Cinematic cut scenes

Lithtech Jupiter engine

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SparedLife
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Cinematic cut scenes

Post by SparedLife » Mon Dec 25, 2006 8:18 pm

I get a bunch of requests asking how I managed to get inside the cinematic areas of NOLF2 and CJ. I guess from the emails this is a good enough topic to pass on to you and the members here.

In both NOLF2 and CJ I have been almost everywhere on and off the map and in most cinematic areas. Some using the jetpack, some using the jump mod, some using Dan's spectator mod, some by modifying the modelbutes, some by simple cheats, and some by just plain diligence. Getting to alot of the areas requires a combination of the mentioned techniques.

Also I wanted to ask a question. I have not been able to move the player model's startup location on the compiled maps. Would anyone know if it is feasible to locate the bytes in the map file where it assigns the coordinates? I was thinking maybe anyone who made a map and assigned the player start would be able to recognize the coordinates within the compiled map.

I made a few mod files to access the cutscene areas and created a small help page to answer a few questions I received.

Cut scenes

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Post by Spawn » Mon Dec 25, 2006 11:52 pm

I'm afraid that the only info you'll ever get from a Dat is
GameStartPoint00 Pos? ?? ?0e?L?CP??C Rotation? ?
seems like the numbers disappear when they are processed :huh:

However, you're able to change the objects in a processed map..
for instance:

Say that you have a nolf2 map that contains the 'Purse' (you know.. that large super cannon)
then you can write in 'blaster' and get the CJ energy cannon :P

But positions.. nope.. You might be able to see them in VisualBasic or similar
but I wouldn't know since I'm not a programmer..

Ura? ever tried that?
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Post by SparedLife » Tue Dec 26, 2006 12:57 am

Say that you have a nolf2 map that contains the 'Purse' (you know.. that large super cannon)
then you can write in 'blaster' and get the CJ energy cannon
That's exactly how I got BA's jetpack into the SP game.

That number after POS may help. I can see it in HEX So I'll mess with that and see what happens.

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Post by Spawn » Tue Dec 26, 2006 1:09 am

Cool,

The map has a zeropoint where you start with the marker when you create a new
world.. the numbers should work like this if I'm not mistaken..

You may see a line similar to this 45, -99 ,01 meaning x, y, z

X = left/right -/+ depending on where the zeropoint is
y = up/down -/+ depending on where the zeropoint is
z = forwards/backwards -/+ depending on where the zeropoint is

Hope it helps
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Post by SparedLife » Tue Dec 26, 2006 3:17 am

While in the cave with the director I start off facing a wall and standing with my left side to oblivion at the cave entrance and the director to the right inside the cave. The 10th and 11th bytes (C01 after the POS in spawn's example above) as my side to side movement and 18th and 19th bytes as my forward/backward movement.

C5 11 (50449) is where I started side to side. I moved the number down to C4 E5 (50405). Which moved me right but still set me diagonally out of the cave because the cave was not aligned left to right of me. I started the forward/backward bytes at C4 9D (50333) and lowered them to C4 85 (50309) to bring me forward. With the new side to side and the new forward/backward I spawned about the middle of the cave.

It looks like I will be able to figure out the coordinates to put the player in other areas by using Dan's spectator mode coordinate system as a key to follow. I haven't messed with up/down and rotation yet.

There are 3 areas in C01 but the one I really want to get to without spectator mode is C06 with the manhandle. C06 also has several other areas to look at. Two other good cutscene areas are in C07 and C09

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Post by SparedLife » Tue Dec 26, 2006 6:01 am

Stuck, taking the left/right and forward/backward bytes down to zero only gets me outside the directors cave office. What's strange is it only takes about -200 to get me outside and it doesn't seemed to go anywhere after that. I'll have to try and find the spawnpoint for Isako or the HARM_CIN guy maybe that will help. Dan's mod didn't help, I couldn't find any comparison to his coordinates and the player start coordinates.

and you were right on with the coordinates spawn they are 2bytes unknown or blank, 2bytes left/right, 2bytes unknown or blank, 2bytes up/down, 2bytes unknown or blank, 2bytes forward/backward. I tried several numbers in the unknown/blank with no effect. C01 has numbers in them by default but C06 does not so they are probably just spacers between the coordinates.

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Post by Spawn » Tue Dec 26, 2006 11:29 am

Sparedlife wrote:Stuck, taking the left/right and forward/backward bytes down to zero only gets me outside the directors cave office. What's strange is it only takes about -200 to get me outside and it doesn't seemed to go anywhere after that.
Is this in a cutscene or something? I think that they very often take place far away from the playing area..

I just thought of another way to see the coordinates as well..
type in 'poltergeist' in the chatline :)

I might also mention that there can be more numbers in the lines as well
468, 02 , 1280 for instance.. which is still close to the zeropoint
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Post by SparedLife » Wed Dec 27, 2006 12:46 am

Is this in a cutscene or something?
Yes, It is the first cutscene in the HARM cave, the second cutscene with Isako practicing on the sword, and the third where Isako goes to the directors office. All 3 are in C01 in 3 different areas and no other maps. The actual game maps start at C01s01.
Once you prevent the game from moving on to C01s01 then the player spawns in the cutscene (Directors cave office) and you can walk around. You can break things, kill the Director and search him. If you wait until Isako pays him a visit to break the cinematic then she will be in the cave also.
In order to get to the other 2 areas you need to use Dan's spectator mod and it has no off switch once you get there. I wanted to get to the other areas and be able to walk around.

