Additional controls for custom vehicles

Hi all,

I'm trying to create a new vehicle (subclassed of KVehicle) with added custom controls, so that i'm not restricted to just throttle and steering. I've tried this by subclassing PlayerController and adding my own state (+code) to it. For now, i just used a copy of the code found in PlayerController. The whole stuff compiles but getting the controller in the disered state turns out to be a real pain. I tried various things in the KDriverEnter function (casting, etc.) but nothing seems to help. code changes resulted in (when entering vehicle) either controls freezing, becomes a flycam or become pinned to a fixed location (still able to turn and shoot, just not move). I followed the tutorial
http://wiki.beyondunreal.com/wiki/Alternative_Vehicle_Control
but i couldn't get that to work either. (same problem)

I fear that i'm doing something wrong with subclassing or assigning. I think modifying the playercontroller class directly is just a little bit too crude for me. Anyway, i've been at this for days, hours on end and its really driving me nuts!

Anybody have any ideas? Help is much appreciated!

I'll try to elaborate...

Ok, my objective is to create a new vehicle. My approach is to do this step-by-step, based off the bulldog.

So, my first step:
- created a copy of Bulldog.uc, BulldogFactory.uc, BulldogMessage, BulldogTrigger and KCar.
- Modified these files so their name is changed (Bulldog-> for example, MyCustomCar)
- modified the MyCustomCar.uc file, so it inherits from KMyCar instead of KCar
- Created a copy of VehicleDemo and placed a MyCustomCarFactory in it, bound to the existing trigger.
- Changed the mesh so i know for sure which vehicle is which.

So far so good! upon entering the game and touching the trigger, two vehicles fall from the sky. Namely, the bulldog and MyCustomCar, as expected. And works too

So now i have my own classes, derived from KVehicle and an implementation of it.

Now comes the tricky part. The vehicle is controlled by a PlayerController. The state is set to PlayerDriving, the code which handles this is in PlayerController.uc.

The big question is, how do I modify this, without changing the original PlayerController.uc. My best guess is to create a subclass of PlayerController (which i did) and add the relevant code there (for now just a copy of the PlayerDriving code from PlayerController).

Snippet:
function KDriverEnter(Pawn p)
{
local PlayerController pc;

// Set pawns current controller to control the vehicle pawn instead
Driver = p;

// Move the driver into position, and attach to car.
Driver.SetCollision(false, false, false);
Driver.bCollideWorld = false;
Driver.bPhysicsAnimUpdate = false;
Driver.Velocity = vect(0,0,0);
Driver.SetPhysics(PHYS_None);
Driver.SetBase(self);

pc = PlayerController(p.Controller);

// Disconnect PlyaerController from Driver and connect to KVehicle.
pc.Unpossess();
Driver.SetOwner(pc); // This keeps the driver relevant.
pc.Possess(self);

pc.ClientSetViewTarget(self); // Set playercontroller to view the vehicle

// Change controller state to driver
pc.GotoState('PlayerDriving');

ClientKDriverEnter(pc);
}

function TryToDrive(Pawn p)
{
local Controller C;
C = p.Controller;

if ( (Driver == None) && (C != None) && C.bIsPlayer && !C.IsInState('PlayerDriving') && p.IsHumanControlled() )
{
KDriverEnter(p);
}
}

I think this is where I need to change something, so that my customized controller takes over. This is where I'm doing most of my fiddling...

Concrete questions:
- Have i setup the MyCustomController class up correctly? Should it be derived from PlayerController? (or maybe something like UnrealPlayer or xPlayer?)
- Am I looking in the right place to change the controller state? Do any other things need to be changed, like variable types (local PlayerController pc; isn't going to work i guess)?
- Maybe other classes need to be customized first, which i completely overlooked?

Whew, that question got big ;-)

Thanks for the help!

Great! I tried it, and it works! I created a new state though, so i can still ride the bulldog

Anyway, Thanks for the help!