[ot_207]

Originally Posted by Exolent[jNr] How would I go about taking a player's aim (upon issued command) and then have the vector moved away from the solid planes (world and other entities) so that it has enough space to spawn an entity clearly in the open? I already have a method of subtracting 16 units from the aim vector, but that won't help in certain situations such as looking at the ground because the entity could still be in the ground. (stupok, I'm waiting for you )

I didn't understand clearly your explanation. You want to do a camera that basically has 2 rotation points?

[Dores]

he wants to find the closest point to the aiming origin that is completely open, without entities or walls at it or too much near it etc..

[ot_207]

You mean if I aim on wall or at sky? I still don't get it ...
Edit: I think an image example or a drawing might clear things up .
Edit2: Promoted to veteran

[Dores]

let's wait for exolent to log-in.

and you're a veteran for a few days now, aren't you?
grats. ;)

[Exolent[jNr]]

Okay. Here is a more detailed description.
I want to create an entity and it's origin is where I am currently aiming.
The problem with this is that it will be inside the wall because the center (origin) is based on the wall.
What I want to do is be able to move it away from the walls and other entities surrounding it so that it is not touching anything.

[--kml--]

can just - the origin?
(minus)?

or using the unstuck plugin O.O?
and make it too entity unstuck

[stupok]

Well, here's something basic you might want to try. (Ripped from my post in Code Snippets, lol)

I went with this route instead of decreasing the aim vector length, because you mentioned that you look at floors. In that case, the aim vector may be very short or it may be at a very acute angle with the ground, so it can be problematic.

By moving the origin along the normal of the surface, you are moving the origin directly away from the "main" obstacle.

If you want to get really fancy and detect other walls that you were not actually aiming at and other ents that might be in the way, then you have to develop this a lot further. I could give it a shot if you provide some strict rules for the function.

PHP Code:

FindGoodOrigin( id )
{
    new Float:fAimOrigin[3]
    new Float:fPlayerOrigin[3]
    
    new Float:fAimVector[3]
    new Float:fNormalVector[3]
    
    // user's view angle
    pev( id, pev_v_angle, fAimVector )
    
    // vector pointing in that direction
    angle_vector( fAimVector, ANGLEVECTOR_FORWARD, fAimVector )
    
    // user's origin
    pev( id, pev_origin, fPlayerOrigin )
    
    // lengthen vector and move it to user's origin
    fAimVector[0] = fAimVector[0] * 9999.0 + fPlayerOrigin[0]
    fAimVector[1] = fAimVector[1] * 9999.0 + fPlayerOrigin[1]
    fAimVector[2] = fAimVector[2] * 9999.0 + fPlayerOrigin[2]
    
    // execute traceline, grab normal vector and end position
    new iTr = create_tr2()
    engfunc( EngFunc_TraceLine, fPlayerOrigin, fAimVector, IGNORE_MONSTERS, id, iTr )
    get_tr2( iTr, TR_vecEndPos, fAimOrigin )
    get_tr2( iTr, TR_vecPlaneNormal, fNormalVector )
    free_tr2( iTr )
    
    // increase length to 10 units
    fNormalVector[0] *= 10.0
    fNormalVector[1] *= 10.0
    fNormalVector[2] *= 10.0
    
    // move the origin away from the wall along the normal
    fAimOrigin[0] += fNormalVector[0]
    fAimOrigin[1] += fNormalVector[1]
    fAimOrigin[2] += fNormalVector[2]
    
    new pc = engfunc( EngFunc_PointContents, fAimOrigin )
    
    if( pc == CONTENTS_SOLID )
    {
        // then it's not in the map, or maybe it is in another ent >_<
    }
    else
    {
        // yay! this is an ok origin, but i don't know if your ent will fit >_<
    }
    
    /*
    * Now you probably want to do some fancy stuff like moving it away from other walls
    * at which you were _not_ aiming. You might want to do a EngFunc_TraceHull to check
    * for intersection with other ents. Then, get the offending ent's origin and move
    * it away from the offending ent... or something.
    */
} 


[Exolent[jNr]]

Originally Posted by stupok Well, here's something basic you might want to try. (Ripped from my post in Code Snippets, lol) I went with this route instead of decreasing the aim vector length, because you mentioned that you look at floors. In that case, the aim vector may be very short or it may be at a very acute angle with the ground, so it can be problematic. By moving the origin along the normal of the surface, you are moving the origin directly away from the "main" obstacle. If you want to get really fancy and detect other walls that you were not actually aiming at and other ents that might be in the way, then you have to develop this a lot further. I could give it a shot if you provide some strict rules for the function.

Thanks for this!
I'd like to see it more complex for the other walls/entities, and not just the one being aimed at.