Linedef type 124

A simple, translucent goo water block.

Linedef type 124, Goo Water, Translucent, is a type of translucent water block with goo physics. 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. Unlike in regular water blocks, the gravity inside a goo water block is such that anything that enters it will slowly be pushed back upwards towards the surface of the water block – the further in an Object goes below the surface of a goo water block, the faster it will be moving upwards when it reaches the surface again.

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, and the sidedefs of the FOF's walls are determined by the sidedef of the control linedef.

The alpha value of the FOF's translucency can be changed by setting the control linedef's front side upper texture to the number symbol (#), followed by a three-digit decimal number, from 000 to 255. #000 is completely invisible, whereas #255 is completely opaque. Note that in the Software renderer, there are actually only eleven different values: #000–#011, #012–#037, #038–#063, #064–#088, #089–#114, #115–#139, #140–#165, #166–#191, #192–#216, #217–#242, #243–#255, where #000–#011 is invisible, and #243–#255 is opaque. The advantage of using the completely opaque values is the ability to properly render flats which use transparent pixels. If no value is set in the front side upper texture, however, the default alpha value of #128 will be used.

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 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 FOF, 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.

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_ld124_fofgoowatertranslucent.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_ld124_fofgoowatertranslucent.wad into the addons folder of your SRB2 directory. Start SRB2, go to the Addons menu, and then select ex_ld124_fofgoowatertranslucent.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.