Creature Modding For The Cadet

[Addictgamer]

Creature modding for the Cadet.

First, open up Lego.cfg.

Search for "ObjectNames {", without quotes. Most programs use CTRL + F to search for strings within a file.

Here we see a bunch of objects and their names.

Each entry consists of 2 parts.

"LargeMLP Large_Mobile_Laser_Cutter"

The first part is the object's ID (Or whatever else you want to call it. It is the name that is used "behind the scenes".

The second part is the name of the object as displayed in game.

Now, add your monster's ID and name here.

Let's use "MyMonster My_very_own_monster" for this guide. Underscores ('_' is an underscore, without quotes) count as spaces in the object's name.

Now search for "ObjectTheNames {", without quotes.

It's pretty much the same as above, only this time, the name has "the" in it.

Let's add "MyMonster The_my_very_own_monster"

Search for "RockMonsterTypes {", without quotes.

This tells the game what type of object our object is. And it tells it where to look for it's data files.

So head into The creatures folder, copy, let's say, the Rock Monster's folder, and rename it to whatever you want.

For this guide, rename the folder to "Mymonster".

Now add "MyMonster Creatures\Mymonster" to the RockMonsterTypes part of the cfg.

Ok, now we have to head into the data folder for our monster and adjust some stuff.

Rename the ae file to the name of the folder.

I will update this part of the guide someday with how to make your own creature from scratch. (No need to copy an existing folder, maybe some existing files though...)

Good, now search Lego.cfg for "Stats {", without quotes.

Add your own entry wherever you want. I recommend adding it in where the other monsters are located, for organization.

For this guide, add

"MyMonster {

}"

This is where all the stats for the monster go in.

Let's create a basic creature now.

"Levels 1" This is how many upgrade levels the object has. Since monsters can't upgrade themselves, I guess it's best to leave this at 1. (although, I think it is possible to place a monster that starts at upgrade 2 using the OL file. Not sure though...)

"RouteSpeed 1.0" Now time for the creature's speed.

"TrackDist 50.0" The Rock Monster has this, so I guess we'll add it too. NOTE: After commenting this out in the Rock Monster's entry and starting up LRR, the game disappeared when I clicked on a level.

"CollRadius 10.0" This is the collision radius. Not much else to say.

"CollHeight 22.0" This is the collision height. Not much else to say.

"AlertRadius 60.0" According to Lair, if any Raiders enter this radius, they run away screaming.

"WakeRadius 25.0" Definitely the radius used to wake the creature.

"HealthDecayRate 0.0 ; Reduce health by 'n' every second." Comment explains it all. For this tutorial, I'm setting it at 0, as you can see.

"PickSphere 22.0" If I remember correctly, this is the sphere the monster can pick things up from.

"RepairValue -10.0" This is the amount of health the monster gives to something that it attacks. Negative values means that it damages the target.

"CanScare TRUE" Can it scare raiders?

"RestPercent 20.0" Again, not sure what this means.

Uh... something about how far it goes before resting. Applies to Monsters and Raiders. Don't really know.

"CarryMinHealth 15.0" According to Cirevam, it's the minimum amount of health needed to carry a boulder.

"PainThreshold 20.0" If the creature's health gets this low or lower, it flees.

"StampRadius 80.0" Not sure. I think it has something to do with monsters' ability to stomp power paths out of existence.

I believe that's the radius that creates a "scare zone" when a monster stamps when raiders are nearby. Most of the time, raiders will run away unless the monster is stamping to destroy a power path.

"AttackRadius 160.0" It can attack any objects in this radius. Hehehe, try setting it to something high...

"CanSteal TRUE" Can it steal energy crystals?

"CrossLand TRUE" Can it cross land?

"RubbleCoef 0.5" The speed it crosses rubble at.

"PathCoef 10.0" The speed it crosses paths at. I set it to 10 just becuase.

Lair really wants to emphasize that

these are coefs

"Capacity 6 ; How many crystals it can eat" Just read the comment.

"GrabMinifigure TRUE" Can it grab your raiders?

"RouteAvoidance TRUE" Something to do with pathfinding and ai.

"BumpDamage TRUE" I never saw monsters get damaged from bumping into each other...So...Not sure. Although, Lair says

How do you not know what this is? Ever seen what happens when a monster runs into a vehicle?

My answer is: "No, I haven't."

"AttackPaths TRUE" Can it stomp your paths out of existence?

"SplitOnZeroHealth TRUE" Does it turn into all those little things on 0 health?

"CanBeHitByFence TRUE" Can the electric fence shoot it?

"CanBeShotAt TRUE ; Can this monster be shot at by lego men" Go figure.

"CanFreeze TRUE ; Can this object be frozen" Go figure.

"FreezerTime 25.0 ; Time this object is frozen for" Go figure.

