Npc helicopter

From Valve Developer Community

Table of contents

1 Entity Description 2 Dedicated Console Variables 3 Keyvalues 4 Flags 5 Inputs 6 Outputs

Entity Description

A Combine helicopter, (also called a "Hunter-Chopper") armed with a machine gun and floating mines.

• This is a Flying NPC, that uses info_node_air and info_node_air_hint for AI navigation.

Related Entities:

• npc_heli_avoidbox
• npc_heli_avoidsphere
• npc_heli_nobomb
• helicopter_bomb

Dedicated Console Variables

• sk_helicopter_health

<integer> Helicopter Spawn Health

• sk_helicopter_firingcone

<float> The angle in degrees of the cone in which the shots will be fired

• sk_helicopter_burstcount

<integer> How many shot bursts to fire after charging up. The bigger the number, the longer the firing is

• sk_helicopter_roundsperburst

<integer> How many shots to fire in a single burst

• sk_helicopter_grenadedamage

<float> The amount of damage the helicopter grenade deals.

• sk_helicopter_grenaderadius

<float> The damage radius of the helicopter grenade.

• sk_helicopter_grenadeforce

<float> The physics force that the helicopter grenade exerts.

• sk_npc_dmg_helicopter_to_plr

<float> Damage helicopter shots deal to the player

Used in ammotype "HelicopterGun"

• sk_npc_dmg_helicopter

<float> Damage helicopter shots deal to everything but the player

Used in ammotype "HelicopterGun"

• sk_helicopter_drone_speed

<float> How fast does the zapper drone move?

• g_helicopter_chargetime

<float> How much time we have to wait (on average) between the time we start hearing the charging sound + the chopper fires

• g_helicopter_bullrush_distance

<float>

• g_helicopter_bullrush_bomb_enemy_distance

<float>

• g_helicopter_bullrush_bomb_time

<float>

• g_helicopter_idletime

<float>

• g_helicopter_maxfiringdist

<float>

• g_helicopter_bullrush_bomb_speed

<float>

• g_helicopter_bullrush_shoot_height

<float>

• g_helicopter_bullrush_mega_bomb_health

<float>

Keyvalues

• targetname <target_source>

Defines the name that other entities refer to this entity by.

• hammerid [Episode Two Update]

<integer readonly> This id is used for debugging purposes in Hammer.

• angles <angle>

Pitch Yaw Roll (Y Z X)

This entity's angular orientation in the world (also used for angular effect entities).

• renderfx

<choices>

Literal Value	Description
0	Normal
1	Slow Pulse
2	Fast Pulse
3	Slow Wide Pulse
4	Fast Wide Pulse
5	Slow Fade Away
6	Fast Fade Away
7	Slow Become Solid
8	Fast Become Solid
9	Slow Strobe
10	Fast Strobe
11	Faster Strobe
12	Slow Flicker
13	Fast Flicker
14	Constant Glow
15	Distort
16	Hologram (Distort + fade)
17	Scale up
22	Spotlight FX
23	Cull By Distance (TEST)
24	Fade Wider Pulse

• rendermode

<choices> Used to set a non-standard rendering mode on this entity. See also 'FX Amount' and 'FX Color'.

Literal Value	Render Mode	Description (Click for more info.)
0	Normal	Default rendering.
1	Color	Obsolete.
2	Texture	Plain opacity.
3	Glow	No Z buffer checks. Fixed size on screen.
4	Solid / Alphatest	Obsolete. (Use alphatest capabilities in materials instead.)
5	Additive	Obsolete. Add this entity's color to what's behind it.
7	Additive Fractional Frame	Obsolete? Blend between animation frames.
8	Alpha Add (Not in FGD.)	Add alpha.
9	World Space Glow	No Z buffer checks. Fixed size in world (as opposed to on screen).
10	Dont Render / None	Don't render.

• renderamt

<integer> FX Amount (0 - 255) - How opaque the entity will be rendered. (0 is fully transparent, while 255 is fully opaque). Will not work if the rendermode keyvalue is set to Normal or Dont Render.

• rendercolor

<color255> FX Color - What color the entity will be rendered in (to the degree of the opacity set with renderamt).

