Frictional Game Wiki

<h1>User Modules</h1> <div class="level1"> </div> <h2>Overview</h2> <div class="level2"> <p> What follows is a list of all the premade user modules that come with the game. All of these have helper functions that can be access by looking for functions with the prefix displayed for each module. </p> </div> <h2>Interactive camera animation</h2> <div class="level2"> <p> <b>Helper function prefix:</b> CameraAnimation </p> </div> <h3>General</h3> <div class="level3"> <p> The camera animation system is used to move the player camera along a specific path while still allowing some degree of interaction. </p> </div> <h3>Instructions</h3> <div class="level3"> <p> To use the system, place CameraAnimation nodes (Area → CameraAnimation) in the scene and give each of them the name of the animation followed by an underscore and their placement within the animation (such as WakeUpAnimation_1, WakeUpAnimation_2 etc). Note that if you duplicate (Ctrl-D) a node, the duplicate will automatically get the next available number as its suffix.<br/> Rotate the nodes so that their Z-axes point in the direction you want the camera to look at that part of the animation. <br/> In script, call the helper function CameraAnimation_Begin() to start the animation. </p> </div> <h3>Node properties</h3> <div class="level3"> <p> <b>MaxYaw/MaxPitch</b> <br/> Dictates how far the player is allowed to rotate the camera away from the target forward rotation. This value is interpolated between nodes. </p> <p> <b>LookSpeedMultiplier</b> <br/> How fast the player can rotate the camera. </p> <p> <b>ForwardTime<br/> </b> The time it takes to move from this node to the next at full speed forward. </p> <p> <b>BackwardTime</b> <br/> The time it takes to move from the next node to this one at full reverse speed. </p> <p> <b>AutoMovement</b> <br/> Dictates how the animation behaves when no movement input is given, or when movement input is disabled. 0 stops movement, 1 is as if given full forward speed (animation will finish after [ForwardTime] seconds), -1 is as if given full reverse speed. </p> <p> <b>LookMoveDistance<br/> </b> The length between this node and the next the player can move just by looking toward the next node, given as a value between 0 and 1. </p> <p> <b>LookMoveMaxAngle</b> <br/> The maximum angle away from the next node the player can look and still move forward. Only valid if LookMoveDistance > 0. </p> <p> <b>InteractiveMovement<br/> </b> If checked, the player can control the movement between this node and the next. If unchecked, the AutoMovement property has complete control over the movement and should not be set to 0. </p> <p> <b>CrouchOnExit<br/> </b> If checked, the player will automatically crouch if the animation is ended at this node. </p> <p> <b>InitToCamera<br/> </b> If checked, the node is given the orientation of the camera when the animation starts. This is very useful when you want the animation to have a smooth beginning, or you want to make sure the player is returned to where they were when the end node is reached. </p> <p> <b>CallbackFunc</b> <br/> Function in the level script that should be called when reaching this node. The syntax is bool FuncName(const tString &in asEntity, int alDirection), where asEntity is the name of the node and alDirection is 1 if moving forward and -1 if moving backward. </p> </div> <h2>Attack Meter</h2> <div class="level2"> <p> <b>Helper function prefix:</b> AttackMeter_ </p> <p> The attack meter module is used to tell the player that they are in danger and, if they don't escape the danger in time, applies damage to them, knocks them down and kills them. It's used by AI agents, and also for when (for example) the player jumps off a cliff. </p> </div> <h2>Credits</h2> <div class="level2"> <p> <b>Helper function prefix:</b> Credits_ </p> <p> The credits handler simply displays a scrolling list of credits - see <code>config/Credits.cfg</code> for the format used. </p> </div> <h2>Datamine</h2> <div class="level2"> <p> <b>Helper function prefix:</b> Datamine_ </p> <p> Datamining is what happens when the player in SOMA touches a dead person, intercom or other piece of technology and hears the last few moments of data buffer as an audio clip. Most