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Thanks for the poltergeist tip!!, I'll give it a try

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Post by SparedLife » Wed Dec 27, 2006 2:17 am

Dan's Spectator mod uses the same coordinate system as the Poltergeist cheat. I still can't make it work. I move from 50300 to 50310 in the HEX editor and the camera position moves 65 plus I don't know how to go from -2245 to +2014 using the 2 bytes.

Good news is the Isako position thing worked. I searched for Isako's start point and set the players to the same start point and now I can walk around her dojo. Can't get to the HARM HQ using the same method though since there are no characters in it during the cinematic.

My left to Right for the Director is 50300 and the forward/backward is 50269
For Isako's dojo it's left to right 50190 and forward/backward 17756

Maybe with these I can estimate the coordinates needed to get me to the HQ.

I am going to load up C06 and set myself at Volkovs position in the Manhandle cinematic.

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Post by SparedLife » Wed Dec 27, 2006 3:19 am

This is great :banana:

I loaded C06 which has Isako's Dojo, Director's office, The Manhandler, Unity, and the briefing room.

First thing I did was replace the startup position with Sloggins position to let me watch the manhandler sequence. It stops just short of dumping Laramie in the manhandler. You can use the switch and the sign. I took up position behind Volkov and watched the show.

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Next just for the fun of it I had replaced Bruno, Barnes, and Hawkins with the 4 Cate Models (4th-Hospital Bed Cate) then put myself in the breifing room with them. You see the player in the middle of the group.

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I walked around and watched them talk and move during the cinematic then the scene changed and Cate/Bruno disappeared to the next scene. Still working on that.

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Now to find those unity party hounds and get into the Unity building :grin:

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Post by SparedLife » Fri Dec 29, 2006 6:39 am

I had some people who couldn't get the saved games to work. We went over every step and still they didn't work. I deleted my profiles and re-installed from my zips and they worked fine. A couple hours later I tried to load a saved game and the system crashed. It took me a while to figure out what had happened.

If you have Dan's spectator mod loaded and you save a game then Dan's spectator mod has to be loaded to load the save game. You don't even need to activate the mpclip, all it takes is loading the mod at start up. Of course it's not Dan's mod that is the problem, it's any mod that modifies the games DLL files.

Since I repositioned the character start and was able to actually get the player into a few places while the cinematic was still going I re-saved the games without Dan's spectator mod running. There are now 2 sets of Profiles, descriptions of the saved games, and instructions to use them here:

cinematic saved games

I have the scene with the manhandler from both sides of the cave; Volkov's side and Laramies side.

Another favorite of mine is the scene in Isako's dojo when the director is talking to her as she does some sword play. In this save you can actually see most of the cinematic animation.

I also have the underwater scene with Cate holding the gun on the HARM guards with Armstrong next to her. You can also load the other scenes in that area like Armstrong swimming underwater and lifting the dome or where he opens the hatch.

To use these save games remember; no mods like Dan's spectator or even Pegasus.

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Post by SparedLife » Sun Dec 31, 2006 5:17 am

Yes I know I'm babbling on to myself but it keeps me entertained.

Now I can say I have been everywhere and seen it all in NOLF2.

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I have over 4 sets of saved games inside various cinematics throughout the game. This one was especially hard to get to, I did use Dan's spectator mod to get here even though I could have spawned into the area. The problem with spawning is the cube that contains it is about the size of Manhatten and it's just a bunch of dots from the floor.

The pieces are animated and move while your watching them. The sound parameter surrounds the huge cube.


And then there's this proof that these two had something going on.

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This area was hard to get to because there is no player area in this map. It's the one where Isako kills the agent and skewers Cate. I can't get any animation because I have to break the cinematic to get in but as you can see I can place them anywhere I want.

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Post by Spawn » Sun Dec 31, 2006 11:43 am

Hehe! If there's a thing not meant to see.. Sparedlife will find it :P
I just knew there were something going on with those two!
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Post by sonic goo » Sun Dec 31, 2006 12:55 pm

Ah... the plot thickens... :P :D
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Post by SparedLife » Mon Jan 01, 2007 3:45 am

I've been having a blast with this. I got into the bar area where Cate meets Armstrong as he takes on 12 brawlers. I managed to get into it at the beginning and I can walk all around as the cinematic unfolds. You can see each of the triggers per event. It's not all smooth flowing, the characters are reset at each camera change. Armstrong falls down then stands up, then falls down, then stands up and so on; each time going to the idle position.

I also managed to get into Unity at the dance scene. The researcher is a chain smoker. He lights a cigarette, smokes it, throws it down and stamps it out, and then lights another. He does quit when you shoot him though, a bit excessive for a quit smoking solution.

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