Building Tips -- Yellow Gazette Vol. 4 no. 3 September-October 2013

Server side movers

One of the really neat things you can do in AW is to make a mover, that is, an object or collection of objects that a user can ride or carry. One specific type of mover is called a "server side mover", or sometimes called a "waypoint mover". This type of mover goes along a predetermined path that the builder designates. In this Build Tips page, we want to point out some of the tricks relating to developing and using server side movers.

Server Side Movers: tricks and pitfalls

A server side mover is one that goes along a pre-determined path that the builder sets. X,Y, and Z axes are used to set the path, as well as yaw, pitch, roll, speed, and pauses. In short, you can do a lot with these sorts of movers, within their limitations. These sorts of movers have improved greatly for AW's version 6, but there are still some pitfalls and tricks you need to take into account.

Limitations

A server side mover can travel only 320 metres in any one direction. These can be measured with the X,Y and Z axes. More below.

Because these movers are pre-determined, the builder has to specify each point where the mover changes direction, pitch, roll, yaw, speed, or pause. These parameters are set in the "Waypoint Table" located within the Object Properties Box of the mover.

While the Waypoint Table specifies 50 points as a maximum, builders have recommended to use a maximum of 48, as the last two points often don't work properly.

If you are using a set of objects to create your mover, you must select one as the mover and use the create link command on each of the items you are linking to the mover. Again, builders recommend that no more than 32 objects should be used; less if each item has a lot of commands in the Action Box.

If you intend to put a sound file on your mover from a remote source, double check to see if mp3 files work. In some instances they do not appear to do so; however, wav files do seem to work fine.

If you intend to use Particle Emitters (PE) as part of the mover, be sure that you use the "Tag Name" on the PE and tick the "Link to mover" box on the PE's object properties.

If you are using visible AVs for the mover, we have found that is best to ensure that the "Lock AV Position" is ticked, and the X,Y and Z parameters are adjusted to ensure the AV (or CAV) is in the appropriate position.

In Yellow at least, the object you are using as a mover should have its Z axis facing the direction of travel. This makes setting the points infinitely easier.

If you are linking an object with a "create rotate" command in its action box, once this object is linked to the mover, its axis of rotation may need to be changed. Double check this, or, for example, a paddlewheel may be spinning in the totally wrong direction.

A mover object is not able to have texture, color tint, color or scale applied. You have to use it in its original state.

Notwithstanding these limitations and hassles, a server side mover is a lot of fun to build, and of course, to ride once it's completed.

Here is a server side mover that will take you down the river to the next dock. Have a ride. And look at the way the mover and points are set up.

For more details on creating movers, you can visit:

Full mover tutorials at AWSchool: awschool 79.41S 31.48E 0.00a 182
SW City Mover help: http://www.swcity.net/academy/index.php?n=Main.MoverEssentials
AW Wiki mover help: http://wiki.activeworlds.com/index.php?title=Mover_%28Server_Controlled%29

Server side movers

Links

Server Side Movers: tricks and pitfalls