Decals

[maveryck21]

Hi there,

I want to make an explosion and to activate a decal of a crater. But when i activate the decal it disapear after some time. Is this normal?

What can i do tu make the decal active until a trigger kills it?

Thanks for any help

 

[Jononomous]

put the decal on a func_brush or detail brush then when u want to kill the decal, just have the output kill the name of the func_brush/detail when u want it to

 

[Raeven0]

Decals are very low-priority and will be deleted outright if the server or client deems it necessary.

Info_projecteddecal may produce a more permanent decal, but I haven't compared the two; overlays are best but can't be triggered.

 

[Jononomous]

The server doesnt just delete decals when it feels like it, if he tried giving the decal a name without applying it to a brush or detail entity then it just wont work properly --- cant add a name to a decal anyway so the only way to pull it off is to do it the way i specified above

 

[Raeven0]

The server doesnt just delete decals when it feels like it

Well, yes, it does. That's the advantage of decals: they take up so little resources that they're not even included in the map and are prone to being deleted. Otherwise, bullet holes would be permanent, and what a hell that would be!

cant add a name to a decal anyway

This, of course, is patently false. Decals can be given a name so that they aren't applied instantly and only appear after triggered.

 

[maveryck21]

But my problem is that i'm creating an mortar explosion and want to put a crater decal, but it's over a displacement. I want it to start inactive an when the explosion happens the decal to apeear but stays as long as i want it. The solution i've created was to make a func_movelinear with nodraw in all sides except the top where i've put the texture of the crater on the face. The block is below the floor at the begining and when the explosion happens it commes up.

It's not the best but it's the only solution i've comme up till now

Any better ideias?

Thanks for any help

 

[Unarmed]

Aw.. tricky problem.

If you want a texture slapped on a displacement then that should preferrably be a overlay since they follow the displacement shape. But as stated before you cant trigger overlays.

And if you want a decal it will not look as good, can be triggered, but might go away after some time.

It seems you can't have them both, effectiveley, at the same time, so maybe your "fix" is the way to go.

 

[maveryck21]

And what do you think about re-triggering a decal after time so it stays visible? The only thing i need to discover is the time it stays active right?

 

[Unarmed]

could work. Providing that it is a set time.

I get the feeling that you are going to find that it is in fact not so but that it happens somewhat random.

This is just a feeling that I have, not a statement of any kind. Go check it out, or maybe someone 'round here even knows.