• disablereceiveshadows

<boolean> Disable Recieving Shadows

• damagefilter <target_destination>

Name of the filter_damage_type entity that controls which entities can damage us.

• ResponseContext

<string> Response system context(s) for this entity. Format should be: 'key:value,key2:value2,etc'. When this entity speaks, the list of keys and values will be passed to the response rules system.

• disableshadows

<boolean> Used to disable dynamic shadow casting from this entity.

• target

<target_destination> If set, the name of a path corner entity that this NPC will walk to, after spawning.

• squadname

<string> NPCs that are in the same squad (i.e. have matching squad names) will share information about enemies, and will take turns attacking and covering each other.

• hintgroup

<string> Hint groups are used by NPCs to restrict their hint-node searching to a subset of the map's hint nodes. Only hint nodes with matching hint group names will be considered by this NPC.

• hintlimiting

<boolean> Limits NPC to using specified hint group for navigation requests, but does not limit local navigation.

• sleepstate

<choices> Holds the NPC in stasis until specified condition. See also 'Wake Radius' and 'Wake Squad'.

Literal value	Description
0	None
1	Waiting for threat
2	Waiting for PVS
3	Waiting for input, ignore PVS
4 [Episode One Update]	Auto PVS [Episode One Update]
5 [Episode One Update]	Auto PVS after PVS [Episode One Update]

• wakeradius

<float> Auto-wake if player within this distance

• wakesquad

<boolean> Wake all of the NPCs squadmates if the NPC is woken

• physdamagescale

<float> Scales damage energy when this character is hit by a physics object. With a value of 0 the NPC will take no damage from physics.

• InitialSpeed

<string> Sets the helicopter's desired speed that it should try to reach as soon as it's spawned.

• target

<target_destination> If set, the name of a path_track entity that this NPC will fly to after spawning.

• InitialSpeed

<float>

• GracePeriod

<float> Time in seconds the helicopter has to see the player before he starts shooting

• PatrolSpeed

<float> Speed at which the helicopter moves if he has no enemy.

Flags

• 1 : Wait Till Seen

• 2 : Gag (No IDLE sounds until angry)

• 4 : Fall to ground (unchecked means *teleport* to ground)

• 8 : Drop Healthkit

• 16 : Efficient - Don't acquire enemies or avoid obstacles

• 32 : No Rotorwash

• 64 : Await Input

• 128 : Wait For Script

• 256 : Long Visibility/Shoot

• 512 : Fade Corpse

• 1024 : Think outside PVS

• 2048 : Template NPC (used by npc_maker, will not spawn)

• 4096 : Do Alternate collision for this NPC (player avoidance)

• 8192 : Don't drop weapons

• 65536 : Loud rotor wash sound

• 131072 : Electrical drone

• 262144 : Helicopter lights

• 524288 : Ignore avoid spheres+boxes

• 1048576 : More aggressive attacks

Inputs

• Kill

Removes this entity from the world.

• KillHierarchy

Removes this entity and all its children from the world.

• AddOutput <string>

Evaluates a keyvalue/output on this entity. It can be potentially very dangerous, use with care.

Format: <key> <value>

Format: <output name> <targetname>:<inputname>:<parameter>:<delay>:<max times to fire (-1 == infinite)>

• FireUser1-4

Causes this entity's OnUser1-4 outputs to be fired. See User Inputs and Outputs.

• Color <color255>

Set the rendercolor.

• Alpha <byte>

Set the renderamt.

• SetDamageFilter <target_destination>

Sets the entity to use as damage filter. Pass in an empty string to clear the damage filter.

• AddContext <string>

Adds a context to this entity's list of response contexts. The format should be 'key:value'.

• RemoveContext <string>

Remove a context from this entity's list of response contexts. The name should match the 'key' of a previously added context.

• ClearContext

Removes all contexts in this entity's list of response contexts.

• DisableShadow

Turn shadow off.

• EnableShadow

Turn shadow on.

• SetRelationship <string>

Changes this entity's relationship toward another entity or class. (Used like the ai_relationship entity, with this NPC as the subject.)

