activator_name
All the other settings can be adjusted to your own needs.

trigger_multiple outputs:
-!activator
-AddOutput
-targetname X [[/li][li]][/b][/u]

And there you go. You've just set a player's entity targetname to X. As long as any entity that can have a filter has the filter_activator_name added, this entity will only affect players with entity targetname X. Simple, huh?

It can be used for far more things than this. For example if you have 5 doors and a player has to go through all 5 in a particular order so he can get teleported or something, then:

a player with name X5 can be teleported

door 1 gives the player the name X1
door 2 gives the player the name X2
door 3 gives the player the name X3
door 4 gives the player the name X4
door 5 gives the player the name X5

Get it?

I hope this will open some new doors for you with entity work. It's really fun to make and you can do countless more things with it!
Enjoy.

[[/li][li]][/b][/u]: THE FOLLOWING IS IMPORTANT!
Everytime you give a player a targetname then YOU MUST set its targetname to blanco if it is not needed anymore or else you have a shitload of complications.
At a certain point you know the targetname is not needed anymore, create a trigger_multiple with the same settings as the one that gives a player a targetname, but instead of X you must type: targetname<space><space> (targetname )
THE TWO SPACES ARE A MUST!
The first space is to seperate the targetname from the name and the second space indicates that the targetname is empty, so it will be set to default.
ALWAYS DO THIS! ALSO DO THIS AT THE SPAWNS BECAUSE IF SOMEONE HAS A TARGETNAME AND THE ROUND ENDS, HE WILL HAVE IT NEXT ROUND ALSO (OR THE PERSON THAT HAS THIS SPAWNPOINT) SO MAKE THAT SAME TRIGGER_MULTIPLE WITH "TARGETNAME " AT EVERY SPAWN.

Sorry for the big yell but it is very very very important. Or else you have so many gameplay glitches

[Zeph]

Great tutorial again. Just for additional info:
developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Activator#Keywords

!activator
The entity that began the current I/O chain. If a player walks into a trigger that fires a logic_relay, the player is the !activator of the relay's output(s).

!caller
The previous entity in the current I/O chain. If a player walks into a trigger that that fires a logic_relay, the trigger is the !caller of the relay's output(s).

!self
The entity from which the current output originates. If a player walks into a trigger that that fires a logic_relay, the relay is the !self of its output(s).

!player
The player. Only useful in singleplayer.
Tip:To target all players in a server, use player.

!pvsplayer
The first player found in the entity's Potential Visibility Set. The PVS used is taken from the entity doing the searching, or the activator if no searching entity exists. If no activator exists either, the first player in the game is returned (i.e. !player).

!speechtarget
The entity at which the !caller is looking due to a Look At Actor or Face Actor choreography event. To do: The !caller? Really?

!picker
The first solid entity under the player's crosshair. Only useful in single-player, and mostly only for debugging. Non-solid entities cannot be selected since the invisible "bullet" that is fired does not hit them.

[tehrasha]

Is there a way to capture the !activator's name and insert it into a game_text ?
So you can have personalized messages like.... Player_Name has unlocked the door.

[therealguymins]

Jan 21, 2010 15:17:47 GMT Helix said:

INDIVIDUAL TRIGGERING. THE "!" OUTPUT AND "TARGETNAME" OUTPUT!

Hey there, long time ago since my last visit I hope to return with a blow with this.

So, this is a tutorial for entity workers. Sometimes it is useful to let only one player get affected by several triggers. This is a very powerful function in Hammer, you can do things beyond imagination!

There are several ways to let this happen. But all of them have differences. Right now I will only discuss 2 ways. Maybe I can add more later.

Individual triggering: !

! likes you. ! is very useful. What is ''!'' ?
Well it is hard to describe the absolute correct way, but to say it very simple: "!" is a command towards several entities who are involved with the entity that fires it.

Hehe, yeah don't worry I will give you an example.
Every time you wish to use this, you will let something change in an entity that is involved.

!activator
!activator says it all, pretty much. !activator means that you will let something happen with the individual person that triggers the trigger that will fire the !activator command
So, let's say the players that triggers a trigger_multiple will be set on fire. Only that person, and nobody else unless someone else also hits that trigger. (That means it is still individual)

Recipe:
1 trigger_multiple

Preparation:
trigger_multiple outputs:
-!activator (IS SOMETIMES DISPLAYED IN RED, WORRY NOT! IT WILL WORK. JUST MAKE SURE THE OUTPUT IS 100% CORRECT AND IT WILL WORK)
-Ignite

That's it. Now the person that hits the trigger will be set on fire. It's fun isn't it?

