Ask a simple question, get a simple answer

[minmay]

That worked perfectly, thanks for the help! I do have another question:

Code: Select all

function openNorthGates()
   if NorthGate.onInsertItem(NorthGate, "essence_balance_1") then
         north_gate1.door:open();
		 north_gate2.door:open();
   else
         north_gate1.door:close();
         north_gate2.door:close();
   end
end

For some reason, the field onInsertItem is returning a nil value, am I calling it wrong or is my mistake elsewhere?

The onInsertItem hook is called when an item is inserted in the socket. It returns false if the item should be rejected (not placed in the socket), and something esle if it shouldn't be (generally true or nil). Circumstances under which it makes sense to manually call it yourself are extremely esoteric. Furthermore, "essence_balance_1" is a string, not an item.

Sockets normally only take a single item like a torch (they are not like altars and alcoves). Each of the beacons only accepts a single essence as far as I know.

The beacons accept literally any item in the game. You need to check the item's name:

Code: Select all

function openNorthGate()
       local item = NorthGate.socket:getItem()
       if item and item.go.name == "essence_balance" then
         northgate1.door:open()
         northgate2.door:open()
         end
      end

edit: typo fix

[Davenfal]

That worked perfectly, thanks for the help! I do have another question:

Code: Select all

function openNorthGates()
   if NorthGate.onInsertItem(NorthGate, "essence_balance_1") then
         north_gate1.door:open();
		 north_gate2.door:open();
   else
         north_gate1.door:close();
         north_gate2.door:close();
   end
end

For some reason, the field onInsertItem is returning a nil value, am I calling it wrong or is my mistake elsewhere?

The onInsertItem hook is called when an item is inserted in the socket. It returns false if the item should be rejected (not placed in the socket), and something esle if it shouldn't be (generally true or nil). Circumstances under which it makes sense to manually call it yourself are extremely esoteric. Furthermore, "essence_balance_1" is a string, not an item.

Sockets normally only take a single item like a torch (they are not like altars and alcoves). Each of the beacons only accepts a single essence as far as I know.

The beacons accept literally any item in the game. You need to check the item's name:

Code: Select all

function openNorthGate()
       local item = NorthGate.socket:getItem()
       if item and item.name == "essence_balance" then
         northgate1.door:open()
         northgate2.door:open()
         end
      end

I appreciate the explanations, they helped clear up quite a bit of what was confusing me. The script no long throws me an error!

[Grimfan]

Sorry about before Davenfal. I was confusing the visual effects of the beacon with what it actually accepts.

This works in my mod (it opens the door):

Code: Select all

function revealTheWay()
	local e = beacon_air_1.socket:getItem()
	if e.go.name == "essence_air" then
	castle_secret_door_83.door:open()
	end
end

And yes I have 83 secret castle doors in my mod.

[minmay]

Code: Select all

function revealTheWay()
	local e = beacon_air_1.socket:getItem()
	if e.go.name == "essence_air" then
	castle_secret_door_83.door:open()
	end
end

This will crash if the beacon does not have an item in it, since you can't index nil values. That's the purpose of checking that the item exists in the function I posted (which had a different error in it that I've fixed, sorry).

[Grimfan]

I now know that it causes a crash, but why was it working for me? I could leave the beacon empty and nothing happens (it doesn't crash). Why was that the case?

Well, time to change some scripts around.

[Davenfal]

I'm encountering a really strange oddity. whenever I set an essence onto a beacon whose height is lower than zero, the essence doesn't properly adjust its height to that of the beacon and instead floats at a height of zero. Is there an easy way to change it's position after it's placed?

[minmay]

I now know that it causes a crash, but why was it working for me? I could leave the beacon empty and nothing happens (it doesn't crash). Why was that the case?

Depends when you were calling that function. If you were only calling it when an item is inserted then it always had an item in it.

I'm encountering a really strange oddity. whenever I set an essence onto a beacon whose height is lower than zero, the essence doesn't properly adjust its height to that of the beacon and instead floats at a height of zero. Is there an easy way to change it's position after it's placed?

You wouldn't find this strange at all if you looked at the definition in the asset pack, specifically the onUpdate hook for the beacon light:

Code: Select all

			onUpdate = function(self)
				local socket = self.go.socket
				if socket:count() > 0 then
					local it = socket:getItem()
					if it.go.name == "essence_fire" then
						it.go:setWorldPositionY(0.85 + math.sin(Time.currentTime()) * 0.05)
					elseif it:hasTrait("essence") then
						it.go:setWorldPositionY(0.75)
					end
				end
			end,

As you can see, it sets the essence's position independently of the beacon's position. You should be able to change this behaviour by doing something like this:

Code: Select all

			onUpdate = function(self)
				local socket = self.go.socket
				if socket:count() > 0 then
					local it = socket:getItem()
					if it.go.name == "essence_fire" then
						it.go:setWorldPositionY(self.go:getWorldPositionY() + 0.85 + math.sin(Time.currentTime()) * 0.05)
					elseif it:hasTrait("essence") then
						it.go:setWorldPositionY(self.go:getWorldPositionY() + 0.75)
					end
				end
			end,

[Periodiko]

I'm trying to relearn how the scripting works in this game and I was wondering if you could help me with some simple stuff.

Ya'll know about the horn you blow at the beach to summon the viper roots for the boss battle? Well it works by the following script embedded in it's object definition:

Code: Select all

			onAttack = function(self)
				for e in party.map:entitiesAt(party.x, party.y) do
					if e.script and e.script.blowTheHorn then
						e.script:blowTheHorn()
					end
				end
				playSound("blow_horn")
			end,

How does "in" work?

Also, a maybe slightly more involved question: if I wanted to use a similar function in an object definition to run a level script object, how would I do that? Say I had a horn that when you blew it, it ran a script that opened all the doors in the level and started a boss-fight, for example, but it happened regardless of where you were on the level.

[GoldenShadowGS]

I'm trying to relearn how the scripting works in this game and I was wondering if you could help me with some simple stuff.

Ya'll know about the horn you blow at the beach to summon the viper roots for the boss battle? Well it works by the following script embedded in it's object definition:

Code: Select all

			onAttack = function(self)
				for e in party.map:entitiesAt(party.x, party.y) do
					if e.script and e.script.blowTheHorn then
						e.script:blowTheHorn()
					end
				end
				playSound("blow_horn")
			end,

How does "in" work?

Also, a maybe slightly more involved question: if I wanted to use a similar function in an object definition to run a level script object, how would I do that? Say I had a horn that when you blew it, it ran a script that opened all the doors in the level and started a boss-fight, for example, but it happened regardless of where you were on the level.

Its sort of like a list of everything in a certain container. this part of the script will repeat as many times as the number of objects that the container contains. For this case, e = everything on tile the party is standing at.

Here is an example I did:
I want to see if there is any entity with platform component at a certain spot, at a certain elevation.(bridges, etc)
elevation, hasbridge are my variables, don't worry about them

Code: Select all

			for i in party.map:entitiesAt(myx,myy) do
				if i.elevation == elevation and i:getComponent("platform") then 
					if i.platform:isEnabled() then
						hasbridge = true
					end
				end
			end

[Thorham]

How can I set the scale of a custom GUI? By default, elements like fonts always have the same size, regardless of the screen resolution. Any way to change this?