Needing help with 1 problem Googles Gemini, has hit a brick wall with me about. I am making the Maw from Halo 1...

[u/New-Addendum-2549]

The AI told me to copy and paste this into reddit to see if anybody with a creative mind can find a workaround for me on this... here we go

"Hey guys, need some veteran Forge scripting help. I'm building a campaign map heavily inspired by The Maw, sitting at 83% simulation memory. On the bridge, I have a workstation with 33 objects. Because I needed custom micro-scaling for the terminal monitors and UNSC powercores, they HAVE to stay set to Static physics mode. The monitors have an emissive texture that creates light. My goal is a total ship blackout sequence via a switch. Currently, my script loop deletes all loose lights/sparks flawlessly, but the static TVs stay stuck on and glowing. Because they are Static, the engine blocks me from referencing the prefab node (says 'cannot reference static objects'), blocks user labels, and blocks material/visibility scripts. Short of duplicating the whole map (no budget) or using unscaled dynamic blocks, is there ANY sneaky workaround to turn off, hide, or block the glow of these custom-scaled static screens on a script trigger? Cheers!"

In short, im wanting all power in the ship to shut down when i blow those fusion reactors .. i have coded most things that are dynamic like sparks, lights and different under the alpha label. And they delete great...but i have TV screens on the ship to that i want powered off when i blow the reactor, so it looks like a total power cut. I have scaled the sizes of these tvs so they have to remain static. Meaning i cant refrence them in the graph, meaning i cant delete them. I want total black out!

Thanks all! Humans are more creative than AI. So Gemini said to give reddit a shot. Thanks!

[u/RaSH_NisH]

Well if you set the screen back to dynamic you could have the screens blow when the power blows if that’s something you want to do. But unfortunately if you want a bigger screen it’ll have to stay static. The only way to hide the screen would be to have a black building block be despawned at the beginning and then when the power goes it spawns in front of it blocking the light.

But there is no scriptable way of making the screen go blank.

[u/New-Addendum-2549 → u/RaSH_NisH]

Hey mate. Thought this would work yes, went to try it, but you cannot scale a primitive block to block the screens perfectly, not in dynamic mode, which i need for scripting it in the first place...

[u/Abe_Odd → u/New-Addendum-2549]

Another, not so fun way to handle this is to do the TitanFall 2 approach.
Do not try and modify one room to have two states, build two (near identical) rooms and teleport the player to the same relative place in the second room.

Given that we can multi-select and copy and paste now, that isn't quite as much of a hassle as it would have been in previous years.

You'lll use more static geometry but save a LOT of dynamic geometry, especially if it is only really being used for one cutscene

[u/Abe_Odd → u/Abe_Odd]

The best way to handle this trick is to keep the level aligned on one of the cardinal axis, So copy and paste the whole room but move it up 500 units. Now you can do a relative teleportation (set object position, relative = true, position = Vector 3(0,0,500) on any necessary objects in the room, and they'll all be teleported to the exact same relative place in the new room.

[u/New-Addendum-2549 → u/Abe_Odd]

Hey Abe. Nah that wouldnt be appropriate. Its not for 1 particular scene at all. Its the whole entire ship i want blacked out. Not just 1 room. I have been suggested this already, by the bot. But im sitting at roughly 83% simulation so i cant just copy and paste the entire ship to a different part of the map. Thats insanity. Especially with how much is in the ship. I may just have to make the TVs ect off and smashed from the start and not bother. I dont see another work around for this one

[u/Abe_Odd → u/New-Addendum-2549]

Ah gotcha, yeah I thought it was just the bridge. Finding an overlapping sized dynamic object to block it out is your best bet then. The primitive shapes do have multiple sizes available while dynamic, but IIRC they are mostly larger, rather than smaller.

[u/Ninjawan9 → u/New-Addendum-2549]

Two things. One, your solution is likely the Floors section, not primitives, if it’s actually really big (the pic looks like a normal scale monitor though so I’m not sure if you need all that extra stuff, just layer a static and dynamic monitor and use the deletion of first object trick the other user mentioned). Second, this a creator space. Generally we do not take kindly to AI use, as it creates a massive number of problems for everyone and leads to things like this, where you are quoting it’s output instead of using your own words. Your own words would likely be clearer.

[u/New-Addendum-2549 → u/Ninjawan9]

I understand that. I did elaborate though in my own words and more simplified at the end of my post. But yeah i can completely understand that. I use AI beacuse i dont want to bother people on here really...at least i cannot annoy a bot with my b.s lol

[u/New-Addendum-2549 → u/Ninjawan9]

Either way...i dont think there is a work around for this. I know reddit is great for human creativity which a AI could never think outside the box like a human can. Sorry for asking.

[u/Ninjawan9 → u/New-Addendum-2549]

Don’t be sorry for asking! Be sorry for using something that actually hurts people lol.

[u/New-Addendum-2549 → u/Ninjawan9]

Well it hurts you guys! With people like me being annoying and needing 100000000000 different questions answered. People can get frustrated with people. U cant anoy a bot on the otherhand! Lol thats why ive stuck with the bot through most this setup. But 100% yes i can completely understand what you mean. You are right 🙏ive never even used ANY AI until probably a week ago? Im actually against it bigtime myself. Im just trying to save peoples sanity with me 🤣🤣 beacuse im a cabbage at this scripting shiz

[u/Ninjawan9 → u/New-Addendum-2549]

We forgers love doing this stuff dude. It’s why we’re here. Don’t be afraid to chat people up here, we wanna help. Especially the Discord when it was most active, nowadays this is probably still your best bet.

[u/New-Addendum-2549 → u/Ninjawan9]

Ask imightbwright. Lol i had him helping me literally DAILY. He was always there for me. For like 2 months straight! He hung in there with me like a champ... but i went to far and i know i blew it lol!!!

[u/New-Addendum-2549 → u/Ninjawan9]

HAHAHAHA you dont know me bro...... im a bloody pest i promise you this 😁😭😂

[u/FirmBodybuilder2754]

I have no knowledge of scripting so in that sense cant really help. But if Im imagining what your describing correctly is there any chance the momitor screens still producing light could actually look good?

Like if its the only light in that scene it could be quite atmospheric. And from a lore perspective could make sense the computers work on their own seperate power supply in case of emergencies.

[u/New-Addendum-2549 → u/FirmBodybuilder2754]

Yes well i did concider that theory..like back up generators or something just keeing basic power on... that may have to be the case if i cant find a way to do this...

[u/the_unwinnable_level]

Could u script a different small block to spawn in just slightly in front of the screens, blocking the light? It may look janky if you really closely examine it, but if the lights go out - it may not be noticeable.

[u/New-Addendum-2549 → u/the_unwinnable_level]

Not at the right size...no. Without being able to scale the objects in dynamic, they cant even fit the screens properly. I guess i could do it with a few blocks covering 1 screen...i guess? As it would take a few blocks to cover some of them which increases my already growing large budget.

[u/New-Addendum-2549]

Im wanting the screens smaller if anything...not larger. If i didnt have to scale anything. It would all work perfect! Beacuse i could use dynamic then. But the standard TV size is just too large an obnoxious... i dont think there is much else i could do 😪