$bodygroup

$bodygroup is a QC command that defines a group of meshes that can be turned on or off. Server code can change their state.

Note:Bodygroups cannot change skeletons or collision models.

Example

$bodygroup sights
{
	studio "ironsights.smd"
	studio "laser_dot.smd"
	blank
}

This bodygroup allows a weapon to have iron sights, laser sights, or no sights at all.

$bodygroup chest
{
	studio "chest_with_no_armor.smd"
	studio "chest_with_light_armor.smd"
	studio "chest_with_heavy_armor.smd"
	studio "chest_with_super_armor.smd"
}

This bodygroup defines the entire chest region of the model, which probably spans multiple bones.

Note:Since bodygroup polygons never share vertices with the base mesh in Source models, there need not be seams between properly-made components.

Programming

To change a body group's state:

static int BodyGroup_Sights = FindBodygroupByName("sights"); // calculate this value once
SetBodygroup( BodyGroup_Sights , 1 ); // laser dot

By default, CBaseAnimating supports 4,294,967,296 combinations (32 bits), and CBaseViewModel supports 256 (8 bits). You can raise either of these by editing the relevant SendProp for m_nBody.

To calculate how many combinations you need, multiply the size of all your bodygroups together. The examples on this page total 3 * 4 = 12...but add two more groups the same size and you're up at 144. The figure grows exponentially.