Special Effects
UnrealED2 Tutorials by EZkeel

Warp Tunnel

Email :EZkeel
Accompanied files : Warp.UNR

Tutorials you will need to have read are: Teleporters and Zones

This effect creates the impression that a player is sucked along a tunnel of light into a new area.

1) Create a cylinder brush about 2048 high with a radius of 128 and no less than 16 sides. Select a texture that looks like random power fluctuations or a similar effect (XFX.UTX has some good ones). You can also add in random, transparent sheets in the tube along its length with another weird effects texture just to add to the feel of it. You could add a light in the cylinder, but making the textures “unlit” will probably look good.

2) Now subtract the brush and make the textures unlit. You also need to align them so that the tunnel looks seamless. In the overhead 2D window make sure the cylinder is positioned length ways (stretching from left to right).

3) Now introduce a “zoneinfo” actor. In its “zoneinfo” properties set bgravityzone to “true” and then open out the gravity fields that have x, y and z. You’ll notice that z aready contains the value of .95 which simulates normal gravity. Change z to 0, and change x to -2000 (depending on which way around you have your tunnel, you may have to experiment or check out the sample map). This will cause the player to be dragged in that direction. If you wanted the player to be dragged in the opposite direction change it to 2000. Also set your zone terminal velocity to 2000 (this tells the engine at what speed to stop accelerating). Now rebuild and save so that the zone takes effect.

4) Add two teleports, one at each end of the cylinder. Give the one on the left a tag called “warpin”. Now select the one on the right, and write “warpout” in its URL field. In the 2D overhead view window, select actor menu option and pick “radii view”. You need to make sure that both teleporters collision radius covers the height and width of the ends of tunnel. You can adjust the radius in the collision property of the teleporters. They’ll probably need to be set at 128 radius like the cylinder itself.

5) Now create a small room for your player to start in and create something that you think could look like a teleport pad. Place a teleporter on there and call it “warpout” in its tag field and “warpin” in its URL field.

6) Now, when you’ve rebuilt and saved, you can try it out. The player should be able to step on the pad, and they will enter the tunnel which will drag them to the end and back in the original room. Notice that the player will appear facing in the same direction in the tunnel as they were when they ran onto the teleporter in the start room. It’s a good idea to remember that so that your player doesn’t end up flying backwards!