point_energy_ball_launcher

 point_energy_ball_launcher is a point entity available in the Portal series.

Entity description

It spawns and launches a prop_energy_ball periodically.

 Note: In Portal 2, the models, materials, and sounds for the actual balls are missing and must be copied from HL2.

Keyvalues

Ball Lifetime (balllifetime) <float>

The time in seconds the ball will live before self-destructing. A negative value will give infinite life.

Min life after portal transition (minlifeafterportal) <float>

When energy balls created by this launcher pass through a portal and their life is refreshed to be this number at minimum.

Ball count (ballcount) <integer>

This is how many balls will be bouncing around inside the spawner

Min ball speed (minspeed) <float>

The minimum speed of balls that fly in the spawner

Max ball speed (maxspeed) <float>

The maximum speed of balls that fly in the spawner

Ball radius (ballradius) <float>

The radius of the energy balls

Ball Type (balltype) <choices>

Has no effect.

Ball Respawn Time (ballrespawntime) <float>

The energy balls respawn time

Ball Bounces (maxballbounces) <integer> (only in )

Sets on which bounce the ball should explode. (Ported from HL2 combine balls)

Ball Damage (balldamage) <float> (only in )

The amount of damage the ball should deal to players

Ball explode player (ballexplodeplayer) <boolean> (only in )

Sets if the ball should explode on player contact or ignore the player

Ball body material override (ballmaterial1) <material> (only in )

Override the main ball material.

Ball flicker material override (ballmaterial2) <material> (only in )

Overrides the other ball material.

Ball knockback multiplier (ballknockback) <float> (only in )

Base:

Classname (classname) <string>

The classname defines the type of entity. Classnames can be changed using AddOutput, which will influence how the engine deals with the entity in certain circumstances.

Name (targetname) <string>

The name that other entities refer to this entity by.

Global Entity Name (globalname) <string>

Name by which this entity is linked to another entity in a different map. When the player transitions to a new map, entities in the new map with globalnames matching entities in the previous map will have the previous map's state copied over their state.

Parent (parentname) <targetname>

Specifies a movement parent. An entity will maintain its initial offset from its parent. An attachment point can be added to the end of the name, separated by a comma. Every entity can be parented, even point entities. Entities which are parented will be forced to transition to the next map, such as from a trigger_transition. Some entities which aren't intended to be parented may not function correctly. phys_constraint can be used as a workaround to parenting.

Origin (X Y Z) (origin) <coordinates>

The position of this entity's center in the world. Rotating entities typically rotate around their origin.

Pitch Yaw Roll (X Y Z) (angles) <angle>

This entity's orientation in the world. Pitch is rotation around the Y axis, yaw is the rotation around the Z axis, roll is the rotation around the X axis.

 Note: This works on brush entities, although Hammer doesn't show the new angles.

Flags (spawnflags) <integer>

Toggles features of an entity, its specific number is determined by the combination of flags added.

Response Contexts (ResponseContext) <string>

Pre-defined response system contexts for this entity. Format is key:value,key:value,.... Contexts may be filtered.

Effects (effects) <integer> !FGD

Combination of effect flags to use.

Local Time (ltime) <float> !FGD

The local time of the entity, independent of the global clock. Used mainly for physics calculations.

Next Think (nextthink) <float> !FGD

Amount of time before the entity thinks again.

Hammer ID (hammerid) <integer> !FGD

The entity's Hammer ID. Mainly used by plugins and debugging commands, such as ent_keyvalue. Can be manually assigned with the "hammerid" or "id" keyvalue. Entities spawned at run-time are not assigned any Hammer ID.

Disable for Xbox 360 (disableX360) <boolean> (in all games since ) !FGD

If Yes, disables this entity on the Xbox 360 version of Source.

Entity Scripts (vscripts) <scriptlist> (in all games since )

Space delimited list of VScript files (without file extension) that are executed after all entities have spawned. The scripts are all executed in the same script scope, later ones overwriting any identical variables and functions.