!self
!self means that the entity that fires the !self command will be affected by that same command. It is pretty useless in my opinion because you can either use !self or you can use the targetname of the entity. So:

Recipe:
1 func_button

Preperation:
func_button outputs:
-!self
-Kill

But it would be the same as:

func_botton outputs:
-func_button
-Kill

That is what I mean.
You can try to experiment with it yourself, as long as you understand what it does. Hopefully you will do that now.

Individual triggering: "targetname"

This is what I personally LOVE. It is so extremely powerfull and usefull. But hang on, please do not try to understand this if you are not an advanced mapper.

What can it do?
Let one individual player get affected by all kinds of stuff, as long as that stuff has a filter.

I am going to give one raw example;

Goal:
When a player hits a trigger_multiple, a trigger_push somewhere else in the map will only affect this player. (same thing as with the "!" trigger. Anyone who ALSO hits this trigger will be affected ALSO, but this time the "!" is required, you will see.)


Recipe:
1 trigger_multiple
1 filter_activator_name
1 trigger_push

Preparation:
filter_activator_name settings:
targetname: <your choice>, will be filter_activator_name in this tut.
filtermode: Allow entities that match criteria (depending on the situation, you might want to allow or disallow, in this case we will allow because we want the player to ALLOW something when it hits the trigger_multiple).
filtername: <your choice>, will be X in this tut.

trigger_push settings:
filtername: filter_activator_name
All the other settings can be adjusted to your own needs.

trigger_multiple outputs:
-!activator
-AddOutput
-targetname X [

[/li][li]][/b][/u]

And there you go. You've just set a player's entity targetname to X. As long as any entity that can have a filter has the filter_activator_name added, this entity will only affect players with entity targetname X. Simple, huh?

It can be used for far more things than this. For example if you have 5 doors and a player has to go through all 5 in a particular order so he can get teleported or something, then:

a player with name X5 can be teleported

door 1 gives the player the name X1
door 2 gives the player the name X2
door 3 gives the player the name X3
door 4 gives the player the name X4
door 5 gives the player the name X5

Get it?

I hope this will open some new doors for you with entity work. It's really fun to make and you can do countless more things with it!
Enjoy.

[[/li][li]][/b][/u]: THE FOLLOWING IS IMPORTANT!
Everytime you give a player a targetname then YOU MUST set its targetname to blanco if it is not needed anymore or else you have a shitload of complications.
At a certain point you know the targetname is not needed anymore, create a trigger_multiple with the same settings as the one that gives a player a targetname, but instead of X you must type: targetname<space><space> (targetname )
THE TWO SPACES ARE A MUST!
The first space is to seperate the targetname from the name and the second space indicates that the targetname is empty, so it will be set to default.
ALWAYS DO THIS! ALSO DO THIS AT THE SPAWNS BECAUSE IF SOMEONE HAS A TARGETNAME AND THE ROUND ENDS, HE WILL HAVE IT NEXT ROUND ALSO (OR THE PERSON THAT HAS THIS SPAWNPOINT) SO MAKE THAT SAME TRIGGER_MULTIPLE WITH "TARGETNAME " AT EVERY SPAWN.

Sorry for the big yell but it is very very very important. Or else you have so many gameplay glitches[/quote]


Is there any way to extinguish the player after ignited? I couldn't find any way do do it. And no water doesn't work. I tried !activator Extinguish but I guess that only extinguishes env_fires.

[Zeph]

On the same entity that trigger ignite, add an extinguish output as well, but with a delay.

[darkhand]

Is it at all possible to use this to dynamically parent an entity to the caller?

Or more specifically, can it be used in the SourceEntityName field of an ambient_generic somehow?

For example, pressing a button attaches an ambient_generic to a player in a multiplayer game to make it sound as though it's coming from them?

[Zeph]

Ambient_Generic does not have an input to set the SourceEntityName field. However, the source entity could be something else that could be attached to the player.

Example, have a sprite which you SetParentAttachment to the !activator of a trigger multiple. Then use the sprite as the source entity for the ambient generic.

[darkhand]

Aug 1, 2010 11:10:45 GMT Zeph said:

Ambient_Generic does not have an input to set the SourceEntityName field. However, the source entity could be something else that could be attached to the player.

Example, have a sprite which you SetParentAttachment to the !activator of a trigger multiple. Then use the sprite as the source entity for the ambient generic.

That's perfect, thanks so much.