Haptic relay

haptic_relay is a point entity available in Half-Life: Alyx.

Entity description

The haptic_relay is an entity which ostensibly has the power to trigger force-feedback in VR controllers based on its properties being similar to env_shake. It appears to share some attributes with logic_relay but requires additional testing for use.

Todo: Test this entity for its intended uses and update this page with more use-cases

Some potential use-cases are:

• scripted events with explosions/impacts where vibrating the controller may enhance immersion

Investigate: .hpt files in scripts/haptics, audio2haptic_inputkv.txt, and OnHandEvent input.

Properties

Source 2 Transform:

Origin (origin) <coordinates>

The world space origin of the entity.

Angles (angles) <angles>

The pitch, yaw, roll orientation of the entity.

Scale (scales) <vector>

The x, y, z scales of the entity. Not all entities can use this.

Transform Locked (transformLocked) <boolean>

Lock the transform at its current value, preventing the transform of the node from being modified. Only applies within Hammer.

Force Hidden (force_hidden) <boolean>

Visually hides the entity from the viewports. The Outliner pane will still list hidden entities.

Editor Only (editorOnly) <boolean>

Entity is only displayed in Hammer and will not appear in game.

Name ([todo internal name (i)]) <string>

The name that other entities refer to this entity by.

Misc Entity Scripts ([todo internal name (i)]) <string>

Name(s) of script files that are executed after all entities have spawned.

Frequency ([todo internal name (i)]) <integer>

Frequency of the haptic pulse (0 - 100) Default (50)

Bug:It doesn't matter what frequency is set, all values have the same behavior.  (tested in: )

Amplitude ([todo internal name (i)]) <float>

Amplitude of haptic pulse (0.0 - 1.0) Default (0.5)

Bug:Setting amplitude to any value besides 1 results in the haptic_relay not vibrating the controllers at all. For a weaker haptic pulse, you can send a ApplyContinuousHapticPulse input to !player with a parameter override of 1.  (tested in: )

Duration ([todo internal name (i)]) <float>

Duration of the haptic pulse in seconds Default (0.1)

Bug:The duration seems to be the same no matter what value is set.  (tested in: )

Outputs

OnUser1

Fired in response to FireUser1 input

OnUser2

Fired in response to FireUser2 input

OnUser3

Fired in response to FireUser3 input

OnUser4

Fired in response to FireUser4 input

OnKilled

Fire when the entity is killed and removed from the game.

Inputs

AlyxTargetName:

RunScriptFile

Execute a VScript file from disk, without file extension. The script contents are merged with the script scope of the receiving entity.

RunScriptCode

Execute a string of VScript source code in the scope of the entity receiving the input. String quotation may be needed when fired via console.

CallScriptFunction

Execute a VScript function in the scope of the receiving entity.

CallPrivateScriptFunction

Execute a VScript function from this entity's private script scope

CallGlobalScriptFunction

Execute a VScript function from the global script scope

Kill

Removes this entity from the world.

KillHierarchy

Removes this entity and its children from the world.

Note:Entities already remove orphaned children upon being removed, but this input removes all children on the same frame, being marginally faster than Kill.

AddOutput <stringRedirectInput/string>

Adds a keyvalue/output to this entity. It can be potentially very dangerous, use with care.
KV Format: <key> <value>
I/O Format: <output name> <targetname>:<inputname>:<parameter>:<delay>:<max times to fire, -1 means infinite>

FireUser1 to FireUser4

Fire the OnUser outputs; see User Inputs and Outputs.

OnHandEvent

Trigger the relay with an input that has the player as activator and HandID as value