Frictional Game Wiki

<h1>Sequences</h1> <div class="level1"> <p> Many of the events that happen throughout SOMA are triggered sequences - a sound plays, then the player's FoV changes, then a light starts flashing etc. etc. We control all of those through a set of wrappers we call Sequences, which hide a bunch of timers away and make things easier to read. </p> <p> For each sequence you need a map property to store the state - a <code>cSequenceStatesData�</code> property e.g. </p> <pre class="code">cSequenceStatesData mSequenceAlert; </pre><p> </p> <p> Then you create a sequence function. This will be repeatedly called until the whole sequence is over. It looks something like this: </p> <pre class="code">void Sequence_Alert(const tString& in asName) { Sequence_Begin("Sequence_Alert", mSequenceAlert);� if(Sequence_DoStepAndWait(1.0f)) // Do this step and then wait for 1 second { MakeALoudNoise(); } else if (Sequence_DoStepAndWait(2.5f)) // Do this and then wait for 2.5 seconds { FlashABrightLight(); } else if (Sequence_DoStepAndPause()) // Do this and then pause until told otherwise { SaySomethingAndCallBack("OnSayingSomethingComplete"); } else if (Sequence_DoStepAndWait(10.0f)) // Do this and then wait for 10s { CrushPlayerLikeAnAnt(); } else if (Sequence_DoStepAndContinue()) // Do this and go on to the next step (in this case there isn't one) { ApologiseToPlayer(); } Sequence_End(); } void OnSayingSomethingComplete() { // Saying something is now complete - poke the sequence to continue processing SequenceStates_Resume("Sequence_Alert"); } </pre><p> </p> <p> As you can see, <code>Sequence_DoStepAndPause()</code> in there actually pauses the whole sequence until some external event - in this case the callback from the voice playing code - calls <code>SequenceStates_Resume()</code> and asks it to continue. </p> <p> To start the sequence, you just call the sequence function <b>once</b> with an empty argument when you want it to trigger e.g. </p> <pre class="code">Sequence_Alert(""); </pre><p> </p> <p> no need to call it every frame or anything! Once started, timers will automatically make sure that the sequence steps get followed when they need to be. </p> <p> We use this a lot, all the way through SOMA, sometimes running multiple sequences in parallel, as they're totally independent of each other. (Which is perfectly possible, but can get very confusing - we really wouldn't recommend it, it more grew out of level complexity than anything else!) </p> </div> <h3>Important Functions</h3> <div class="level3"> <p> === Sequence_BeginMark the start of a sequence block. </p> </div> <h4>Sequence_End</h4> <div class="level4"> <p> Mark the end of the current sequence block. === Sequence_StopStop the current sequence immediately (sort of like an abort). === Sequence_DoStepAndWait ===Do the step within the following brackets and then wait for the specified time. === Sequence_DoStepWaitAndRepeat ===Do the step within the following brackets and then wait for the specified time; repeat for a number of iterations. === Sequence_DoStepAndContinueDo the step within the following brackets and then immediately carry on to the next step. === Sequence_DoStepAndPauseDo the step within the following brackets and then pause until <code>Sequence_Resume</code> is called. === Sequence_WaitJust wait for a set period of time (no step in brackets). === Sequence_PausePause the sequence until <code>Sequence_Resume</code> is called. === Sequence_SkipNextSteps ===Skip the specified number of sequence steps. === Sequence_SkipNextStepSkip the next sequence step. === SequenceStates_PausePause a specified sequence. === SequenceStates_ResumeResume the specified sequence. === SequenceStates_StopStop the specified sequence. === SequenceStates_IsActive ===Returns true is a particular sequence is active. </p> </div>