refferencing fpsplayer

[cassius]

I am learning lua script and have placed the fpsplayer in my map. Whats the best way to refer to it in code, and other entities that are not loaded in code but just placed in editor?i

[AggrorJorn]

There are several ways to do this.

• Script property. If is it an occasional entity that needs a reference, just use a script propery for entities and drag in the player. 

  Script.player = nil --entity "Player"

   

• If many objects require a reference, I would handle it automatically. At the start of each script, loop over the entities in the world and check if the player is among them. If the player name is unique, then you can do something like this:

  local n
  for n=0, world:CountEntities()-1 do
  	local entity = world:GetEntity(n)
  	if entity:GetKeyValue("name") == "MyPlayer" then
  		playerEntity = entity
  		break
  	end
  end

  Note that you might want to store the player reference somewhere as it is used a lot. Saves iterations on start up.

[cassius]

I need to know when the player is close to another character for example using GetDistance. Its easy in my  c++ project as all characters are loaded by code.

[AggrorJorn]

Again, many ways to do this. Some possibilities:

• Let each enemy perform a distance check once a loop or after a timer is done. 

  --in enemey UpdateWorld
  local playerPos = self.entity:GetPosition(true)
  local enemyPos = self.playerEntity:GetPosition(true)
  local distance = playerPos:DistanceToPoint(enemyPos)
  
  if distance < 1.5 then --1.5 is just an examepl.
     System:Print("within attack range or something")            
  end

   

• Or you let the player do a ForEachEntityinAABB. This retrieves all entities within a give shape around the player. Then for every entity it finds,check if it is an enemy and you can do things. 

  --player updateworld
  local playerSurrounding = self.entity:GetAABB(Entity.GlobalAABB)
  local world = World:GetCurrent()
  world:ForEachEntityInAABBDo(playerSurrounding, "MyCallback", self.entity)
  
  function MyCallback(entity, extra)
  	if entity.script ~= nil and entity.script.isEnemy then
  		System:Print("this is an enemy in the players region")
  	end
  end

   

[cassius]

Thanks aggror