Posted by karjala on 2021-03-02 16:30:41 EST

Lucius is back with another update to his illustrious The Force Engine

In the latest update he discusses the work he's been doing on the game's INF scripting system. Through INF scripts the doors open when Kyle presses a switch, elevators go up when he steps on them, and ceilings collapse on his head when he walks somewhere he shouldn't!

 

This is a particular interesting update for me as the author learned programming through scripts like these in the 90s. 

Here is an example of a move floor Elevator script that halts at various stops. The commands are read top to bottom in a loop.

item: sector            name: complete
  seq
    class: elevator move_floor
    stop: 55 hold
    stop: 56 hold
      page: 1 m01kyl01.voc
      message: 1 rickenbacker master_on
    stop: 56 4
    stop: 56.5 2
      message: 3 parking_space wakeup
    stop: 57 0
      message: 4 text_boy m_trigger
    stop: 57 complete
    speed: 0
  seqend

For example at stop 56 it will play the m01kyl01.voc sound and call rickenbacker trigger which could open a door or... spawn a Dark Trooper!

Did you know there are 11 core elevator types such as move ceiling or scroll wall ? The latter is used to simulate a waterfall on the Robotics Facility Mission on Anteevy

But don't let us bore you with the details, read about it from the source!

The Force Engine - INF System