zCVob

Represents so-called virtual objects which appear in the game world. zCVob is the base class for all virtual objects which include everything from static models like boxes to interactive elements like doors and chests and invisible trigger objects.

Class members

Properties of a zCVob class are split into two parts. The Internals are hardly ever needed to be edited manually, they are changed by e.g. moving an object in Spacer. On the other hand the Vob properties can only be changed by the Objects context menu in Spacer.

Class member overview

pack

Internal property which indicates how the data associated with this virtual object is stored.

presetName

The name of the template that was used to create this virtual object.

bbox3DWS

The 3-dimensional bounding box of this virtual object. Defined by two opposite diagonal points (1x, 1y, 1z, 2x, 2y, 2z). This is used in conjunction with cdStatic and cdDyn calculate collisions and interactions with other game objects (NPCs, items, etc.).

Interaction processing begins when object volumes intersect. For example, when the player enters the world change trigger area, the engine loads another game level based on the parameters this trigger. All this happens when the main character's BoundingBox intersects with the trigger's BoundingBox.

The BoundingBox can only be changed using the Edit the Bbox button in Spacer.

trafoOSToWSRot

The rotation of this virtual object in world space, represented by a 3x3 rotation matrix.

trafoOSToWSPos

Coordinates of the object in world space relative to the center.

The coordinates are set automatically the first time an instance of the class is inserted into the game world. You can change them either directly by entering numerical values ​​in the corresponding fields of the parameter, by moving the vob in spacer.

vobName

An identifier of a zCVob shown in the editor and sometimes used in scripts. The name can be left blank.

For some object classes, entering a name is required: zCVobSpot, zCVobWaypoint, zCTrigger etc.

visual

The name of the visual component associated with this object, usually a name of a file.

Following formats are supported:

• *.3DS - Static objects
• *.PFX - Particle effects
• *.TGA - Textures
• *.MDS, *.ASC - Interactive objects
• *.MMS - Animated objects

showVisual

Indicates whether this object should display its visual.

Accepted values:

• TRUE - Display.
• FALSE - Do not display.

visualCamAlign

Option to align objects relative to the camera.

Accepted values:

• NONE - Not used.
• YAW - The object always faces the player.
• FULL - The object is aligned relative to the world axes.

visualAniMode

Wind simulation option. Used in conjunction with the visualAniModeStrength parameter.

Accepted values:

• NONE - Not used.
• WIND - Strong wind effect. Acceptable for herbs.
• WIND2 - Light wind effect. Acceptable for trees.

visualAniModeStrength

Wind power animation multiplier. Small values such as 0.001 are typically used. Used in conjunction with the visualAniMode parameter.

vobFarClipZScale

Sets the loading range of the VOB object. Depends on the VOB drawing distance specified using the zCZoneVobFarPlane object.

The range of values is from 0.0 to 2.0.

With a value of 0.0, the object is not visible, but collisions are calculated. With a value of 2.0, the zCVob drawing range is the same as the draw distance specified in zCZoneVobFarPlane object.

CdStatic

Determines if the virtual object will collide with the static objects (world mesh and other VOBs with cdStatic on).

Accepted values:

• TRUE - Collide with static objects.
• FALSE - Don't collide static objects.

CdDyn

Determines if the virtual object will collide with dynamic objects (NPCs, items, etc.). This basically determines if the object has collision during gameplay.

Accepted values:

• TRUE - Collide with dynamic objects.
• FALSE - Don't collide with dynamic objects.

staticVob

Determines if the VOB is taken into consideration in static lighting calculations in Indoor spaces. Usually enabled in decorative Vobs, but some of the interactive ones have it disabled.

Accepted values:

• TRUE - Calculate the shadow of the object.
• FALSE - Do not calculate the shadow of the object.

dynShadow

Indicates whether the object will cast a shadow when affected by dynamic light (e.g. torches).

Accepted values:

• DS_NONE - No shadow.
• DS_BLOB - Casts a circular shadow.

zbias

The depth-bias for this virtual object.

Can be used remove texture flickering if a .TGA file is used as rendering.

isAmbient

Indicates that this virtual object is ambient. It looks like this setting was a system used during development when access to the game's source code was available. Basically, the global variable zCWorld::s_bAmbientVobsEnabled could be used to hide or show virtual objects which have the isAmbient flag set. In release builds, this variable is always set to true, thus the isAmbient flag does not have any perceivable effect on the game. It follows, that this field should be ignored by most implementations.