Prop spawners, wheels, and hydraulics explained

Okay, I've seen in the search results that some of you are looking on how to use prop spawners, while others are trying to make bi-directional wired wheels. Both are actually pretty simple:

Prop spawners (wired):

During the week, I don't usually have access to GMod, so I might make a few mistakes, but here is what I remember:

-Prop spawners have a variable spawn rate, and this is set when you make one. A higher number means it spawns slower, while a lower one makes it spawn faster. This is caused by the spawn "delay". The delay is how many seconds it takes for it to refresh and spawn a new prop.
-One of the two inputs is spawn. Kinda self explanatory, when the value is greater than zero (0), it will spawn a prop.
-The other input is Undo. This is also self explanatory, it removes the props so you don't have to furiously mash your Backspace (or whatever your Undo key is) key and risk deleting something else.

Wired wheels:

To make a wired wheel go both ways, you simply have to make it have a negative input for one way and a positive for the other. I usually do it like this:

-Spawn an Add gate, a Negate gate, and a wheel.
-Wire the A of the add to the button/whatever makes it go forward.
-Wire the A of the Negate to the thing that makes it go backward.
-Wire the B of the Add to the Negate.
-Wire the Wheel to the Add.

Done, simple as that. You can also use this method for thrusters or even hoverballs (ZVelocity to the add).

Hydraulics:

Hydraulics are fairly simple once you get the hang of them. Fixed hydraulics can be used as sliders or to constrain a prop to move only in one direction.

To smooth/slow hydraulics down, you just need a Smooth gate (Gate - Time) and a constant value. Wire the A of the Smooth to the value that you would normally wire the Length of the hydraulic to, and wire the Rate to the Constant Value. The higher the Constant Value is, the more it gets 'smoothed', and the slower it is. Good for doors which are supposed to close slowly instead of chopping people in half, as has happened to me many of times...

I'll occasionally see what people are having problems with, and I'll try to make more of these in the future. If you have any questions/suggestions, Email me at Narcotic.Clown@Gmail.com.

Wired Elevator

Instead of making stairs, it's usually more compact and simpler to make an elevator.


You need (minimum):

2 panels (base plate and lift plate)
2 wired buttons (Off value 0, on value 1; off value 0, on value -1)(not toggled)
Accumulator (can be found in Gates - Time)
Add gate (Gates - Arithmetic)
Multiply gate (Gates - Arithmetic)
Constant Value
Wired Hydraulic (fixed)


Good to have:

Another prop welded to the lift plate with the buttons on it
Buttons at each level


Construction:

-Put your base plate where you want it and stack it if you have the stacker tool. If not, or if the props are different, position your lift plate very carefully above the base plate. Do not weld the two plates.
-Make a wired hydraulic in the center of the two plates, and put the controller where you want
-Place all the gates and the constant value close to each other near the hydraulics controller (in a square or at least on the same panel).
-Weld the second plate to the list plate if you made one, and put the buttons on there.


Wiring:

-Wire the A of the Add gate to the button with value 1
-Wire the B of the Add gate to the button with value -1
-Wire the Accumulator to the Add gate
-Wire the A of the Multiply gate to the Accumulator
-Wire the B of the Multiply gate to the constant value
-Wire the Length on the hydraulics controller to the Multiply gate


Explanation:

The buttons are the up-down controls of the elevator. The accumulator takes the values of the buttons and stores them (1 for up, -1 for down). The Multiply gate takes the value of the accumulator and makes it X times bigger, X being the constant value's number. Without the multiply gate, your elevator would go extremely slow (the default rate is 1 value per second). The hydraulics make the whole thing go up or down. If the hydraulics weren't fixed, then the elevator would just flop around instead of going in the direction you want it to. If you wanted to make the hydraulics on top instead of on bottom, then it's sometimes better to uncheck the fixed box to make gravity the only force acting on your elevator.


Tips:

-For realism, add a pole to the bottom of your lift plate and nocollide it with everything around it and the world geometry (more on that later).
-Use the Keep Upright tool on the lift and base plates for stability.
-Make a little cage for the player so he doesn't accidentally fall out while riding the elevator.
-The Constant Value can be any number you want. The higher it is, the faster the elevator goes. The number usually depends on the size/functionality of your elevator or on your mood. If it's a cargo elevator or a two-stop elevator, make it a low number (50 is usually good). If it's a personal elevator or there are great distances between stops, make it a higher number (150-250).
-Make buttons at every stop so you don't have to drag your elevator and risk breaking it.



I will post a few pictures of an elevator I made on Flatgrass while we were killing zombies. It has a nice look to it, and I might post it as an advanced duplication (adv. dupe) on www.garrysmod.org.

More posts coming soon

Sorry for being away for so long with no new posts, I'll try to get a couple up on the weekend for you guys.

For now, check out www.wiremod.com for some interesting stuff.