How To Control A Train?

Can anyone tell me how to make a train that can be controlled like the
ones in HL1? With the various arrows showing the speed of the train.
Ive got a train moving along a track at the mo, triggered by a button,
pressing the button makes the train move along its track, but i need
the player to be able to stop the train whenever they want, speed up
slow down etc. I know this could be done in HL1 so you must be able to
do it in HL2... right? Thanks

You would need to put buttons in the train (func_buttons that
is). Parent them to the track_train object. Much the same
as how you made the switches to control the train from the outside.

Trains in HL2 work very similar to elevators. If you want
to get into some fancier stuff like speed control, lights to indicate
train position, etc etc - one place you may wish to start is an
elevator example map that I learned off of:

http://users.telenet.be/fnh/hl2/fnh_elevator.vmf

Thanks alot Yesurbis, I'll check out the link in a moment. :smile:

Wow, that lift looks complicated. Its close, but not quite the cigar...
as it were. In HL1's 'On A Rail' level, you were in control of a train
that could be sped up, slowed down and stopped whenever the player
wanted through a control panel thing. Yellow arrows were shown in front
of the player depicting the trains current speed and the different
speeds you could choose. I need this for the train otherwise its kind
of pointless. :smile:

Anyway, thanks for the help. Any other ideas anybody?

Use a func_tracktrain with the "HL1 train" spawnflag checked. That
makes it behave the same way as it did in HL1. At least that's the way
its done in HL:Source, anyway.

Hmm, just tried that, still doesnt seem to work. I press 'use' on the
train... nothing. I also tried making a func_traincontrols and linking
it to the train... still nothing. Thanks for the help anyway. This is
really beggining to get annoying now. Someone MUST know how to make a
controlable train like those in HL1, in the level 'on a rail'. Please!!
Help me! :smile:

P.S: Theres so many questions regarding trains, someone really should
write a tutorial on them. I would if i could overcome this last
hurdle...

Well I made a quick test map, and if you set that spawnflag, the train
behaves just like a HL1 train except you can't see the arrows on the
hud. The functionality is identical, with forward speeds and reverse
working (even the noises are the same), it's just the arrows don't show
up.

I suspect that HL2 lacks the Hud icons necessary to display the arrows.
You might try copying those used in HL:Source to the HL2 directory
(you'd need to guess what they are named and extract them with GCF
scape), but it's possible also that the HL2 build of the engine doesn't
have the function to display the icons in the first place.

Thanks alot, ill give it a try.

I don't have an answer for you're question, but I would like to reassure you that it can be done. I have dabbled in vehicle scripts and noticed that vehicle speeds can be controlled if modified to link to a certain key, I am assuming that trains are similiar. Don't give up trying though, you might go back to hl1 and look at the train in hammer if you still have hl1.