Okay, I found this little thing with 'unit_set_seat' -- it allows you to change the way your character walks, I.E: An Elite patrolling an area, a grunt sleeping / fleeing, or a Marine holding his Assault Rifle -- great for Machinima!.

So, I basically for machinima maps I make name my objects for easier reference. If you type in unit_set_seat {objectname} "{seat}" you will change their 'seat' (stance). So if I typed in unit_set_seat g1 "alert" I would get object Grunt 1 doing his jumping 'exercises'. If i typed in unit_set_seat e1 "alert" I would see an Elite lower his weapon.
[e1 / g1 are object names, this also works with the list_get(players)) function]
This allows much easier 'lower weapons in Halo CE' then having a weapon raised when talking. I have compiled some of the commands (the 'alert') for you.

##GRUNTS (STANDARD NON MODDED)##

• alert - does idling animations


• flee - flails arms wildly when running


• crouch - as the name implies


• stand (default) - default stance

##ELITES (STANDARD NON MODDED)##

• alert - Lowers weapon, walks slowly as if patrolling


• flaming - grenaded animation (not berserk)


• crouch - as the name implies


• stand (default) - default stance

##MARINES (STANDARD NON MODDED)##

• alert - Lowers weapon, also walks slowly


• flaming - grenaded animation


• crouch - as the name implies


• flee - runs faster and weirder


• stand (default) - default stance

##CYBORG (STANDARD NON MODDED)##

• alert - [Some weapons] Walks slower


• stand (default) - default stance

##JACKALS (STANDARD NON MODDED)##

• alert - Lowers weapon / shield, also walks slowly


• crouch - as the name implies


• flee - runs faster with shield on top of head


• stand (default) - default stance

##HUNTERS (STANDARD NON MODDED)##

• alert - Idle animations, lowers weapon


• crouch - as the name implies


• stand (default) - default stance

Hope this helps in Machinima making!

Oh and, if you type in magic_melee_attack when you are controlling a Hunter / Flood / Elite...

Cool i am making a machinima, so this might help, thx

Hmm, well, I think Spartans lower their weapons by that way...
To put it up, instead of "alert", put "stand".

Nice job finding that. I found out about it too, and used it in my server as a host to force players to crouch. It was funny.



People could easily change the melee attack animation of most bipeds from a "base" to a "replacement" animation using Kornmann's Guerilla. They could then add it to the animations under "weapon types" in "Units". When you're controlling that biped, you could hit your melee button as usual, and the biped will melee.

The only problem is you'd have to change the melee damage of whatever weapon the biped's holding to make it the same damage as the biped's, because the melee attacks for players work differently than bipeds. Bipeds just use one melee animation and one damage for any situation, whereas players use different animations and damage for each weapon. (The default Chief biped has a melee damage of 1000...but this obviously doesn't apply, because otherwise you'd have instant-kill melees.)
Edited by Me KS on Mar 13, 2008 at 06:33 PM

Hey Me_KS, can you elaborate on how to do that? I seem interested now.

Sure. But get ready for a long post. XD

I'll be using the floodcombat elite for this example. Before you do this, make a copy of the flood biped for this and its animations tag, and reference the new animations tag from the new copied biped. (You probably know this, but just making sure for others who are interested.)

Anyways, open the new animations tag for the floodcombat_elite with Kornmann's Guerilla and go all the way down to "Animations". Look for the animation called "stand pistol melee%0" and "stand pistol melee%1". They're both normal melee animations, but %0 references to %1 in the "next animation" area so that when the flood melees, it randomly chooses between either of the two. We want to keep this for authenticity, so we'll have to change the "type" flag for both of them. For each one, change the "type" from "base" to "replacement" and save. This is needed for the melees under "weapon types".

Then, go all the way to the top of the tag, and you should see the "Units" section. These are the "seat names" used in the unit_set_seat commands, as well as vehicle seat labels. The ones we're most interested in are "stand" and "crouch" because they're the only ones we can use as players without devmode. Now, under "Units" is "Weapons". The "Weapons" group isn't an exact reference to weapons, but they define a main set of animations to use when holding any of the weapons under "Weapon Types" slightly further down. For each "Weapon Type", under "Animations" just below it, click Add until you get "melee" in the list. Here is where you (finally) reference the animation "stand pistol melee%0". Then, repeat this for each "Weapon Type", under each "Weapons", and for the "crouch" unit.

Then, use this biped instead of the normal flood elite, possess it, and hit F to see it at work.

Wow. I basically just made a short tutorial. But, I wanted to teach as much as just give directions. Hopefully this is specific enough so everyone can apply it to any biped.

Nice! Thanks for the tip. :D

Well, that's the reason I used named objects, because anyone could possess them and change their seat.

For script commands, the player number is not from the left of the player name in the sv_players list. Instead, use sv_players, but count from the bottom to the top of the list starting at 0 to get the right number for the player you want. That should solve your problem.