Script think function (thinkfunction) <string> (in all games since )

Name of a function in this entity's script which will be called automatically every 100 milliseconds (ten times a second) for the duration of the script. It can be used to create timers or to simulate autonomous behavior. The return value (if present) will set the time until the next call. Try to avoid expensive operations in this function, as it may cause performance problems.

Lag Compensation (LagCompensate) <boolean> (in all games since ) !FGD

Set to Yes to lag compensate this entity. Should be used very sparingly!

Flags

• 1 : Override ball material
• 4096 : Start inactive
• 8192 : Combine power supply

Inputs

BallCaught  (in all games since )

Ball this launcher created was 'caught'.

LaunchBall

Enable

Enable spawning of combine balls

Disable

Disable spawning of combine balls

Base:

Kill

Removes this entity and any entities parented to it from the world.

KillHierarchy

Functions the same as Kill, although this entity and any entities parented to it are killed on the same frame, being marginally faster than Kill.

SetParent <string>

Move with this entity. See Entity Hierarchy (parenting).

SetParentAttachment <string>

Change this entity to attach to a specific attachment point on its parent. The entity will teleport so that the position of its root bone matches that of the attachment. Entities must be parented before being sent this input.

SetParentAttachmentMaintainOffset <string>

As above, but without teleporting. The entity retains its position relative to the attachment at the time of the input being received.

ClearParent

Removes this entity from the the movement hierarchy, leaving it free to move independently.

AddOutput <string>

Evaluates a keyvalue/output on this entity.
Format: <key> <value>
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.

Use  !FGD

Same as a player invoking +use; may not do anything. Can also be invoked by creating an output that does not specify an input.
This input is not included in Valve's FGDs.

DispatchEffect <string> (removed in ) !FGD

Dispatches a special effect from the entity's origin. Removed and replaced entirely by the particle system since .

DispatchResponse <string> !FGD

Dispatches a response to the entity. See Response and Concept.

AddContext <string>

Adds to the entity's list of response contexts. Format is <key>:<value>.

RemoveContext <string>

Remove a context from this entity's list. The name should match the key of an existing context.

ClearContext <string>

Removes all contexts from this entity's list.

RunScriptFile <script> (in all games since )

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

RunScriptCode <string> (in all games since )

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.

 Bug: In , the code is executed in the script scope of the entity that fires the output, not the one receiving the input.

 Warning: Never try to pass string parameters to a script function with this input. It will corrupt the VMF structure because of the nested quotation marks, which then must be removed manually with a text editor.

CallScriptFunction <string> (in all games since ) !FGD

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

SetLocalOrigin <coordinates> (in all games since ) !FGD

Send this entity to a spot in the map. If the entity is parented to something, it will be offset from the parent by this amount.

SetLocalAngles <angles> (in all games since ) !FGD

Set this entity's angles.

Outputs

OnBallCaught  (in all games since )

Fired when a ball this entity has launched has been 'caught'.

OnPostSpawnBall

Fired after the ball has spawned.

OnBallGrabbed

Fired when a combine ball is grabbed from the field by a mega physcannon

OnBallReinserted

Fired when a combine ball is reinserted into the field (only gets triggered when Combine Power supply is checked)

OnBallHitTopSide

Fired when a combine ball in hits the top side of the field (only gets triggered when Combine Power supply is checked)

OnBallHitBottomSide

Fired when a combine ball in hits the bottom side of the field (only gets triggered when Combine Power supply is checked)

OnLastBallGrabbed

Fired when the last combine ball is grabbed from the field by a mega physcannon

OnFirstBallReinserted

Fired when the first combine ball is reinserted into the field (only gets triggered when Combine Power supply is checked)

Base:

OnUser1 to OnUser4

These outputs each fire in response to the firing of the like-numbered FireUser1 to FireUser4 Input; see User Inputs and Outputs.

See also

• Creating an energy ball launcher and catcher