Area Triggers

What are the 3d area trigger and designated trigger used for never did try to use them lol.

I want to answer this, but I keep finding shiny things and I get distracted. Go figure. I'm a gamer and I can't concentrate long enough to reply.

Anyway, on the DFBHD game CD, or maybe at the DFReload, you can download the DFBHDMED.pdf manual and check out page 20. I'll add more information later when I can keep my brain corralled. Sorry.

OK,I got it, thanx bud.

I use 3D area triggers all the time, and I love 'em. By literally adding a third dimension to how you can make things happen in a map or mission, you take a much deeper control of the gameplay.

Sometimes it's good to have enemies move in on the player when he enters a building. It's usually better to make them wait 'til he's on the third floor and can't escape by jumping out to send them in after him. Sometimes you want a Blackhawk to land when it's in an area trigger. Sometimes you want it to keep running when it's touched down. Sometimes you want a player to die when he falls in water, not when he's in a vehicle moving over it. Sometimes you want a text message in the .wac to display when the player is in the tunnel, not running around above it.

These are a few great reasons for using 3D area triggers.

Designated mission areas are not the most efficient way to keep a player from wandering off course and finding glitches or ways to avoid carefully laid traps, and I find them annoying (especially when I want to hunt down every enemy in a map, but a lot of them are outside the DMA [like "Gasoline Alley"]). You can only properly use them with an unlocked MED, too.

The only thing that activating the "Designated Mission Area" checkbox does is allow the mapper to use a single trigger to cause an action if the player is outside all of the area triggers marked as designated mission areas. Otherwise, a mapper would have to use a trigger for each area, like:

Area triggers 1, 2 and 3 are marked as designated mission areas.

IF the player is outside the designated mission area THEN mission fails.

Area triggers 1, 2 and 3 are just normal area triggers.

IF the player is not within area 1
    ...AND is not within area 2
    ...AND is not within area 3

    ...THEN mission fails.

Personally, I think it's a better idea to design a mission in a way that gives the player no advantage by leaving the "mission area" or makes the "mission area" inescapable, but that means the mapper has to out-think the player and thoroughly test the mission, and since that means extra work, it's easier to just not let the player go where he wants. I mean, what are we, playing a game here?

3D area triggers for fast roping .. good idea.

Here is the way that I use the 3d area trigger and work's great for me

if ssnarea3D(10000,2) and never() then
wave("Tplay322.wav",100)
text("Clear the area before I light this candle")
endif