point_viewcontrol

Class hierarchy
CTriggerCamera ↳CBaseEntity
triggers.cpp

Source Engine

INFRA

point_viewcontrol is a point entity available in all Source games. It is a camera entity that controls the player's view. While it's active, the player will see out of the camera.

Note:In , the camera chooses a random point_viewcontrol entity to look through when the client has not chosen a team yet. If no point_viewcontrol entities are present, observers will spawn at the map origin instead. This is equivalent to info_player_observer.

Note:This entity has many problems. See the discussion page for full descriptions and fixes.

Warning:For , point_viewcontrol makes the player invulnerable while enabled on camera. However, point_viewcontrol_survivor and point_viewcontrol_multiplayer don't.

Bug:The camera doesn't follow its path correctly. It will not follow paths at all if it doesn't have an Entity to Look At set.  [todo tested in ?]

Bug:The camera ignores the New Train Speed keyvalue and Teleport to THIS path_corner spawnflag on path_tracks.  [todo tested in ?]

Bug:The camera fails to function when parented in Hammer, logic_measure_movement can be used as a workaround. (Fixed in and onward.)

Workaround:Change the parent with the SetParent input

  [todo tested in ?]

Bug:If the camera is killed while active, or the player suicides, the camera will be stuck permanently on the player's screen. The only fix afterwards is for the player to reconnect to the server. For , see the vscript code below to fix this issue.  [todo tested in ?]

Bug:In , if the map switches during intermission while a player has a camera enabled, the camera will persist into the next map.  [todo tested in ?]

Keyvalues

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

Entity to Look At (target) <targetname>

Name of the entity that the camera should point at and track while active.

Target Attachment Name (targetattachment) <string>

If set, the camera will focus on the specified attachment on the 'Entity to Look At'.

Hold Time (wait) <integer>

The amount of time the camera should control the player's view for, after which it deactivates itself. If the camera should stay active until told to deactive, set the 'Infinite Hold Time' spawnflag.

Path Corner (moveto) <targetname>

The first path corner in a track that the camera should move along once it's activated. If not specified, the camera won't move.

Interpolate Position To Player (interpolatepositiontoplayer) <boolean> (only in )

Gradually interpolate player's position to here on start.

Initial Speed (speed) <string>

The starting speed that the camera moves at, if it's on a path track.

Acceleration units/sec^2 (acceleration) <string>

The speed at which the camera accelerates to path corner's desired speeds.

Stop Deceleration units/sec^2 (deceleration) <string>

The speed at which the camera decelerates to path corner's desired speeds.

FOV (fov) <float> (in all games since ) (also in ) !FGD

The FOV when using this camera.

Note:Not present in 's FGD, but present in all FGDs onward.

FOV rate (fov_rate) <float> (in all games since ) (also in ) !FGD

How fast we change to the new FOV.

Note:Not present in 's FGD, but present in all FGDs onward.

Tracking Speed of the camera (trackspeed) <float> (in all games since ) (also in )

The speed that the camera tries to follow its look target.

Pitch Yaw Roll (Y Z X) (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.

Flags

Start At Player : [1]

Start the camera at the player's position.

Bug:Breaks the camera movement if the player was still moving when the camera activated.  [todo tested in ?]

Follow Player : [2]

This is the same as if you set the lookat target to !player.

Bug:Causes camera issues in multiplayer.  [todo tested in ?]

Freeze Player : [4]

Stop recognizing input from the player.

Infinite Hold Time : [8]

Ignore the hold time, and stay activated until explicitly disabled.

Snap to goal angles : [16]
Make Player non-solid : [32]
Interruptable by Player : [64]

If the player presses +Use, disable.

Set FOV : [128] (in all games since ) (also in ) !FGD

Note:Not present in 's FGD, but present in all FGDs onward.

All Players : [128] (only in )

Controls the view of all players.

Note:point_viewcontrol_multiplayer can be used instead in Left 4 Dead and later.

