Overlay

The Overlay entity is similar to the Liquid entity in that it is attached to an empty model and when you enter inside that model a bitmap is overlayed on the camera to change the color of your view. It differs from Liquid in that the bitmap can be animated like a FlipBook and that no damage is done to the player.

Field Descriptions

The fields for the Overlay entity are:

Field

Description

Alphamap

The name of the alpha map to use. If the bitmap is animated this is the base name of the bitmap sequence, as in FlipBook.

AlphaRate Amount to decreas alpha per seconds

Animated

True if bitmap is animated.

Bitmap

Name of bitmap to use. If the bitmap is animated this is the base name of the bitmap sequence, as in FlipBook.

BitmapCount

Number of bitmaps in sequence

Model

Name of model to attach to

Speed

Number of bitmaps per second to play.

Style

Animation style, as in FlipBook (0 to 4)

szEntityName

Name of this entity

TintColor

The color of the bitmap

Transparency

Level of transparency of bitmap(0 to 255)

TriggerName

name of trigger used to activate Overlay without a model

If you do not attach the entity to a model (Model entry is NULL) then it can be activated by the trigger specified in TriggerName. If the state of TriggerName is on then the Overlay will be activated and will display on the screen.

Fading a Level In and Out

You can use the Overlay entity to make a level fade in and fade out. Make up a small (32x32) bitmap that is all black and name it black0.bmp. Add an Overlay to the level with these settings:

Alphamap - black
AlphaRate - 85
Animated - True
Bitmap - black
BitmapCount - 1
Speed - 10
Style - 0
Tint - 0 0 0
Transparency - 255
TriggerName - FadeInNot

Add a LogicGate of Type 2, with the szEntityname set to FadeInNot, and the Trigger1Name set to Remove. This will fade in from black when the level starts in about 3 seconds. Decrease the AlphaRate for a slower fade. To fade out set Transparency to 0 and AlphaRate to -85. Use another trigger to activate the Overlay that goes on when the level is done.