GTFO-compatible Hub Location Kit
February 9, 2022 UPDATE
Some folks objected to my "Commercial interest" in this add-on tool for the GTFO game I have enjoyed till now. So now it's free.
June 30, 2021 UPDATE
Bug fix on Transceiver, wasn't actually changing the channel from the buttons. Fixed in version 1.10. (oops) Reverted to HUD version 1.05, simpler to use.
GTFO is a freight-delivery game better described elsewhere, run mostly via a HUD, with a free or paid-for version. You go to a region where there's a Hub You use you HUD to select a (virtual) cargo you'll haul in your vehicle to another region, by road, rail, water or air, and when you get where it's going, use the HUD to unload the cargo, get (game-only fake) money and game experience points and advance levels.
The Hub Finder is a two-piece system to help Operators (drivers) to get to the actual Hub. Maybe a two-and-a-half piece system, since the Operator HUD does part of the work. Let's suppose you do the minimum. Note that the Operator HUD is already configured to send a message on a particular channel whenever it enters a new region, Hub or no, "gtfo_rcping," intended to communicate with a dedicated loader/unloader.
My initial idea was this: one Tranceiver (one prim, one script) dropped in the Hub location. Each Operator adds a Nav HUD (one prim, one script) to their screen, along with the usual Operator HUD. The Tranceiver receives that Ping message and replies with it's own location. The Nav HUD hears that location and turns it into a Map command, creating a pointer on the map to where the Tranceiver is, identical to the pointer created by the Operator HUD but pointing right to the Hub, not the center of the region. The data is transmitted using Region Say so you have to get -to- the region to get that Tranceiver signal anyway.
Initial idea.
Well, I ended up hosting two Hubs myself in two different regions, far apart. One accepts boats -and- planes -and- helicopters, the other accepts trucks -and- trains -and- helicopters. And each vehicle has a place to go for best results. So one Tranceiver isn't sufficient. And it'd be better to be able to get only the pointer to where -you're- going with your vehicle, not some other sort of vehicle.
So, Tranceiver and Nav HUD.
Drop the Tranceiver where (say) you think the boats should go. Click it. A menu pops up, and you can click for the selected channel for boats. You're done there, leave it sit. If you need to, you can click it again and turn it off.
If you're an Operator (bet you are) wear the Nav HUD. Click that, you can select whichever type of vehicle and it'll set your Nav HUD to listen on the right channel. That would be triggered by any Transceiver in any region you enter that's set for that sort of vehicle. It's on, you're mostly ready.
Want to cut the chatter on the road to success? Click the Nav HUD again, you get a button to enter the name of the region you're going to (spelling and case is essential), and the HUD will keep track, only when you enter the Region you're looking for will it register the location from the Tranceiver there. And that second menu has an Off button, guess what that's for. And there's a button to forget the Region you set in case you just wanna see what Tranceivers are up on a particular channel.
Hub Hosts don't have to do this, it doesn't change delivery or pickup which is still in-region and not exactly at the Hub. Operators don't have to, either, same deal. Just thought it might be fun.
The scripts are copy but no mod or transfer. The prims are copy and mod but no transfer.
Nifty tricks?
Road should be simple, just drop the tranceiver in the parking lot. Boats mostly simple, on the dock. Helicopters I find best bet is to drop the Transceiver smack in the middle of your main Helipad. Map give you this nice blue laserbeam pointing straight up fom there, easy to land. Airplanes and space? I put the Tranceiver at the end of the landing runway, gives a poor man's IFR setup. Maybe I can figure out a Cone of Silence later.
Have an alternate channel you want to try for a special purpose? Put it in the Description of the Nav HUD prim and the Transceiver prim (same channel, of course). There's a button to use that channel. If later you select one of the other channels, that'll still work fine, shut it off and then select the right channel when you turn it back on.
Usual disclaimers, GTFO isn't my idea or my project, and my gadgets aren't endorsed by those folks, even if they use 'em. Maybe Someday this'll be a built-in function of the Operator HUD (guys, call me, 'kay?).
This is version 1.xx, I just did all this over the last couple days. Let me know what you think and any feature requests. Thanks for your interest.
Griz
