In this tutorial you will learn how to make different types of weapons templates and how to make them work together in the static.jkl file.

Things you will need are:

• tempref.txt
• static.jkl

The Basics of Templates

• All templates that are based on another one, have to come after the one they are based on in the jkl.
  Example: when you have a create thing in a template, lets say an explosion has the creatething=+smoke or something. you would have to put +smoke in the jkl before the explosion you just made or it wont work.

• All templates are either based on something unless you make a new one that will be based on none
• ALL weapons templates (particle weapon and explosion) have to have typeflags=0x* these flags differ for each type so check the JK specs or refer to the tempref.txt file that i give you.

Messages in Templates

• orient=(0.000000/0.000000/0.000000): this I'm not sure about. I think it's the position at which the template is created. I don't suggest you play around with this too much, I don't see any point in changing it.
• type=(explosion, particle, weapon):
  • weapon is used for the actual weapon projectile that gets thrown, shot or dropped, etc.
  • particle is for making a bunch of particles appear, then disappear over time (this is how smoke is done)
  • explosion is for when a weapon hits something and explodes.

• collide=(0,1 or 3) used for weapons
  • collide=0 means that it won't collide with things. I'm not sure how this would be useful in a weapon template...
  • collide=1 means that it collides when something is within a sphere of the object (see: move size)
  • collide=3 means that it will collide with an object if that object touches one of its faces (this is usually used for 3do architecture, I think)
• creatething=(whatever you want) means that when the thing is fired (weapon) it will create some template that you specify. If used in an explosion, it then can create stuff like smoke clouds, shockwaves, fire, clouds, etc.
• light=flex gives your template a dynamic light value. Replace flex with a number
• model3d=*.3do gives your template a 3do so you can see it (weapons)
• move=(none, path or physics)
  • none is pretty self-explanatory; it won't move.
  • path means that it will move by a specific path using frames and such (usually not used for weapons... something more like an actor usually)
  • physics means that it moves with physical properties like mass velocity etc.
• movesize=flex is for how big the sphere in the collide message is. You want to make the flex in this about the same size as the 3do you have (in jku's)
• par=*.par is for particle files like the sphere in Force Protection.
• soundclass=*.snd is for things like explosions making noise and when a TD hits the ground and make that *ping* sound
• sprite=*.spr specifies the sprite file used for the template. Usually used for explosions, but can be used in a weapon in place of a 3do, like Force Destruction.
• timer=flex tells how long the thing will be in the game for. When the timer runs out it is removed; when this happens it will make its explosion. If there is none then it will simply cease to exist.

Specific Messages for Weapon Types

• airdrag=flex is how much resistance from "air" there is on the weapon.
• angvel=(x/y/z) refers to angular velocity, I dunno... maybe it has something to do with a weapon spinning?
• buoyancy=flex refers to how much buoyancy the weapon has (if it floats in water)
• maxrotvel=flex refers to maximum rotational velocity; how fast it spins, possibly connected to the angvel message
• mass=flex refers to how much it weighs, so if it has gravity (if it falls) in the physics flags then it indicates how fast to fall.
• physflags=0x* is best left to checking the JK specs or the tempref file that comes with this tutorial to figure out what the flags do.
• surfdrag=flex determines how much resistance the thing gets from from a floor or wall if it has to slide along one of those surfaces.
• vel=(x/y/z) indicates how fast it moves in each direction, the "Y" vector being forward, I think...
• explode=(template*) is for what the weapon does when it hits a wall or just explodes.
  • * the template would be something like a sprite or a dust cloud (can be used with a timed sprite to make a bullet hole that stays on the walls!!!)
  • if the *template is an explosion, not just a bullet-hit-type thing, you do the same for it, but probably use a bigger sprite
• fleshhit=(template*) this is for when your weapon hits a player or actor (non-droid)
  • you can do cool effects by making the *template blood or something, so that blood appears only when a player is hit
• cog=*.cog is used for linking the projectile with a cog such as 00_smoketrail.cog that will leave a smoke trail behind the projectile.
• trailthing=template this is used for the force lightning template, those little pieces of "electricity" are 3dos trailing after the main projectile

Messages for Explosions

• blasttime=flex is the delay between the explosion and when the damage is done (if you'll notice Force Destruction is delayed a little like this)
• damage=flex the amount of damage it does
• damageclass=0x* check the JK specs or the tempref file that comes with this tutorial to figure out what the flags do.
• debris=template flings debris out every which way if the typeflag=0x80. It can be used up to four times
• flashrgb=(r/g/b) makes a flash with the color of your choice (red/green/blue)
• force=flex the force is like how violent the explosion is, more force the farther and harder you get thrown from it.
• maxlight=flex refers to the maximum amount of light
• range=flex determines how big of an area the blast will cover
• rate=flex indicates how fast the damage will dissipate (i.e. the higher the rate the less damage it does as you get farther away from it)

Particle Messages

• material=*.mat refers to the material of the particles
• range=flex indicates how far away the particles will go from their origin
• minsize=flex sets what size the smallest the particles can be
• timer=flex sets how long the particles will last
• rate=flex determines how fast the particles are destroyed after the timer runs out (particles per second)
• maxthrust=flex sets how fast the particles move
• elementsize=flex sets the maximum size of the particles
• count=flex determines the number of particles used
• yawrange=flex indicates the range of yaw (not sure, changes the way the particles move)
• pitchrange=flex indicates the range of pitch (not sure, same as above)

How to Make the Freakin' Things Work!!!

I hope I didn't scare you all away with that crapload of messages... anyway, first off you go get the static.jkl I included with the tutorial. Open it up in notepad, then go to the templates section. After the _gexplosion and _gweapon templates, make the templates you want. Here are some examples to show you how to compile the templates yourselves (if this wont help you, go look at the tempref document and look at a weapon similar to the one you want to create, then modify it to fit your needs. Be sure to put the weapons explosion and anything that the explosion creates BEFORE the template itself, otherwise it won't work).

+bulletcloud none orient=(0.000000/0.000000/0.000000) type=particle timer=0.150000 typeflags=0x3f material=00gsmoke.mat range=0.006000 rate=64.000000 maxthrust=4.000000 elementsize=0.004000 count=16 ///this is for when the bullet hits the wall

+bloodcloud +bulletcloud material=bloody.mat range=0.030000 count=40 ///all I changed from the bullet cloud was: material so it looks like blood, range so its a bigger area, and count so it will be more dense. this will be used when a person gets hit by the bullet

+bulletfleshhit _gexplosion timer=0.001000 soundclass=exp_bullet.snd creatething=+bloodcloud typeflags=0x0 ///for when a person is hit

+bullethit _gexplosion timer=0.001000 soundclass=exp_bullet.snd creatething=+bulletcloud typeflags=0x0 ///for when the bullet hits something not living

+bullet _gweapon thingflags=0x20000001 light=0.400000 model3d=bullet.3do size=0.001000 movesize=0.001000 soundclass=bry.snd maxrotvel=0.000000 vel=(0.000000/20.000000/0.000000) explode=+bullethit fleshhit=+bulletfleshhit damage=30.000000 mindamage=10.000000 typeflags=0x20440d rate=15.000000

as you can see, i put the +bullethit under explode= and the +bulletfleshhit under the fleshhit= so it will do different things when you hit a person or a wall :)

Now you can experiment with all sorts of things. I hope that this helped a little to make people not totally confused about templates.