Talk:Script intro
Disentangling the HL2 opening sequence
Here's a very-possibly-error-filled dump of the events of the HL2 opening sequence. This was prepared by manually following the I/O connections in the SDK map, and there might be other things happening that I missed.
0 *Activate 0 credits 0 *FadeTo 255 0.01 6 change viewcontroller 6 start starfield BEGIN SCENE 1 (at time 6) 6 set zoom 6.1 view gman's eye BEGIN SCENE 2 (at time 9) 9 begin gman choreography 10 *FadeTo 0 3 [from scene 1] 11 start slow zoom BEGIN SCENE 2 FLASH MODE 2 (at time 14) 14 *FadeTo 255 0.3 14.4 change lights 14.4 *SetBlendMode 1 14.5 *FadeTo 0 0.3 BEGIN SCENE 2 RETURN TO MODE 0 (at time 16.2) 16.2 *FadeTo 255 0.3 16.6 view gman's cheek 16.6 *SetBlendMode 0 16.7 *FadeTo 0 0.3 BEGIN SCENE 3 (at time 17) BEGIN SCENE 3 MOVE TO MOUTH (at time 22) 22 *FadeTo 255 0.3 22.4 change some lights 22.4 view gman mouth 22.4 *SetFOV 75 22.4 snap zoom to 10 22.4 *SetCameraViewEntity hl1room_brush 22.4 *SetBlendMode 6 22.7 begin 20-second zoom 23 *FadeTo 0 4 BEGIN SCENE 3 BLEND TO 3 (at time 29) 29 *SetNextBlendMode 3 29.1 *SetNextBlendTime 4 BEGIN SCENE 4 (at time 35.5) 35.5 *FadeTo 255 1 36.6 *SetCameraViewEntity background_train 36.6 view gman cheek 36.6 start 10-second zoom 36.6 *SetBlendMode 3 36.6 start the train 36.6 fiddle around with fog and whatnot 36.8 *FadeTo 0 1 BEGIN SCENE 4 BLEND TO 6 (at time 41.8) 41.8 *SetNextBlendMode 6 41.9 *SetNextBlendTime 4 48.5 *FadeTo 255 2 50.5 *SetCameraViewEntity camera_train 50.5 *SetFOV 170 50.5 view train interior 50.5 setup final zoom 50.5 *SetBlendMode 3 51.5 *FadeTo 0 4 52.1 *SetNextFOV 75 52.11 *SetFOVBlendTime 8.2 52.5 begin final zoom (14 seconds) 52.5 start train camera moving 53 *SetNextBlendMode 6 53.01 *SetNextBlendTime 4 55.5 reparent train camera something, something... 59.1 *SetNextBlendMode 5 59.11 *SetNextBlendTime 1.8 60.5 messing around with zooms and fog and the starfield and whatnot 60.9 *SetFadeColor 255 255 255 60.91 *FadeTo 255 .2 61.09 turn off viewcontrol (put player back in body) START THE TRAIN (at time 61.12) 61.13 *SetBlendMode 1 61.22 teleport player 61.32 *SetCameraViewEntity camera_black 61.52 *FadeTo 0 .3 61.72 messing around with speeds of trains 61.82 *SetNextBlendMode 6 61.83 *SetNextBlendTime 1 63.72 show chapter title 66.12 *Deactivate 69.62 roll credits
Starred items are operations on the script_intro. From this and a little experimentation there appear to be three distinct gradual-transition types:
- FadeTo by itself
- In the map the fades always go from 0 to 255 to 0, etc. Changed blend modes, FOV, etc happen while at 255.
- SetNextBlendMode followed by SetNextBlendTime
- In the map these are seperated by the smallest non-zero time. This type of transition seems to occur only when the most recent FadeTo has transitioned to 0; the next FadeTo goes to 255.
- SetNextFOV followed by SetFOVBlendTime
- Same as prev, but for field of view (zoom effect). There is an abrupt version of this, SetFOV.
Also, it might be helpful to think of there being three cameras: A, the player view; B, the script_intro's camera; and C, a screen full of the fadecolor. (Fadecolor is black or white throughout the HL2 intro sequence, however.)
Hopefully this will help until someone gets this entity thoroughly figured out. —Maven (talk) 08:38, 20 Sep 2005 (PDT)
SetCameraViewEntity can be any entity
After some fiddling, I've noticed that SetCameraViewEntity doesn't have to be a point_viewcontrol - it can be any entity.
In fact, if you want your "B camera" to move, it's better to use another entity such as a func_tracktrain. The point_viewcontrol is not fully enabled by the script_intro and won't follow it's paths or target, whereas a func_tracktrain can be triggered to move in a normal way and the "B camera" will follow it. --MrBehemoth 04:58, 22 June 2013 (PDT)
