[article] Respawning props - the hard way

This is a discussion topic for the article "Respawning props - the hard way" by venomus which can be found here

Article description:

How to make stuff respawn if the conventional ways fail.

WIsh I had seen this before I submitted my level to valve. As it went this morning and some props didn't respawn :P

I used this technique after seeing it in Lockdown until I changed my layout.
This tutorial would have saved me a bit of time, good work!

Excellent tutorial, wish I'd had that before releasing my last map.

Question: Would there be some way to apply this to a prop that dies anywhere in a level?

For example, you build a prop_physics_override and make it able to explode. Currently, there's no respawn function for p_p_overrides. Could you setup a map-wide trigger that could detect the entities destruction? What would that trigger be?

In the prop_physics_override that breaks, there should be an output trigger that goes something like "onBreak". Use that to trigger the template to spawn the thing, or whatever you want.

In order to do this for several objects wouldn't you need to have a trigger_physics_trap for each physics object? It seems like if you used the same trigger_physics_trap all objects then anytime any physics object respawned, all the phys objects would respawn. Or am I missing something?

No, you just add another output to the trigger. For example:

My Output : OnStartTouch
Target Entity : pod2_filter
Target Input : TestActivator
Delay : 0
Only Once : No

... but you will need a new filter_activator_name, point_template and env_entity_maker. You only need one logic_auto because you can give it multiple outputs to spawn all the props. You might not actually need a logic_auto at all like I mentioned in the tutorial .

But at the same time, won't that trigger pod1_filter and spawn a new set of the pod1 entities?

No, because the sole purpose of pod1_filter is to only work when triggered by pod1_prop .

Nice tutorial. Ill be using this for a rooftop map with a very large 3D skybox, so the ground will not be accessible and will trigger death and removal of props that are thrown out the playable area by troublesome players. Ill let you know if it has an impact on playability after I do a beta test. Thanks.

Managed to slim it down allot, see:
http://hl2mapping.30.forumer.com/index.php?showtopic=178