Info remarkable

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class hierarchy
CInfoRemarkable
CPointEntity
CBaseEntity

This is a point entity available in the following Source Source games or engine branches:
Left 4 Dead Left 4 DeadLeft 4 Dead 2 Left 4 Dead 2 and Entropy : Zero 2 Entropy : Zero 2. An object in the world such that characters seeing it will speak a TLK_REMARK concept. Info_remarkable in L4D2 official maps can be found in the commentary text file located in the maps directory within pak01_dir.vpk. Left 4 Dead commentary files can be found in the maps folder of the Left 4 Dead installation for Left 4 Dead (No VPK extraction necessary). This entity can be placed with the Commentary Editor

Keyvalues

Subject context (contextsubject) <string>
Text to put in the SUBJECT context of the TLK_REMARK fired upon sighting this object.

Targetname:
Name (targetname) <string>
The targetname that other entities refer to this entity by.

Tutorial/How to - Step by Step

So here is a mock scenario:

You have a rooftop on your campaign. You want the survivors to comment on the rooftop as we would hear in Valve's campaigns. Here's how we do it.

  • Step 1

(If you know how to access the /talker scripts with GCFScape, skip to step 2.) First -- There are files that let you know what the survivors can say and what the 'Subject Context' is in these files:

For Left 4 Dead Left 4 Dead - common\left 4 dead\left4dead\scripts\talker
For Left 4 Dead 2 Left 4 Dead 2 - You'd have to look around in the files with GCFScape from the VPK dir at: common\left 4 dead 2\left4dead2\pak01_dir.vpk

Once inside the folder structure, navigate to: \scripts\talker

The files for both L4D and L4D2 are associated with the survivor's name. So for instance in L4D2, Ellis's available remarks are in mechanic.txt. Rochelle's are in producer.txt etc.

Be aware that The Passing talker scripts are in the own VPK structure located in: common\left 4 dead 2\left4dead2_dlc1\pak01_dir.vpk and additional DLC scripts are located in their respective folders as they become available.


  • Step 2

Ok. Now that we know where the text files are, lets check out one of the responses.

Response PlayerRemarkc2m4_upbarnaMechanic
{
	scene "scenes/Mechanic/WorldC4M4B04.vcd"  //We can climb across the roofs!
}
Rule PlayerRemarkc2m4_upbarnaMechanic
{
	criteria ConceptRemark IsMechanic Isc2m4_upbarna IsNotSaidc2m4_upbarna IsNotCoughing NotInCombat IsTalk IsTalkMechanic IsWorldTalkMechanic IsSubjectNear300 AutoIsNotScavenge AutoIsNotSurvival IsNotSrcGrp_C2M4_003 IsNotSpeakingWeight0
	ApplyContext "Saidc2m4_upbarna:1:0,SrcGrp_C2M4_003:1:0"
	applycontexttoworld
	Response PlayerRemarkc2m4_upbarnaMechanic
}


This is the talker script for Dark Carnival map 4, where you cross the barn rooftops just before the panic event at the stadium entrance.

First you have the VCD scene file it refers to: scenes/Mechanic/WorldC4M4B04.vcd and what is actually spoken. Next, is the Rule and the criteria that need to be met for it to be "spoken". There are a bunch of "Is" and "IsNot" criteria shown there. I.E.:


IsMechanic = Is Ellis
Isc2m4_upbarna = I assume this is variable set then referred to for the criterion's sake
IsNotSaidc2m4_upbarna = Hasn't, or is not currently saying this.
The rest are fairly self explanatory.


One that is important is 'IsSubjectNear300'. This is the radius that the player must be within the info_remarkable for it to fire. At the end of this writeup, I made a change to the FGD for both games that will show a mock radius(similar to ambient_generic's radius for sound distance) so you can place it right where you want it to be.

Many remarks are able to be used by different survivors, so even if you find it in say, mechanic.txt, another survivor may comment on it also.

--SOME TALKER REMARKS HAVE THE CRITERIA 'ISMAP', THESE WILL NOT WORK BECAUSE THEY LOOK FOR A SPECIFIC MAP NAME -- SO KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR THEM--

Back to it now. To use this particular remark in our info_remarkable we would take c2m4_upbarna from the text and put it in our 'Subject Context' field of our info_remarkable. You can always tell what the remarks are by the rule.

Rule PlayerRemarkc2m4_upbarnaMechanic

Forget about Rule PlayerRemark and forget about the survivor name at the end. It will be the text between them. So in this case, c2m4_upbarna. Don't forget to remove the survivor name at the end.

So now we have this in Hammer
Info remarkable hammer.jpg


Be aware that the most important criteria, although not listed with the others, is the player having line of sight with the info_remarkable. This needs to be met first, before radius and the other criteria.

We are basically done. When a survivor gets within 300 units of this info_remarkable, they will say, "We can climb across the roofs!". It is nice that Valve has the actual text spoken in the .txt files so you can Ctrl-F with whatever program you use and search for specific sayings.

FGD Additions

(This works for L4D and L4D2 Hammer versions)

To help with placement of the info_remarkables and associated radii that will come with whatever Remark you are using (I.E. IsSubjectNear300 etc.), I added a change to the leftdead(2).fgd that allows you to see the radius for placement.

If you open up your left4dead(2).fgd (use notepad or equivalent) at \common\left 4 dead (2)\bin and do a search for info_remarkable and replace:


@PointClass base(Origin,Targetname) = info_remarkable : "An object in the world such that characters seeing it will speak a TLK_REMARK concept"
[
	contextsubject(string) : "Subject context" : "" : "Text to put in the SUBJECT context of the TLK_REMARK fired upon sighting this object." 
]

With

@PointClass base(Origin,Targetname) sphere() = info_remarkable : "An object in the world such that characters seeing it will speak a TLK_REMARK concept"
[
	contextsubject(string) : "Subject context" : "" : "Text to put in the SUBJECT context of the TLK_REMARK fired upon sighting this object."
	radius(string) : "Mock Radius for Origin Placement" : "500" : "Allows you to set a mock radius to determine origin placement on info_remarkables based off their associated Remark radius"
]

You can set a radius that will help with placement. Just set the Mock Radius to the number specified in IsSubjectNear*number here*.


See also