"FreezerDamage 5.0 ; Damage that freezing causes" Go figure.

"CanLaser TRUE ; Can this object be lasered" Go figure.

"LaserDamage 110.0 ; Damage sustained by a laser" Go figure.

"CanPush TRUE ; Can this object be pusher'ed" Go figure.

"PusherDist 20.0 ; Distance the object is pushed 40=1 block" Go figure.

"PusherDamage 2.0 ; Damage that the pusher gun causes" Go figure.

"ScaredByBigBangs TRUE" Do splosions and blasters scare the creature?

"RemoveReinforcement TRUE" Does the creature have the ability to remove reinforcements?

"ShowHealthBar TRUE" Is the creature's health bar shown?

"CrossWater TRUE" Can it cross water?

"CrossLava TRUE" Can it cross lava?

In the end, you should have something like this:

MyMonster {

      Levels    1

      RouteSpeed			1.0

      CollRadius			10.0

      CollHeight			22.0

      AlertRadius			60.0

      WakeRadius			25.0

      HealthDecayRate			0.0

      PickSphere			22.0

      RepairValue			-10.0

      CanScare			TRUE

      RestPercent			20.0

      CarryMinHealth		15.0

      PainThreshold		20.0

      StampRadius			80.0

      AttackRadius		160.0

      CanSteal			TRUE

      CrossLand			TRUE

      RubbleCoef			0.5

      PathCoef			10.0

      Capacity			6

      GrabMinifigure			TRUE

      RouteAvoidance		TRUE

      BumpDamage			TRUE

      AttackPaths			TRUE

      SplitOnZeroHealth	TRUE

      CanBeHitByFence		TRUE

      CanBeShotAt			TRUE

      CanFreeze			TRUE

      FreezerTime			25.0

      FreezerDamage		5.0

      CanLaser			TRUE

      LaserDamage			110.0

      CanPush				TRUE

      PusherDist			20.0

      PusherDamage		2.0

      ScaredByBigBangs	TRUE

      RemoveReinforcement	TRUE

      ShowHealthBar		TRUE  

    }

Now just add this creature to a level's OL or set it as the emerge creature for a level and test it out!

More to come whevenever.

[Cirevam]

I can clarify some of these for you.

WakeRadius is definitely the radius used to wake a sleeping monster. AlertRadius may be the radius where a monster can detect a nearby raider to pick it up, since AttackRadius seems to be for throwing the boulder. I doubt that's what it is for since monsters seem to pick up raiders whenever they accidentally bump into each other.

Another is StampRadius. I believe that's the radius that creates a "scare zone" when a monster stamps when raiders are nearby. Most of the time, raiders will run away unless the monster is stamping to destroy a power path.

CarryMinHealth, through testing, seems to be the minimum amount of health needed to pick up boulders. Similarly, PainThreshold is the minimum amount of health needed to stay in the level. Interestingly, raiders will not attack a monster once it has passed its pain threshold.

EDIT: One more thing, RepairValue is the amount of health it gives to something that it attacks. Negative values means that it damages the target.

[Addictgamer]

Thank you Cirevam.

Can some one other than me follow the tutorial and see if their creature works?

[aLPHA]

Make friendly monster that goes around repairing buildings and has a laser tower mounted to his back.

[Addictgamer]

...

What does that have to do with this topic?

Never mind.

Don't post anything unless it is on topic.

[Lair]

I hope this will help all those people that couldn't add in Spiders.

And it all works. I've made tons of monsters before.

[Addictgamer]

I hope this will help all those people that couldn't add in Spiders.

And it all works. I've made tons of monsters before.

Great.

Did you follow the tutorial to see if it has any mistakes?

[Lair]

1) "TrackDist 50.0" The Rock Monster has this, so I guess we'll add it too. NOTE: After commenting this out in the Rock Monster's entry and starting up LRR, the game disappeared when I clicked on a level.

2) "AlertRadius 60.0" Ya, this one doesn't have any proven effects. Requires testing.

3) "RestPercent 20.0" Again, not sure what this means.

4) "CarryMinHealth 15.0" According to Cirevam, it's the minimum amount of health needed to carry a boulder.

5) "PainThreshold 20.0" If the creature's health gets this low or lower, it flees.

6) "StampRadius 80.0" Not sure. I think it has something to do with monsters' ability to stomp power paths out of existence.

7) "RubbleCoef 0.5" The speed it crosses rubble at.

7) "PathCoef 10.0" The speed it crosses paths at. I set it to 10 just becuase.

8) "BumpDamage TRUE" I never saw monsters get damaged from bumping into each other...So...Not sure.

1) Dunno

2) LOL No effects. I don't know how you didn't notice: It's how far away it can scare raiders from

3) Uh... something about how far it goes before resting. Applies to Monsters and Raiders. Don't really know.

