Vehicles in Quake?

[RangerXT]

I know i've seen some mods like airquake that change the gameplay to vehicle combat only, but i'm wondering if it's possible to code say a car that you can get in and out of with the press of a button?

[MadGypsy]

Why not? For what it is worth, the car model could be perceived as just another ranger model (it just looks like a car). So what you are really asking is: "Is it possible to swap models at the press of a button?". Of course it is. You don't even need the car model to get this working. Write a script that lets you "possess" any monster model when you press a button within X amount of units from it. Once you get that working simply swap monster for car.

You'll also have to make a condition for controls. Obviously free-look and jump would be very strange things in a car. The player can also move too sharp for a car. You'll have to figure out a way to mush-up the controls so movement isn't so free. Actually, the model switch is the simplest part of this. All the time you spend trying to get the proper behavior/movement from the vehicle is going to be your real challenge. It's the small things. Consider this: up-arrow (generically) is forward in Quake. Is that forward in your car, though or is the jump button now the gas? Left and Right strafe the player. Cars only strafe when numerous specific conditions are met. They surely don't strafe from a parked position.

Another thing to consider is display. Will your car mode jump to a chase-cam or will the car be a VWeap? This may be the first thing to consider because, these are very different things, but both methods are possible. With the VWeap version you'll get shadows on your car sprite and all you need is a picture of the front 1/4 of the car from the drivers perspective. However, if someone turned on a chase cam would they find that there is no car model and they are still the ranger?

There is a lot involved in turning a person into a LEGITIMATE car. You can cut down some of the work though by harvesting some chunks from other mods. I don't remember the name of the mod, but I know there is already a mod where you can drive around. You could steal the controls from that. You may even be able to steal the chase-cam vs VWeap solution from that as well. I would definitely start with swapping models on button press, though. If you can't get that to work then the rest doesn't even matter.

[RangerXT]

Ahh, okay, that all makes sense. I figured I would fiddle with the controls a while as I went and start with figuring out the actual method of basic functionality. I'm not sure if i'll even go down that route with the mod i'm making but since it is possible it is something I can start considering. Thanks for the help!

[Mr.Burns]

Sound advice as always from MG
Just to try and make some contribution, you could take a look at the sources over at http://web.archive.org/web/200712102...lly.com/files/ and http://web.archive.org/web/200308021...quake.htm#down .

Hope this helps
Monty