Collison Boxes

[GothGirlDanielle]

Okay, sorry to retun to bug your forum again. I've been working away happily (and not so happily) on my mod, learning a lot, making a bunch of mistakes ... the usual. I've tried to answer as many questions as I can on my own without bugging everyone here. But I can't figure out Collison Boxes and other activators (those colored frame boxes that appear in dungeons) ... (the dungeon tutorial on TES wiki makes no reference to them that I can see).

I've designed 18 dungeons, complete with pathing (yes, those little red and blue diamonds are burned into my retinas), light and shadow bulbs, sound, monsters, and clutter (tested using the havoc button). Then I started comparing mine to Bethesda's and I realized I didn't use any of those yellow wire frame Collision Boxes. Almost every dungeon has them, and I'm can't figure out what they do and if I need them.

Example: If you open Fort Nikel in the TES, you will see several distributed throughout the fort. The yellow ones are marked: "CollisonBox01". There is also a green on marked: "TrigZonePLAYER01Enable". All appear to be some kind of activator, since each has a reference (and one of the references is a stool??)

I'm assuming, by deduction, that all this has something to do with the fight that occurs in the dungeon. Player enters dungeon, enters "trigzone" (trigger zone?) and triggers the fight that always takes place in the dungeon.

There are also orange frame boxes that, I believe, manage things like fog, etc.

Can someone point me to reference on these boxes with, hopefully, some suggestions on how to use them? Or am I left to my own devices? Or am I asking a really basic, newbie question?

Thanks,

~ Dani ~

Edited November 4, 2010 by GothGirlDanielle

[WindmillTilter]

If you need them or not depends entirely on what you're doing with your dungeon. If you have a dungeon you're happy with then it's all good. I'll give a brief description of each so you'll have a better idea of what they're for. The coloured boxes are "Editor Markers" that allow you to see and move an object in the CS if it has no physical body to grab. Beth colour coded them to make it easier to tell at a glance what kind of object it was.

Green Boxes: Trigger Zones. Trigger Zones react invisibly to the player (or anyone else, or even an arrow or fireball) passing through them. This can be very usefull for setting up traps or timed fights. With a script you control what happens when the player passes through the TZ. For exampe you have a disabled creature in the hallway, 6' further along place a TZ that enables the monster, and you're guaranteed it will show up behind the player. The uses for these are virtualy infinite, very handy. The OnTrigger block of a script attached to the TZ fires when something enters the TZ. The wiki has a good description of this block and how it works.

YellowBoxes: Collision Boxes. Just an invisible solid wall. You can use these to block off a passage keeping the player out or badguys in untill you want them to move. Just disable it via script when you want whatever you were blocking to be able to progress. You can also use them to create an invisible bridge the player can walk on but not see, if you want to create a "Leap of faith" type scenario. If you're really evil place a TZ halfway across with a script that diasables the Collision Box the player is standing on, and watch them tumble into the lava below.

Orange Boxes: These are usualy special effects of some kind, for the most part you can preview them in the CS by clicking the Havok button on your toolbar, when looking at one in the render window. (the Havok button enables "Idle" animation as well as Havok physics)

Red Boxes: The effective area of traps that don't rely on physics (like a mace hitting you in the face).

Play around and post any questions you run into.

Good Luck,

WT.

[GothGirlDanielle]

If you need them or not depends entirely on what you're doing with your dungeon. If you have a dungeon you're happy with then it's all good. I'll give a brief description of each so you'll have a better idea of what they're for. The coloured boxes are "Editor Markers" that allow you to see and move an object in the CS if it has no physical body to grab. Beth colour coded them to make it easier to tell at a glance what kind of object it was.

Green Boxes: Trigger Zones. Trigger Zones react invisibly to the player (or anyone else, or even an arrow or fireball) passing through them. This can be very usefull for setting up traps or timed fights. With a script you control what happens when the player passes through the TZ. For exampe you have a disabled creature in the hallway, 6' further along place a TZ that enables the monster, and you're guaranteed it will show up behind the player. The uses for these are virtualy infinite, very handy. The OnTrigger block of a script attached to the TZ fires when something enters the TZ. The wiki has a good description of this block and how it works.

YellowBoxes: Collision Boxes. Just an invisible solid wall. You can use these to block off a passage keeping the player out or badguys in untill you want them to move. Just disable it via script when you want whatever you were blocking to be able to progress. You can also use them to create an invisible bridge the player can walk on but not see, if you want to create a "Leap of faith" type scenario. If you're really evil place a TZ halfway across with a script that diasables the Collision Box the player is standing on, and watch them tumble into the lava below.

Orange Boxes: These are usualy special effects of some kind, for the most part you can preview them in the CS by clicking the Havok button on your toolbar, when looking at one in the render window. (the Havok button enables "Idle" animation as well as Havok physics)

Red Boxes: The effective area of traps that don't rely on physics (like a mace hitting you in the face).

Play around and post any questions you run into.

Good Luck,

WT.

Thank you so much! I'll play with this a bit tonight.

~ Dani ~

[_echo]

Don't forget purple boxes. Those ones are fun!

[WindmillTilter]

Don't forget purple boxes. Those ones are fun!

Shhh, don't give that one away.

Purple Box: Kill Box. Usualy placed underneath where the player can fall off in an interior cell, so they do not continue falling forever, dwelling upon the mistakes they've made and wishing they'd brought nail clippers and a change of clothes. Can also be tossed in random corridors just to mess with people.

WT