Format: <target> <disposition> <rank>

<disposition> values:

Literal Value	Description
D_HT	Hate
D_FR	Fear
D_LI	Like
D_NU	Neutral

• SetHealth <integer>

Set this NPC's health.

• AddHealth <integer> [Episode Two Update]

Add to NPC's health.

• RemoveHealth <integer> [Episode Two Update]

Remove fromNPC's health.

• SetBodyGroup <integer>

HACK: Sets this NPC's body group (from 0 - n). You'd better know what you are doing!

• physdamagescale <float>

Sets the value that scales damage energy when this character is hit by a physics object.

 Note: 0 means this feature is disabled for backwards compatibility.

• Ignite

Ignite, burst into flames

• IgniteLifetime [Episode Two Update]
• IgniteNumHitboxFires [Episode Two Update]
• IgniteHitboxFireScale [Episode Two Update]

• Break

Break, smash into pieces

• StartScripting

Enter scripting state. In this state, NPCs ignore a variety of stimulus that would make them break out of their scripts: They ignore danger sounds, ignore +USE, don't idle speak or respond to other NPC's idle speech, and so on.

• StopScripting

Exit scripting state.

• Assault <target_destination>

Start an assault. Parameter passed in should be the name of the rally point.

• SetSquad <string>

Set the name of this NPC's squad. It will be removed from any existing squad automatically. Leaving the parameter blank will remove the NPC from any existing squad.

• Wake

Wakes up the NPC if it is sleeping.

• ForgetEntity <target_destination>

Clears out the NPC's knowledge of a named entity.

• GagEnable

Turn on the NPC Gag flag. NPC won't speak outside of choreographed scenes.

• GagDisable

Turn off the NPC Gag flag.

• IgnoreDangerSounds <float>

Ignore danger sounds for the specified number of seconds.

• HolsterWeapon [Episode One Update]

Force the NPC to holster their weapon. Ignored if the NPC is scripting, if the NPC's weapon is already holstered, or if the NPC doesn't use weapons.

• HolsterAndDestroyWeapon [Episode One Update]

Identical to HolsterWeapon, except the weapon is destroyed once it has been holstered and concealed.

• UnholsterWeapon [Episode One Update]

Force the NPC to draw their weapon. Ignored if the NPC is scripting, if the NPC's weapon is already drawn, or if the NPC doesn't use weapons.

• ForceInteractionWithNPC <string> [Episode One Update]

Force the NPC to use a dynamic interaction with another NPC.

Parameter format: <target NPC name> <dynamic interaction name>

• UpdateEnemyMemory <target_destination> [Episode One Update]

Update (or Create) this NPC's memory of an enemy and its location

• BecomeRagdoll [Episode Two Update]

• MoveTopSpeed

The helicopter will immediately move at top speed toward its current goal, or in its current orientation if it's on top of its goal.

• ChangePathCorner <target_destination>

Tell the helicopter to move to a path corner on a new path.

• SelfDestruct

Self Destruct.

• Activate

Activate. Use to wake up a helicopter that spawned with the 'Await Input' spawnflag on.

• SetTrack <target_destination>

Set a track for the helicopter to adhere to. The helicopter will do nothing if he's on the same path, and will move to the closest point on the specified track if he's on a different path.

• FlyToSpecificTrackViaPath <target_destination>

The helicopter will first fly to the closest point on the path if he's on a different path. Then he'll fly along the path to the specified track point.

• StartPatrol

Start patrolling back and forth along the current track.

• StopPatrol

Stop patrolling back and forth along the track. This will cause the helicopter to come to rest at the track which he's currently flying toward.

• ChooseFarthestPathPoint

When tracking an enemy, choose the point on the path furthest from the enemy, but still in firing range.

• ChooseNearestPathPoint

When tracking an enemy, choose the point on the path nearest from the enemy.

• StartBreakableMovement

The helicopter is now allowed to disobey direct commands to go to particular points if he senses an enemy. He will move to the closest point (or farthest point, if ChooseFarthestPathPoint is used), on the path if he senses an enemy.

• StopBreakableMovement

The helicopter can not disobey direct commands. He will continue to fly along his patrol path or to his specified target even if he senses an enemy.

