UT Mapping Tutorial - Loop Mover

This tutorial presumes that you already know how to make a basic Mover in UT. For example, a simple lift that goes up then comes back down (2 keyframes, 0 and 1 only). If you don't know how to make a basic Mover, check out this awesome tutorial first: Lode's Mover Tutorial. (Please let me know if that web page ever disappears, but I don't think it will because it's too awesome.)

Now that I'm making a map for Infiltration, I'd like to have a mover that has many keyframes, not just two. For example, a Humvee that travels along different roads, like a patrol. I just figured it out today, so bear with me if I don't have all my facts straight. So let's say I want the vehicle to have 4 keyframes, traveling a square-shaped route. And I want it to keep patrolling, not just once.

That's where the Loop Mover comes in.

A Loop Mover will go to keyframe 1, then 2, then 3, then 0. It will not go like a typical Mover, i.e. 1, 2, 3, 2, 1, 0...

What was screwing me up, was the following: I'd build my Mover, switch keyframe to 1, place it in my new position, then switch keyframe to 2. But the Mover would go back to 0!

When the Mover goes back to 0, go into Mover Properties and expand the Mover category. Where it says 'KeyNum', make that a '1' then close the window. Now your Mover will be at keyframe 1. Switch keyframe to 2, and place the Mover where you want the next keyframe to be. Then switch keyframe to 0, and go back into Mover Properties and set 'KeyNum' to 2. Finally, switch keyframe to 3, and place the Mover at the desired location. Then switch to 0.

But we're not done yet! A Loop Mover must be activated by a Trigger, so you need to add a Trigger in your map. The Trigger's Event should match the Mover's Tag. Give this a meaningful name! In an INF map, you'll likely have lots of Triggers, so meaningful names will be easier to find in the long run. I just used a Timed Trigger, so at the beginning of the round the Loop Mover will start. Then it will loop forever.

Important: In the Loop Mover Properties, you must set Object > Initial State = LoopMove .

StayOpenTime: how long (in seconds) your Mover will rest at each keyframe. Default value is 4 seconds, I reduced mine to 1. I'm sure it will take decimals, so you may want to go lower than 1.

bDynamicLightMover: you probably want to set this to True, but it depends on where your Loop Mover is traveling through. In an outdoor map, where the lighting should be fairly homogeneous, it's not a big deal. But if you're going from light to dark to light, you might want to set this to True.

Check out the screenshot below: