Return to Return to Jurassic Park (RTJP~base fixed!)

[TheIdiot]

I was fiddling around playing some old abandoned levels yesterday and realised much to my own dismay that I never fixed RTJP~base to make it playable, which is a slight shame as it is effectively a more complete version of RTJP~Helipad since most of the newer stuff in it was not added into Helipad. So...here it is, another RTJP release, four years later - a playable version of RTJP~base. It isn't much you haven't already seen, but this version actually a slightly newer version of the level that I had in a different folder which was not uploaded. This is the most final version of RTJP~base and RTJP~Nublar.wtd that will be put out there. All I have done is fixed the mipmapping issue that was causing the level to crash - it should now load in Trespasser CE properly.

Off the top of my head, aside from actually being playable, new stuff is limited to:
- A few extra decorations and props placed...the dilophosaur paddock fence being a notable model addition.
- More basement stuff in general - search for DUMP in TresEd and you'll end up there.
- A few extra dinosaurs in the level (nothing particularily exciting, I think, though...Raptors weren't supposed to come until level 3 so enemies in this level are limited to segisaurus, dilophosaurus and metriacanthosaurus, all of which are in the basement).
- The East Dock/Nedry's death area is in this level, unlike Helipad.
- Partially fixed transparency maps.
- No occlusion objects in the VC as they were causing framerate issues - however now the VC area is a bit more unstable so I recommend keeping away from there until you're done exploring and then check it out when you're near the end of your adventure.
- Imported the nearly-finished Safari Lodge reception building was imported (I actually did this just before I uploaded the file - the old ~base level only had part of the model. The old tennis courts were not imported because they looked like crap and had issues with their normals).

Disappointingly this one lacks the ferris wheel model, which I managed to find in an old test level. I might import it just for completion's sake at some point. It has normal issues as well that I can't fix without 3DS Max.

Anyway, that's all for now, check it out, you might find something new to use in your own level. Contrary to the title, this isn't a revival of RTJP, just a quick fix.
Download below! Note that you do need the main RTJP package if you want the hi-res textures and CE sky to work properly. Override the files in the RTJP Data folder with these ones (this updates RTJP~Nublar.wtd which is shared by other levels).
https://www.mediafire.com/file/f91ryk5n ... 4.zip/file

(Click on thumbnail for full size)

[Draconisaurus]

! A small updated release. Sounds neat. I keep hearing from others that they wanted dinosaurs in RTJP~Helipad...

Hmm TI I notice you are doing tiny bits of Tres things atm. You wouldn't possibly be thinking of modding again?

[TheIdiot]

! A small updated release. Sounds neat. I keep hearing from others that they wanted dinosaurs in RTJP~Helipad...

I *think* the updated base level has a few extra dinosaurs here and there, might have placed them for testing purposes. In any case this essentially has RTJP~Helipad includes and more.

Hmm TI I notice you are doing tiny bits of Tres things atm. You wouldn't possibly be thinking of modding again?

Not really, at least in terms of doing any proper projects. I'm mostly just touching up little things here and there and experimenting (trying out some of the more out-there ideas I've had and seeing if they actually work).

[Draconisaurus]

I'm mostly just touching up little things here and there and experimenting (trying out some of the more out-there ideas I've had and seeing if they actually work).

Ah what ideas would those be?

[TheIdiot]

I'm mostly just touching up little things here and there and experimenting (trying out some of the more out-there ideas I've had and seeing if they actually work).

Ah what ideas would those be?

Just minor things in my test level. Functional night-vision (which turns out to work well enough), a couple of lighting tricks involving partial transparency (which work properly if you use hi-res .dds textures, but don't work properly if the textures you're replacing were imported as 24-bit, which is somewhat weird), .asa animated CAnimals (doesn't work, they just go totally stiff ), and the goofiest implementation of a human NPC ever (invisible Raptor with a human model attached and a gun that is scripted to fire automatically - this turns out to be hilarious but not particularily useful, even if the human model were keyframe animated).
I was also thinking of trying to script up the T. Rex Jeep/river rapids chases I'd planned for RTJP in a new level on the RTJP~Nublar .wtd, but those would require a fair bit of level editing that I don't really feel like doing, even if it isn't much more than a very small area

The Jeep chase went something like this:

1. Do the Safari Lodge puzzle without waking up the sleeping Rex (or wake him up and suffer the consequences - JPDS reference, obviously). This involves getting gas for the Jeep and unlocking the northern gate.
2. Start the Jeep - touching the steering wheel fixes Anne in an .asa animation aligned to the Jeep which is also .asa animated (this is intended as a cutscene).
3. Jeep rams the gate down, alterting the Rex. The Rex gives chase down a long, straight road (Jeep has to go slowly enough that Rex can keep up...have some trees fall down, player can look around and see Rex behind her, maybe animate the Jeep mirrors?). Cue music.
4. Jeep rounds a fallen tree only to find a hairpin turn ahead; the Jeep fails to make the turn and smashes into an old, big tree, which collapses - the Jeep spins out of control but gets caught on the tree before it can fall over the cliff. This is all done via .asa.
5. The Jeep is now stuck on the tree, which is slowly breaking apart, teetering over the edge of the cliff. It has spun around and Diane is facing the T. Rex, who is stomping around angrily trying to get at the Jeep which is just out of its reach.
6. Give player control back, she needs to climb between the seats into the trunk and jump from the Jeep to a nearby tree branch. When she does this the Jeep finally falls (or if she is too slow). She can't go to the ground where the Rex is as this results in instant death by Rex.
7. Climb down the tree to the ground. End sequence.

The river rapids scene was similar:

1. Climb down the Aviary and reach the boarding dock for the Jungle River Cruise. Enable power and hop into one of the boats. The boat is .asa animated, but Diane can move freely on it (if that's even possible, otherwise she is also animated but can still use the stun gun she picked up).
2. The raft rounds a bend and there is the T. Rex, sleeping next to a freshly-killed parasaur. The raft silently glides by and nearly makes it, but a noise in the trees causes the Rex to open one eye. It watches the raft pass but doesn't move.
3. The raft rounds another bend and the Rex is gone. Diane breathes a sight of relief. Suddenly there is a loud splash behind the raft. Silence again. Then the Rex appears in the river just ahead of the raft! Diane has to shoot the Rex quickly in order to get it to submerge again. Similar sequences proceed to occur as the raft moves further down the river.
4. The Rex breaks through one of the guidance barriers in the river and the raft is dragged through the gap into the rapids of the lower jungle river. Diane hangs on for dear life, but the Rex is left behind as the raft picks up speed. Diane loses her grip on her gun in the process (remove all inventory items, she loses them ahead anyway).
5. The rapids end but the current is still going quickly. Slowly the roar of a waterfall becomes more audible as the raft approaches the spillway for the hydroelectric dam! Diane swears. Suddenly the Rex appears once again ahead, standing atop the dam, waiting for the raft to come straight to it! Just as the Rex reaches down to attack, the raft goes over the spillway and Diane is launched into the ocean below. End sequence.

It is worth noting that this is all totally do-able with currently-available assets (the river raft is in one of the old RTJP versions, the JP Jeep would just need some tweaking model-wise) and isn't actually all that complex scripting-wise (nothing like Rebel's vehicles, since I was convinced that drivable vehicles as I'd attempted them would be too glitchy to work properly), but I just don't have the willpower to create the small areas that would be playable in these sequences, even if they were only very lightly-detailled. Maybe I'll do them without much in the way of detail as a bare-bones framework just as a proof-of-concept, I dunno...I have a version of the RTJP~Nublar terrain that I'd set-up to test out some of hppav's other assets which this would work for. But I really just don't feel like setting up all of the necessary props.

[Draconisaurus]

Hmmm neat ideas... You sure you don't want to try using some of Rebel's drivable vehicles in tiny levels for this?

[TheIdiot]

Hmmm neat ideas... You sure you don't want to try using some of Rebel's drivable vehicles in tiny levels for this?

Well, the Rex chase could work with a drivable vehicle of course (and would probably actually work a lot better), but much of the purpose of the river raft sequence would be to push .asa animation and scripted sequences further than they've been utilized before (sort of making the game into a "rail shooter"). If I could get the drivable vehicle script working with hppav's Jeep I guess I could take a crack at the Rex chase. The ending bit would still need to be scripted, however, and the distance that you're driving the Jeep is quite significant if I'm using the RTJP terrain (it's the long undetailled road between the Safari Lodge and the two switchback roads near the Visitor Center; I was going to have the crash occur at the top of the upper switchback...I suppose if I keep RTJP's design in mind I could have moved the start of the chase further down to the road and brough Hammond's Bungalow further away from the VC, as the bungalow was supposed to be at the lower switchback).

[Draconisaurus]

Would love to see the Jeep chase sequence. Hmmm the Jeep model from ED is in several pieces, I suppose CEntityAttached might work.

[TheIdiot]

Would love to see the Jeep chase sequence. Hmmm the Jeep model from ED is in several pieces, I suppose CEntityAttached might work.

Yeah that would probably work fine, though I don't think I've ever tried doing .asa animations on an object that has CEntityAttached models...that may not work, I would potentially have to animate all of the models seperately in the script which isn't really a big deal but it is tedious. Only major issue is the physics models, there are a LOT of them so I doubt I could transfer all of them to $ models - would have to simplify it down a bit. And I don't have 3DS Max still which would mean I can't edit the models as I'd need to. So that will have to stay on the backburner for now.
Rebel did say that he had trouble with the JP Jeep, I wonder if he meant the East Dock version?

[Draconisaurus]

ED Jeep

Soooo funnily enough, the SS Anne B in ED is the venture from TC_Isle; the main model is the hull, and the rest of the models are CEntityAttached; only the main model is ASA animated, and it carries the rest. IIRC both the main model and one+ of the others have physics attached.
For the Jeep's physics, you'd just want to simplify it... might not need Max for that...

[TheIdiot]

Soooo funnily enough, the SS Anne B in ED is the venture from TC_Isle; the main model is the hull, and the rest of the models are CEntityAttached; only the main model is ASA animated, and it carries the rest. IIRC both the main model and one+ of the others have physics attached.

Aaah I forgot about that. Don't know about the physics element of it though...I thought only the lower part that you walk onto had physics?

For the Jeep's physics, you'd just want to simplify it... might not need Max for that...

No but I'd need Max for the purposes of merging some meshes and adjusting others. The sterring wheel, for instance. Plus a version of the Jeep with the doors fixed in position.

[Draconisaurus]

Don't know about the physics element of it though...I thought only the lower part that you walk onto had physics?

I think there were more than 10 physics objects, so IIRC one of the CEntityAttached objs had some of the physics.

No but I'd need Max for the purposes of merging some meshes and adjusting others. The sterring wheel, for instance.

Again, CEntityAttached.

[tatu]

Don't know about the physics element of it though...I thought only the lower part that you walk onto had physics?

I think there were more than 10 physics objects, so IIRC one of the CEntityAttached objs had some of the physics.

No but I'd need Max for the purposes of merging some meshes and adjusting others. The sterring wheel, for instance.

Again, CEntityAttached.

I can confirm the boat in East Dock has more than 10 physics as the CEntityAttached parts also have physics. However, I have not confirmed if the physics are moved in-game as well.

[TheIdiot]

Again, CEntityAttached.

Check the way Rebel scripted his vehicles, I think I'd need to make multiple meshes for the steering wheel to make it work the way his did or there might be some issues with his scripting. On the other hand yeah I probably could do that as a CEntityAttached.

I can confirm the boat in East Dock has more than 10 physics as the CEntityAttached parts also have physics. However, I have not confirmed if the physics are moved in-game as well.

Okay, good to know, that would need to be tested first. I recall having issues with .asa animations and physics as well but that was a very long time ago, it might not be as I remember it. Not that it's a huge deal if I'm also scripting the player to move.

[Draconisaurus]

Okay, good to know, that would need to be tested first.

I am quite sure the physics move along with the model, having watched the animation before, but knock yourself out...

PS: Oh yeah, I already tested the 10+ physics by combining the BioSyn helicopter parts via CEntityAttached, they all stick together.