Linedef type 122

Opaque water FOF with no sides.

Linedef type 122, Water, Opaque, No Sides, is a type of water block which does not render the sides of the block. It is generally used when the water block's sides would not be in view anyway, such as when the water is inside a sunken pit. Since its sides are not drawn, it requires less CPU power to render.

The block is intangible, and players hear and see a "splashing" effect when moving in and out of it. While inside the block, the scene becomes distorted, and the field of view warps into wavy lines. Also, while inside the block, players will move more slowly, and their gravity is lowered slightly. If a player remains in a water block too long without grabbing air bubbles or acquiring an Elemental Shield, a countdown will be initiated after 20 seconds, just like in the original Sonic games. If the time runs out, the player automatically drowns. Water blocks can also be used to create slime and lava, if they have the right sector effects applied to them.

Setup

The flats, floor height, and ceiling height of the FOF are determined by the flats, floor height, and ceiling height of the control sector.

If Flag [6] / Not Climbable is checked, the FOF will always render a separate light level, which means that the light level of the control sector will only affect the water block instead of affecting the block and below it. If Flag [9] / Solid Midtexture / Effect 4 is checked, the water block will use the light level of the target sector, instead of the light level of the control sector. If Flag [10] / Repeat Midtexture / Effect 5 is checked, the water block's flats will use the "ripple" effect.

Aesthetic tips

Water blocks are generally put in a pit, to simulate real water. But since water blocks are set up like any other, they can be made to float in the air, or rest on top of a flat surface without a pit. However, this is not recommended, as it looks unrealistic.

It is generally a very bad idea to place an opaque water block above a death pit, as the player will not realize the danger until it is too late to avoid it. If you want to place water in a death pit, it is strongly recommended that you use linedef type 121 or linedef type 123 instead, as the player will be able to see the death pit through the water.

While water blocks can be used alone, it is common (and generally recommended) to apply a hue to it. This is done by creating another control sector using a colormap (or by applying it to another linedef on the water block's control sector) and tagging the water block's control sector to create the hue within the water block.

Sample

Example file: ex_ld122_fofwateropaquenosides.wad (MAP01)

How to use

You may load this file into your favorite map editor, such as Zone Builder. Select MAP01 as the map to load. You may also load this file in the game: Save ex_ld122_fofwateropaquenosides.wad into the addons folder of your SRB2 directory. Start SRB2, go to the Addons menu, and then select ex_ld122_fofwateropaquenosides.wad. Start the game in Single Player mode. Press the Console button (~), and type in the command MAP MAP01 to access the example map. When you load this file in the game, it replaces Greenflower Zone Act 1.