Annoying plane shifting problem/elevator troubles

[NinjaMicWZ]

Ok... I have this elevator in my new project. The elevator itself works perfectly and is set up as so -

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1st floor - a ceiling mounted call button that brings the elevator down, even if it's on the 2nd floor, by activating a paintball emitter that hits a 2 way switch to the left... this causes the elevator to go down.

2nd floor - a ceiling mounted call button that brings the elevator up, even if it's on the 1st floor. This button activates an invisible piston block that hits a button inside the elevator; the same one the player uses to activate the elevator's upward movement when inside the elevator.

Inside the elevator - on top of the elevator is the two way switch box, that is controlled by paintball emitters on both opposing sides.

A ceiling mounted button on the left side that initiates upward movement by activating the left paintball emitter.

A ceiling mounted button on the right side that initiates downward movement by activating an invisible piston block that triggers the 1st floor call button.

All the ceiling mounted buttons are activated using the paintinator.

the surroundings The elevator takes up the back two planes, and the areas you step out onto is comprised of the front-most plane.

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OK, now that you know what kind of set up the elevator is using, on to my problem;

When the player is on the second floor, inside the elevator, he can shoot the right side button to go down... BUT, when the elevator goes down, he automatically plane shifts onto the 2nd floor and it goes down without him. The elevator can always be called back by using the ceiling mounted call button, but none of this is any good if he can't stay on the elevator while it's going down.

There is a sliding door that opens on each floor, activated by a sensor switch, so the front plane is occupied, and I can't use a thin plane "guard rail" that blocks the player from falling out when on the button sides.

I thought about having a thin slice of gas emit in the front layer on the 2nd floor immediately when the player activates the "down" button, if it can even be wired that way... but that seems sloppy, risky, and bad for business if there is more than 1 player.

The things that initiate the elevator are all different settings, along with the mag keys that control lights and sounds... so deciding which of these to wire to a possible solution is escaping me at the moment. A bit brain dead after building this thing in the first place.

Any ideas from anyone who can actually understand all the stuff I just wrote lol?

[Shris]

I'm probably not a big help because I barely understood any of that lol. But the only thing I can think of is that the elevator may jolt downwards a bit and cause the player to shift to the front plane. I'm probably not right on this, and if that is happening I'm sure it wouldn't be so much as to stop the player from quickly shifting back.

[comphermc]

Have you considered putting doors one thin plane thick on it? Makes it look more like an elevator even.

Edit: it would be a real joy to change your logic, but it would work

[CCubbage]

The closer the floors are to each other the bigger the issue is.

If you start the elevator floor a bit above the other floor, once the elevator gets a good start this won't happen. (it's the initial "jostle" of the floor that causes Sackboy to plane shift).

Another thing you could try if it's still a problem is SLIGHTLY slowing down the elevator until it stops occurring.

You'll notice on these kinds of mechanics on MM levels they actually start the elevator floor quite a bit above the other floor so you have to jump up into the elevator.

(in the Siberia levels, Grant raised the floor of the elevator a bit and this solved the plane shifting issue)

[Morgana25]

ok - so I think I understand the problem. Question - you said you can't use the thin layer in front of the elevator because there are doors that open. but if they were shut sackboy wouldn't plane shift to the front then right? If you didn't want to close the doors you could always emit into the thin plane some invisible rubber/dark matter to prevent the shift. The emitter would probably need too be connected to the buttons that sackboy hits to move the elevator but timed to disappear when the elevator arrives at it's floor.

Or am I misunderstanding

[NinjaMicWZ]

ok - so I think I understand the problem. Question - you said you can't use the thin layer in front of the elevator because there are doors that open. but if they were shut sackboy wouldn't plane shift to the front then right? If you didn't want to close the doors you could always emit into the thin plane some invisible rubber/dark matter to prevent the shift. The emitter would probably need too be connected to the buttons that sackboy hits to move the elevator but timed to disappear when the elevator arrives at it's floor.

Or am I misunderstanding

That might just work morgana... it'll only delay the closing of the elevator doors until the elevator drops, if I'm thinking right, but it should prevent the plane shift. Thanks, and I'll let you know.

I really cannot fathom having to jump into an elevator, but that is the usual trick Ccub, and was one of the first ideas I thought about trying... but I just want it to be perfectly level with the ground floors, so you can step in and step out like a real elevator.

[CCubbage]

Yeah, in that case the thin dark matter as Morgana said. I used this to prevent plane shifting in Starship Troopers and it works pretty well.

If you don't want to emit, another way to do it is to take tiny vertical strands next to each other and glue them to a single top horizontal strand - then connect this thin (invisible door) to invisible pistons. So you could lower an invisible door right before going down.

[NinjaMicWZ]

So far as I can tell it worked like a charm, Morgana. Thanks alot... no lethal mishaps like the gas I was planning to use either, and it disappears just in time to still see the doors close as you go down past the next floors. An elevator for an elevator... funny how karma works, huh? lol you're probably the only one who's familiar with the call button part of it too.

The piston mounted one might work too, if I end up with this causing any problems. I think the .1 lifetime is key to it not breaking the elevator doors, and I have some thin plane material used as a cover for the shaftjust in the way above and below the doors so a door version probably would have nowhere to hide when not extended. Good idea though, and I can still use it if needed.

[Morgana25]

Cool - glad to help :) and yes - your call button elevators rock! I'm glad to report it's working nicely on the level I saw it on.

[NinjaMicWZ]

This one's actually way better and more functional than the one I built before lol... I think 'cause there's no chains or three way switches and trap doors involved... no magic mouth either. Nno jerkiness, or problems with it dropping when you get off here. It's alot easier to build when it's just me and I can move things around without breaking anything or getting Game Diverged messages lol

...but, I can't seem to get it the light to change colors like I did before. I'll have to head back and take a look at the old one and it's mess of mag switches.

[Morgana25]

I have the original one you sent me in my item storage.... do you need me to send it or did you save a copy?

[NinjaMicWZ]

No I have one. I just hate logging out to switch servers.

btw, Ccub... I ended up playing around with the speed of the elevator, and slowed it down, and had it rest only like a 1/6th of an inch above the ground level when it stops... that worked even better because I want theplayer to have a use for the call button if they hop out haphazardly, or for whatever gameplay devices I end up using it for. It also added time to the elevator trip so that the detail on the shaft is a bit more visible. Not too fast, not too slow... just right.

Thanks everyone.