• InputStartLeading <integer>

To do:

• InputStopLeading

To do:

• GunOn

• GunOff

• MissileOn

• MissileOff

• EnableRotorWash

• DisableRotorWash

• EnableRotorSound

• DisableRotorSound

• StartBombingVehicle

Starts the chopper leading enemy vehicles and dropping bombs on them.

• StartTrailingVehicle

Starts the chopper trailing enemy vehicles and shooting at them.

• StartDefaultBehavior

Starts the chopper in the mode where he always stops at nav points instead of stopping anywhere in between nav points.

• StartAlwaysLeadingVehicle

Starts the chopper *always* leading enemy vehicles (regardless of how they are moving w/respect to the path) and dropping bombs on them. This mode is different from StartBombingVehicle in that it never uses the machine gun.

• StartSprinkleBehavior

Starts the chopper dropping bombs randomly + shooting at the player.

• StartBullrushBehavior

Starts the chopper bullrushing the player.

• SetHealthFraction <float>

Sets the chopper health as a percentage of max health

• EnableDeadlyShooting

Starts the chopper being deadly to on-foot players

• DisableDeadlyShooting

Stops the chopper being deadly to on-foot players

• StartNormalShooting

The chopper will fire in short bursts. Good for on-foot experiences

• StartLongCycleShooting

The chopper fires in long bursts

• StartContinuousShooting

The chopper fires continuously.

• ResetIdleTime

Allows the helicopter to fire immediately if he's not in the middle of charging or firing

• SetAngles <angles>

Instantly snaps the orientation of the helicopter

• DropBomb

Immediately drops a bomb based on normal bomb dropping rules

• DropBombStraightDown

Immediately drops a bomb directly downwards

• DropBombAtTarget <target_destination>

Immediately drops a bomb directly at the target destination, but only if the player isn't right there

• DropBombAtTargetAlways <target_destination>

Immediately drops a bomb directly at the target destination, no matter whether it's fair or not.

• DropBombDelay <float>

Add a delay before the next bomb is dropped

• BecomeIndestructible

Makes the helicopter take no more damage

• DisablePathVisibilityTests

When the helicopter moves, he will not check for visibility from the path_track to the enemy to cull out path_tracks

• EnablePathVisibilityTests

When the helicopter moves, he will only move to path_tracks that have line-of-sight to the enemy

Outputs

• OnDamaged

Fired when this NPC takes damage.

!activator = damage inflictor

• OnDeath

Fired when this NPC is killed.

!activator = killer

• OnHalfHealth

Fired when this NPC reaches half of its maximum health.

• OnHearWorld

Fired when this NPC hears a sound (other than combat or the player).

• OnHearPlayer

Fired when this NPC hears the player.

• OnHearCombat

Fired when this NPC hears combat sounds.

• OnFoundEnemy <ehandle>

Fired when this NPC establishes line of sight to its enemy (outputs entity).

• OnLostEnemyLOS

Fired when this NPC loses line of sight to its enemy.

• OnLostEnemy

Fired when this NPC loses its enemy. Usually due to the enemy being killed/removed, or because this NPC has selected a newer, more dangerous enemy.

• OnFoundPlayer <ehandle>

Fired when this NPC establishes line of sight to its enemy, and that enemy is a player (outputs player entity).

• OnLostPlayerLOS

Fired when this NPC loses line of sight to its enemy, and that enemy is a player.

• OnLostPlayer

Fired when this NPC loses its enemy, and that enemy was a player. Usually due to the enemy being killed/removed, or because this NPC has selected a newer, more dangerous enemy.

• OnDamagedByPlayer

Fired when this NPC is hurt by a player.

!activator = attacker or vehicle driver (if friendly fire)

• OnDamagedByPlayerSquad

Fired when this NPC is hurt by a player OR by one of the player's squadmates.

!activator = attacker or vehicle driver (if friendly fire)

• OnDenyCommanderUse

Fired when this NPC has refused to join the player's squad.

• OnWake

Fired when this NPC comes out of a sleep state.

• OnHealthChanged <integer>

Fires when the helicopter health changes. The integer is the percentage of health the chopper has from 0-100.

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