Inputs

Enable

Enable the point_viewcontrol, and start controlling the player's view.

Disable

Disable the point_viewcontrol, and stop controlling the player's view.

SetTarget <string> (in all games since ) (also in )

Set a new target for the camera to point at.

SetTargetAttachment <string> (in all games since ) (also in )

Set a new attachment on the target for the camera to point at.

ReturnToEyes  (in all games since ) (also in )

Return the camera view to the player's eyes.

TeleportToView  (in all games since ) (also in )

Teleport the player to the current position of the camera.

SetTrackSpeed <float> (in all games since ) (also in )

Set the speed that the camera will try to track it's target.

SetPath <string> (in all games since ) (also in )

Have the camera start following a new path.

Outputs

OnEndFollow

Fired when the point_viewcontrol deactivates, due to the Disable input being received, the Entity to Look At being destroyed, or the Hold Time expiring.

VScript fixes

For VScript compatible games on Team Fortress 2 branch, copy the following VScript code to a .nut file and assign it to every point_viewcontrol as an Entity Script.

This will fix players being invulnerable while using the camera, cameras not being disabled when player is dead/suiciding, cameras persisting across map change in , and allows multiple players to use the same camera.

Expand

if (!("SetInputHook" in getroottable()))
{
	local _PostInputScope, _PostInputFunc
	::SetInputHook <- function(entity, input, pre_func, post_func)
	{
		entity.ValidateScriptScope()
		local scope = entity.GetScriptScope()
		if (post_func)
		{
			local wrapper_func = function() 
			{ 
				_PostInputScope = scope
				_PostInputFunc = post_func
				if (pre_func) return pre_func.call(scope)
				return true
			}	
			scope["Input" + input]           <- wrapper_func
			scope["Input" + input.tolower()] <- wrapper_func
		}
		else if (pre_func)
		{
			scope["Input" + input]           <- pre_func
			scope["Input" + input.tolower()] <- pre_func
		}
	}
	getroottable().setdelegate(
	{
		_delslot = function(k)
		{
			if (_PostInputScope && k == "activator" && "activator" in this)
			{
				_PostInputFunc.call(_PostInputScope)
				_PostInputFunc = null
			}		
			rawdelete(k)
		}
	})
}

if (!("CameraFixerEvents" in getroottable()))
{
	::CameraFixerDisableAll <- function()
	{
		local camera = Entities.FindByClassname(null, "point_viewcontrol")
		for (local player; player = Entities.FindByClassname(player, "player");)
			camera.AcceptInput("Disable", "", player, player)
	}
	::CameraFixerEvents <- 
	{
		OnGameEvent_round_start = function(params) { CameraFixerDisableAll() }
		OnGameEvent_teamplay_round_start = function(params) { CameraFixerDisableAll() }
		OnGameEvent_recalculate_holidays = function(params) { if (GetRoundState() == 8) CameraFixerDisableAll() }
	} __CollectGameEventCallbacks(CameraFixerEvents)
}

function Precache()
{
	local take_damage, life_state
	SetInputHook(self, "Enable", 
		function()
		{
			take_damage = NetProps.GetPropInt(activator, "m_takedamage")
			NetProps.SetPropEntity(self, "m_hPlayer", null)
			return true
		},
		function()
		{
			NetProps.SetPropInt(activator, "m_takedamage", take_damage)	
		}
	)
	SetInputHook(self, "Disable", 
		function()
		{
			take_damage = NetProps.GetPropInt(activator, "m_takedamage")
			life_state = NetProps.GetPropInt(activator, "m_lifeState")
			NetProps.SetPropInt(activator, "m_lifeState", 0) 
			NetProps.SetPropEntity(self, "m_hPlayer", activator)
			return true
		}, 
		function()
		{
			NetProps.SetPropInt(activator, "m_lifeState", life_state) 	
			NetProps.SetPropInt(activator, "m_takedamage", take_damage) 	
		}
	)
}

See Also

• point_viewcontrol_survivor
• point_viewcontrol_multiplayer