Conveyors and friction
So I am trying to make a series of conveyor belts in my map, but I've run into a few problems.
First of all, they are not like the conveyors in the campaign, which conveniently hid their start and end points out of the player's sight so they could use things like tracks and trains. In my map there's really no way around having exposed ends, so I've resorted to the func_conveyor on a brush with a texture I've edited to have a scrolling effect.
This works fine when only the player needs to ride it. The trouble begins when you throw a cube into the equation. Evidently the func_conveyor doesn't move other physics objects. So my next idea was to add a trigger_push and hopefully adjust the push speed so that it would mimic the conveyor belt. Unfortunately, if the speed is too small the cube slows to a stop against the friction of the conveyor's surface. Using even the smallest speed possible that can still overcome that friction makes it a wildly unrealistic push, not at all conveyor-like.
So maybe if the surface were less friction-y. Orange gel comes to mind, but then the player will be able to run against the speed of the conveyor, which largely defeats the purpose. Unless there were someway to add invisible, physics objects only gel.
So my questions are these:
a) is there another way to implement a conveyor that works for both the player and objects? (particularly cubes and turrets)
b) is there any way to adjust the friction of a material?
Have you tried looking at this Conveyors tutorial in the Valve Developer Community? I'm not sure if this requires covered up start and end points though.
My Work
[spoiler]Maps:
Revenge of the Angry Turrets
Capture the Cube [Co-op]
Capture the Cube 2 [Co-op]
TPWEGTH Sample Map
Aperture Aquatic Testing Center
Aperture Aquatic Testing Center 2
Aperture Time Testing Center
ML's Halloween Trick - 1000 downloads!
ML's Halloween Treat
ML's Combination - 1000 downloads!
ML's Jailbreak Labyrinth
ML's Tricky Teamwork [Co-op]
WIP:
"Capture the Cube 3"
Workshop Maps Link: http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198008890579/myworkshopfiles/[/spoiler]
you should use the conveyorbelts from the campaign just have them wrap around the belt if you need the ends to be in the middle of the map
message my steam account BenVlodgi, and I can help more if needed
What happens with the conveyors in this tutorial is that when a part of the track reaches the end point, it disappears and reappears at the start. Obviously this isn't very realistic, and the campaign hides it by having the track travel out of sight before ending.
I could have the tracks curve around in a sort of belt conveyor. The trouble with this is that if i want a good curve I would have to use very narrow brushes, and that means there would be a lot of them. I'm already at about 1850 edict entities, which doesn't leave much breathing room before the 2048 limit if I use particularly long conveyors
Is it necessary for yours to be visible on the ends?
Also you could try making an invisible conveyor belt for both the player and physic objects. People won't notice as long as you are travelling the same speed as the scrolling texture.
Do you need things to fall off when they reach the end? In that case, you can set it up like Chicken said, and additionally add a second loop of smaller func_tracktrains at the end, so that transported objects fall down more realistically.
The idea is that the large func_tracktrain segments don't travel past the end of the visible conveyor belt, but return to the beginning as soon as their front side reaches the edge. The smaller segments cycle around the area that a large segment occupies the moment it warps back, and they carry the transported objects that last distance.
(For the beginning, just have it emerge from a wall or put a cover over it.)
Other Portal 2 maps: Medusa Glare
Portal 1 maps: Try Anything Twice | Manic Mechanic