4) ...

5) I guess

6) Dunno

7) I must just point out these are coefs. So if it's speed it 0.8 and the rubble coef is 0.5, it will go 0.4 over rubble. If the Path Coef is 2.5, it will go at 2.0 over path.

8) How do you not know what this is? Ever seen what happens when a monster runs into a vehicle?

[Addictgamer]

Thanks!

Updated the tutorial with all your stuff.

Still need some one other than me to follow the tutorial and tell me their results.

[Lair]

"BumpDamage TRUE" I never saw monsters get damaged from bumping into each other...So...Not sure. Although, Lair says

How do you not know what this is? Ever seen what happens when a monster runs into a vehicle?

My answer is: "No, I haven't."

lol.

It means they hurt vehicles they run into

seriously though you've never seen it? Even on RtG? 8S

[Addictgamer]

1. It means they hurt vehicles they run into

2. seriously though you've never seen it? Even on RtG?

1. I know what you meant.

2. Nope, never.

[TheEPICtrainrider]

Seriously. Why the hell is Addict Not as loved as Cirevam? He's like, the person who made Modding in a easy to read form.

Great work Addict. If I ever decide to finish my mod I'll be sure to include this.

[Cirevam]

Seriously. Why the hell is Addict Not as loved as Cirevam? He's like, the person who made Modding in a easy to read form.

I don't get it either, but I do know that addict and I work on opposite ends of the modding spectrum: he is mainly code-based and I'm mainly graphical-based. Regardless, I'll be adding monsters into my game soon so I'll use this method when everything is prepared.

[noone]

Hmmm, is there any way to change the creature models? Or is that simply not possible?

[Addictgamer]

Hmmm, is there any way to change the creature models? Or is that simply not possible?

Yes, there is a way. I'd tell you all about it, but I've only done it once.

Just wait for Cirevam or Lair of Rockwhales or TheDoctor.

[Cirevam]

There are a few ways depending on what you want to do. If you want to change the general look of a creature but keep its "skeleton" the same, you can just replace the appropriate LWO model files with Lightwave 5-compatible ones*. If you want to change a Rock Monster into a scorpion, you can either replace the LWS animation files in the appropriate folder or tell the game to use different ones altogether by changing some things in the AE file. Do note that changing LWS files can lead to game crashes as much of the functionality of creatures, vehicles, and minifigs is linked to parts of the animations called "nulls". If an animation lacks certain nulls or if nulls are in the wrong places, weird things can happen like vehicles swimming sideways in the ground or every minifig in the level spontaneously disappearing into thin air. Lair and I have even witnessed minifigs floating away into another dimension because a value in the PTL file (a simple AI file used for levels) was missing.

* There are several ways to make these files, but the simplest is to acquire Lightwave 8 or higher. Those can export models with textures without needing a separate program to handle final touches, though Lightwave 9 has problems when exporting animations. Personally, I use Milkshape which can export to LW5 directly, but it needs a hex editor to color the models afterwards unless you export it in LWO 6.5, open it in Lightwave 8+, then export it to LW5 from there. Another two-program method that has enjoyed some success is Blender + lithUnwrap.

[noone]

Well, at least it's MUCH simpler than model changing for other games. Some are practically impossible.

[Lair]

Pretty much all the models in LRR are editable. However, work over an LWS. Making a new one causes bulldozers to topple over.

[Cap't Rex]

Thanks for this info.:)

[aidenpons]

Old topic, but I have something useful to say!

 

There are four (?) ways of getting monsters to move about:

1) Like Small Spiders or Bats. They just walk around.

2) Like Rock Monsters. They attack crystal-containing buildings, and will go into walls if wanted.

3) Like slugs. ???

4) PickRandomFloor TRUE. Apparently somebody else got this to work but I didn't, requiring PTL shenanigans and stuff that a) never pops up in even commented code and b) I don't understand.

 

1) is handled in Lego.cfg. You need the lines

RandomMove TRUE
RandomMoveTime 2.0

for this to work. It just randomly moves about, from tile to tile. I think RandomMoveTime is the time between 'do one move' and 'do another' - so bats have a low RandomMoveTime so they basically move endlessly whereas Small Spiders have a much higher RandomMoveTime.

 

2) is handled in the relevant .ae file. You will need to add

Activity_Gather		Whatever_This_Label_Is_Just_A_Name

This automatically adds the go-into-walls and probably (haven't yet tried) the rest of the carry and throw rock functionality (although it should be possible to get them to 'create a rock' and promptly abandon it).

 

3) I have not tested

4) apparently requires

PickRandomFloor TRUE

in the .cfg section as well as in the level's PTL file

PickRandomFloorComplete		RockMonsterGoto
RockMonsterGotoComplete		PickRandomFloor

but I have not got this to work.