Solved Cultist_Destroyer

[therfiles]

Hey there guys! I have a quick question for anyone who knows the answer...

 

What makes the 'cultist_destroyer' npc so special? Try spawning it in-game and it will use force rage, and then make a radius of death around it, killing everyone in the radius. But when you edit the .npc file, it looks like any old npc file. There is no special class the npc was given, yet it acts strangly in-game...different the regular npcs...here is the npc file:

 

cultist_destroyer
{
playerModel cultist
customSkin red
weapon WP_MELEE
FP_LEVITATION 3
rank ltcomm
reactions 1
aim 1
move 1
aggression 5
evasion 1
intelligence 1
hfov 120
vfov 120
playerTeam TEAM_ENEMY
enemyTeam TEAM_PLAYER
class CLASS_REBORN
snd cultist3
sndcombat cultist3
sndjedi cultist3
yawSpeed 60
walkSpeed 72
runSpeed 230
health 100
dismemberProbHead 0
dismemberProbArms 20
dismemberProbLegs 0
dismemberProbHands 30
dismemberProbWaist 0
}

 

It looks like any old npc...what makes it special?

[MUG]

Im not sure what these values are:

 

snd cultist3

sndcombat cultist3

sndjedi cultist3

 

so that could be responsible?

[therfiles]

I don't think so...I think that determines what sound files to use for the npc....snd is for generic sounds, sndcombat is for combat sounds, and sndjedi is for jedi sounds.

[MagSul]

Those dictate the sounds that the npc uses.

 

As for the destroyer. I haven't a clue. O_o

Edited June 27, 2012 by MagSul

[Inyri]

Im not sure what these values are:

 

snd cultist3

sndcombat cultist3

sndjedi cultist3

 

so that could be responsible?

I bet you're right. It probably gives him a mighty thu'um.

[Link]

I just spawned one... didn't do anything but punch me

[therfiles]

Wierd...which is the logical thing for it to do...except they blow up for me.

[Link]

Really?

 

Perhaps cultist_destroyer is the MissingNo. of JKA ;D

[MUG]

perhaps you have some mod or other that creates an alternate cultist destroyer?

[eezstreet]

The cultist destroyer is an unused base NPC (and like all the cultist AI of JKA MP, is broken. This one has no code in MP) that charges towards you and explodes, instantly killing you in SP. The explosion effect is missing in base JKA (force/destruction_exp is the effect), as are the sounds. It cannot be duplicated; it's effect is hardcoded to that specific NPC_type.

Edited June 28, 2012 by eezstreet

[therfiles]

Thanks, eezstreet! If I had an effect under that name, would it run it like it's supposed to?

 

Any reason why some of the others (SiLink) didn't get the same effect?

 

Why the heck would they just leave an npc lying around?

[eezstreet]

Thanks, eezstreet! If I had an effect under that name, would it run it like it's supposed to?

That is correct. The game registers the effect but it doesn't exist (at least that is my theory. I didn't check to see if it is actually used)

Any reason why some of the others (SiLink) didn't get the same effect?

They were playing in MP. The effect only works in SP (any unarmed NPC like non-saber cultists in MP will try to punch you...some mods correct this)

Why the heck would they just leave an npc lying around?

A lot of content is left out of the game for unknown reasons. In JK2, it is confirmed that (straight from JK2's lead designer) they left out two levels in Cairn. (All we have is their dynamic music files, but it still confirms it). There are also some unused glider/flyer NPC for Yavin (complete with AI!!).

In JA, we have more. There's two unused (but cool) Cultist NPCs and rideable rancors and wampas that they used for testing the Tauntaun before they had a model for it (also confirming that those models existed first. My theory is that they made t2_rancor before the hoth missions, which makes sense on the technical end). There's unused vehicle files for ships. iirc, Rich Whitehouse (lead programmer of JK2/JA's MP) told me that Siege was completely redone several times in terms of design.

Point is, they move a lot of content, and sometimes there are discrepancies between what is used and what isn't. Heck, other companies do it too (difference being, I doubt they think 6 < 5...kudos if you get the reference)

[therfiles]

Ah...was cultistcommando the other one? I always thought it had to be hard coded...people always tried to copy the cultistcommando npc and replace it with jango and cry when it didn't work. Thats pretty strange, coding to the npc name itself...could the npc theoretically be anything as long as it has the right name?

 

Is there anything else huge that the game neglected to finish?

 

Thanks again, eezstreet!

[eezstreet]

Ah...was cultistcommando the other one? I always thought it had to be hard coded...people always tried to copy the cultistcommando npc and replace it with jango and cry when it didn't work. Thats pretty strange, coding to the npc name itself

Yes. All of the cultists are name-based; Raven refused to make any new CLASSes for no apparent reason (probably sheer laziness - I'll explain why in a minute).

...could the npc theoretically be anything as long as it has the right name?

Not sure what you're getting at. If you have two NPCs with the same name, only one will spawn. (/npc spawn cultist_destroyer <- which one of your clones will spawn? NONE. only the first one in the file, or first one in alphabetical file name.)

Is there anything else huge that the game neglected to finish?

I'll ask Rich at some point and see if I can get any more info.

 

EDIT: Spoke with Rich. Here's what I've gotten (old and new info):

- Siege was originally in JK2, but left out (MB1 origins = here??). Originally it started out as "a generic script-driven objective system". The bots were able to recognize specific objectives via triggers/shooting things. Classes wasn't added to the code until JKA

- RMG (random map generation, like in SoFII) is confirmed working in base (I have tried it before, just never got it to work)

- There is a top-down map overlay that was originally supposed to be used as the minimap. Cvar still exists ingame, but most of the functionality in it is broken, and requires engine hacks to fix.

- Many, many changes were made with Siege. A lot of the original classes were watered down, and made more similar at some point during the game. Interestingly enough, an Activision producer -- not a Raven one made the decision to change this.

- There is still code existent in the game in JK2/A for awards such as "Excellent!"

- Code for XBOX lobbies still manifests within the UI code (mostly)

- Oddly enough, JA on the XBOX version has a Vicarious Visions intro video, as well as Raven, Lucasarts, and Activision ones (talk about a handful)

Edited June 28, 2012 by eezstreet

[eezstreet]

Now I'll explain why CLASSes exist for NPCs.

In Singleplayer, Raven used C++ instead of C as far as programming languages go for coding the game. Each NPC had its AI stored in a new class (or in the files, CLASS). Making a new class could be quite a bit of work for them, so naturally they just hardcoded it all to the reborn AI. Wonder why NPC AI isn't so great in MP? Because they got ported from C++ to C. Nasty.