phys_hinge

Source Engine

Source 2

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January 2024

Class hierarchy
CPhysHinge ↳CPhysConstraint ↳CLogicalEntity ↳CServerOnlyEntity ↳CBaseEntity
physconstraint.cpp

phys_hinge is a point entity available in all Source games. A hinge constraint which restricts rotation of its attached entities to a given axis. The axis is a line between the hinge's origin and the location of its Hammer helper.

Note:Helper must be used to make hinge work or you will get an error. (ERROR: phys_hinge bad data)

The hinge can be given a friction component, which causes it to come to rest more quickly like an old rusty hinge might.

Example map: sourcesdk_content\hl2\mapsrc\sdk_phys_hinge.vmf

Keyvalues

Friction (hingefriction) <float>

Resistance/friction in the hinge.

Note:This is not a percentage, but rather 1000 HL Units. 100 is a good starting value.

Hinge Axis (hingeaxis) <vector>

Define the axis of the hinge by dragging the entity helper in Hammer's 2D views.

Load Scale (SystemLoadScale) <float>

Scale of the load connected to this hinge (1=just the objects directly connected.

Todo: What does this do? It doesn't seem to increase precision when heavy objects are attached.

)

Minimum Sound Velocity (minSoundThreshold) <float>

When travelling below this many units/sec, will not play any sound.

Full Sound Velocity (maxSoundThreshold) <float>

When travelling at this speed or above, will play sound at full volume.

Travel sound (forward) (slidesoundfwd) <sound>

Play this sound when travelling forward on helper axis

Travel sound (backward) (slidesoundback) <sound>

Play this sound when travelling backward on helper axis

Reversal sound threshold (small) (reversalsoundthresholdSmall) <float>

When accelerating by more than this many units/sec^2 opposite to direction of travel, play the small reversal sound.

Reversal sound threshold (medium) (reversalsoundthresholdMedium) <float>

When accelerating by more than this many units/sec^2 opposite to direction of travel, play the medium reversal sound.

Reversal sound threshold (large) (reversalsoundthresholdLarge) <float>

When accelerating by more than this many units/sec^2 opposite to direction of travel, play the large reversal sound.

Reversal sound (small) (reversalsoundSmall) <sound>

Play this sound when making a hard reverse over the small threshold but less than medium

Reversal sound (medium) (reversalsoundMedium) <sound>

Play this sound when making a hard reverse over the medium threshold but less than large

Reversal sound (large) (reversalsoundLarge) <sound>

Play this sound when making a hard reverse over the large threshold

TwoObjectPhysics:

Entity 1 (attach1) <targetname>

Entity 2 (attach2) <targetname>

The entities to constrain. Leave one or the other field blank to constrain to the world.

Note:Only one entity will be constrained, even if several share the given targetname.

Constraint System Manager (constraintsystem) <targetname>

A phys_constraintsystem that this constraint should be a part of. This avoids the "jiggling" caused by constraints applied to the same set of entities fighting with each other.

Force Limit to Break (forcelimit) <float>

Impact force required to break the constraint, in pounds. 0 means infinite. A way of calculating this is to set it to the weight of an object that would break the constraint if it were resting on its objects.

Torque Limit to Break (torquelimit) <float>

Torque required to break the constraint, in pounds*inches. 0 means infinite. A way of calculating this is to multiply any reference mass by the resting distance (from the center of mass of the object) needed to break the constraint.

Play Sound on Break (breaksound) <string>

A sound played when the constraint is broken.

Follow teleport distance (teleportfollowdistance) <float>

If one constrained object teleports more than this many units away, the other will teleport with it.

Name (targetname) <string>

The name that other entities refer to this entity by, via Inputs/Outputs or other keyvalues (e.g. parentname or target).
Also displayed in Hammer's 2D views and Entity Report.

See also:  Generic Keyvalues, Inputs and Outputs available to all entities

Flags

No Collision until break : [1]
Start inactive : [4]
Change mass to keep stable attachment to world : [8]
Do not connect entities until turned on : [16]

Inputs

SetAngularVelocity <float>

Set angular velocity around the hinge (motor) in deg/sec

TwoObjectPhysics:

Break

Force the constraint to break.

TurnOn

Enable the constraint; do this if the constrained objects don't exist when it spawns. Note that broken constraints cannot be turned back on as they have been deleted.

TurnOff

Disable the constraint.

Outputs

TwoObjectPhysics:

OnBreak

Fired when the constraint breaks.