Patterns

Debug logs
Messages logged to the DEBUG channel are visible in the CET console by default (without having to enable game logs).
LogChannel(n"DEBUG", "something")
General purpose hash map
There are several hash map implementations available in the game. Most importantly, inkHashMap (Uint64 -> ref<IScriptable>) and inkWeakHashMap (Uint64 -> wref<IScriptable>). All custom classes extend IScriptable therefore they can be used as values in those hash maps.
let map = new inkHashMap();
hashMap.Insert(TDBID.ToNumber(t"key1"), MyClass.Create(1));
hashMap.Insert(TDBID.ToNumber(t"key2"), MyClass.Create(2));
let value: ref<MyClass> = map.Get(TDBID.ToNumber(t"key1")) as MyClass;
Safe downcasting
The as operator returns null when a dynamic cast fails. You can use it combined with IsDefined to perform safe downcasts.
let manager = employee as Manager;
if IsDefined(manager) {
  // employee is known to be Manager here
}
Heterogeneous array literals
If you define a function to accept an array of Variant:
func AcceptVariants(variants: array<Variant>) {}
Then that function can be called with an array literal containing elements of different types:
// all elements get implicitly converted to Variant
AcceptVariants([1, new Vector2(1, 2), new inkText()]);
// you can achieve the same thing with an explicitly typed local
let variants: array<Variant> = [1, new Vector2(1, 2), new inkText()];
Custom scriptable system (singleton pattern)
You can define a custom scriptable system:
module MyMod
​
public class MySystem extends ScriptableSystem {
  private func OnAttach() -> Void {
    LogChannel(n"DEBUG", "MySystem::OnAttach");
  }
​
  private func OnDetach() -> Void {
    LogChannel(n"DEBUG", "MySystem::OnDetach");
  }
​
  public func GetData() -> Float {
    return GetPlayer(this.GetGameInstance()).GetGunshotRange();
  }
}
This scriptable system can then be accessed using the scriptable system container:
let container = GameInstance.GetScriptableSystemsContainer(gameInstance);
// don't forget the namespace if you're using modules
let system = container.Get(n"MyMod.MySystem") as MySystem;
​
LogChannel(n"DEBUG", ToString(system.GetData()));
Persisting data
The fields of classes that extend ScriptableSystem or PersistentState (e.g. ScriptedPuppetPS) can be declared with the persistent modifier to be persisted in game saves.
You can persist data of all types except for String, Variant and ResRef (and arrays of these types).
Instances of classes can be persisted too, but note that their fields must also be marked as persistent, or they won't be persisted and instead they'll be initialized with defaults.
module MyMod
​
public class Entry {
    // both of these will be persisted
    public persistent let related: TweakDBID;
    public persistent let lasting: Int32;
    // this won't be persisted
    public let temporary: Int32;
}
​
public class MySystem extends ScriptableSystem {
    private persistent let m_entries: array<ref<Entry>>;
}
​

Last modified 1mo ago