func_tracktrain and path_track problems

i searched through the forums for a while now, but have yet to see about this problem. For ease of understanding, lets say im making an elevator. It has only one button that will cause it to activate, and travels between 2 floors.

the problem i am having is that the elevator does not line up with the floor it should be stopping at. i have gone through and calculated everything out and its all perfect. upon running some tests, i found that the faster the elevator is moving, the farther away from the path_track it stops.

what i must have, is that the elevator lines up with the floor, no matter what speed it may be traveling.

Do the following to ensure your PATH_TRACK is in the proper location: (If you havn't already)

1. Select your PATH_TRACK you intend to stop on, copy it (ctrl + c) and then delete it.

2. Select your "elevator" and move it into the exact location you would like it to stop at. then press Ctrl + E to center windows on selected.

3. With the "elevator" still selected paste your PATH_TRACK back into the map (Ctrl + V). This will place it in the exact location you want it, with out all those extra "calculations".

I havn't used a FUNC_TRACKTRAIN in a couple years, not since it's equivalent in HL1, so I won't be able to offer much else on the entity settings. Anyway, hope it helps, good luck.

nope, after taking out the calculations, its still stoping short.

HL1 was able to stop on a dime and be accurate... why cant HL2? :sad:

make sure that your not caculating from the middle of the elevator but
from the origin (the purple sphere) also, there is an option for
"height above track" and a few others like that, take a look and make
sure that there isn't some key you have filled in that is doing this.

i have done several tests so far, with different sizes and everything... if there is a setting that needs to be changed im completely missing it.
and as for the purple sphere, it never had one, even when creating it. followed a tutorial (i think from this site) and it was doing the same thing. also in my tests i set the speed to 1 and it lines up perfectly, but setting to 500 the train stops about 2 feet from where its supposed to.

[edit]
sorry, didnt have the helpers turned on... i see the purple sphere now, and ran some more tests... still stopping short. at speed of 100 its stopping like 8.5 units from where its supposed to.

It really sounds to me like you are missing some sort of "Movement t[color=white]olerance" setting. There has to be a setting that allows a little play in the stop location. If I have time I will take a look and let you know if I find anything. [/color]

ive gone through and messed around with almost every possible setting, including 'Distance between wheels' (which says its for turning and stopping)... but if i set it at -500, 0, 50, 500, or 5,000 they all have the same results.

its kinda hard to explain what is happening, other than its stopping short of every path, so i made this crude representation of it.
(traveling clockwise)

if you do mess around with it and find something that works, that would be great! i have also tried to jimmy-rig it so there is seperate paths for going up/down, but it seems at the default speed of 100, it stops at 8.5 units from the entity, but can only place an entity at 8 or 9... so its still off.

[edit]
just tried having it loop and never stop, did the same thing, turns before it gets to the path_track entity

Post a map file dl/link and I will have a look at it. Maybe its a setting in the PATH_TRACK, have you double checked all the fields and flags associated with movement in the PATH_TRACK?

here is one that isnt so cluttered.

it has 4 stops, it stops at each location for 10 seconds before moving to the next one. the two ground levels are right above the skybox (so no falling to your death).

http://eq2info.net/hl2stuff/gr_elevator.vmf

also, all the edges are textured with a hazzard stripes, if the elevator stops in the correct spot, you should not be able to see any (like when you first load the map, the elevator is in the correct spot).

[edit]
added some more objects to better see the problem

have you tryed useing a keyframe_track? I haven't looked at the map yet, I'll take a gander in a second.

tried to use keyframe_track... but then it said in-game that the elevator didnt start on path_track... and didnt work

so anyone else having this problem?...
and also is there somewhere i can go to report a bug (if it is)... been paying close attention to HL2, and some of the elevators there seem to be having this same problem (if it wasnt intentional).

if anyone wants to see what im talking about, i have a link to a file in a post above.
bump

well found a work-around... instead of using func_tracktrain, i used func_train (Hammer says it doesnt exist, but you can still use it!)

only thing i noticed that "could" be a problem, is that it jerks slightly before moving (VERY slightly).

after some very time-consuming jimmy-rigging... i have got a sample map that has 4 floors, that you can actually go to any floor from anywhere, so no hitting the button every floor! would be glad to help anyone that has questions!

also, would like to know how i might be able to write a tutorial for this... because i know MANY people have been asking questions about multi-level elevators and such, and think this would help out a LOT!... in the mean time, feel free to email or IM me if you need help figuring this out.

here is the sample file (same as above)
http://eq2info.net/hl2stuff/gr_elevator.vmf
(right-click and select save-as)

I wish there was a date displayed when doing a search. Don't know how old this is. anyway...

Oh there it is, in that fine print over there. (me=noob?)

I've had this problem recently. The workaround I used was having a
path_track a little before the one that tells the train to stop that
set a lower speed for the train. Mine goes from about 600 to 100.