of this is handled automatically by <code>Prop_Datamine</code>, but there are a few helper functions available. </p> </div> <h2>Description</h2> <div class="level2"> <p> <b>Helper function prefix:</b> Description_ </p> <p> The description handler is an old module pre-SOMA; it's for adding descriptive text on-screen. SOMA uses Readables and ZoomAreas instead. Description may not be full up-to-date with SOMA's code. </p> </div> <h2>Distortion Effects</h2> <div class="level2"> <p> <b>Helper function prefix:</b> DistortionEffect_ </p> <p> This module implements the distortion effects that happen to the player's vision as they get close to enemy creatures such as the Flesher. It's called automatically from some AI, but it's also possible to explicitly add additional distortion effects e.g. to trigger effects in a particular area. </p> </div> <h2>Emotion</h2> <div class="level2"> <p> <b>Helper function prefix:</b> Emotion_ </p> <p> This module implements heavy breathing and heartbeats effects, allowing you to programmatically change volume and rate of both. </p> </div> <h2>Game Over</h2> <div class="level2"> <p> <b>Helper function prefix:</b> GameOver_ </p> <p> This module implements the death screen, and the weird sequence of images you get just before death. It's automatically called by the <code>AttackHandler</code>. </p> </div> <h2>Highlight Effect</h2> <div class="level2"> <p> This module manages the highlighting of particular interactive objects in an area near to the player. </p> </div> <h2>Hint</h2> <div class="level2"> <p> <b>Helper function prefix:</b> Hint_ </p> <p> This module handles the textual hints (with embedded button symbols) that pop up at the top of the screen. </p> </div> <h2>Inventory</h2> <div class="level2"> <p> <b>Helper function prefix:</b> Inventory_ </p> <p> The inventory module handles the display of the player's inventory (the management of it is done in <code>PlayerToolHandler</code>). </p> </div> <h2>Light Flash</h2> <div class="level2"> <p> <b>Helper function prefix:</b> LightFlash_ </p> <p> The light flash module handles the display of a flash effect of bright light at the particular positions in the 3D world. </p> </div> <h2>Map Effects</h2> <div class="level2"> <p> <b>Helper function prefix:</b> Map_ </p> <p> The Map Effects module handles a variety of different helpers for the map's effects, including fog and environment particles. It also manages collections of environmental presets to fade between, so you can transition a map's appearance from one state to another. </p> </div> <h2>Menu</h2> <div class="level2"> <p> <b>Helper function prefix:</b> MainMenu_, PauseMenu_ </p> <p> The MenuHandler module implements all of SOMA's front-end menus. </p> </div> <h2>Player Energy</h2> <div class="level2"> <p> <b>Helper function prefix:</b> PlayerEnergy_ </p> <p> The Player Energy module implements the recharging of the player's health (through use of 'Wau Flowers') in SOMA. 'Wau Flowers' themselves are of type <code>Prop_EnergySource</code>. </p> </div> <h2>Player Hands</h2> <div class="level2"> <p> <b>Helper function prefix:</b> PlayerHands_ </p> <p> The Player Hands module implements all the animations that the first-person player hands take in game. It also allows binding the camera to a socket on the player hands animation for custom 'cut-scene'-like moments, such as climbing out of the dome in Upsilon. </p> </div> <h2>Player Pickup</h2> <div class="level2"> <p> This is an old module no longer used in SOMA. </p> </div> <h2>Player Tool</h2> <div class="level2"> <p> <b>Helper function prefix:</b> Player_ </p> <p> This module handles the player's use of <code>Prop_Tool</code> objects that they pick up, including maintaining an inventory list, deciding if a tool is equipped (shown in the player's hands) and whether tools can be used on particular entities or areas. In SOMA, this covers things like the Omnitool or scan chips. </p> </div> <h2>Terrain Particles</h2> <div class="level2"> <p> This is an old module no longer used in SOMA. </p> </div> <h2>Wake Handler</h2> <div class="level2"> <p> <b>Helper function prefix:</b> Wake_ </p> <p> This implements a very simple wakeup effect, as if blinking eyelids (see the start of the Theta labyrinth after Akers has embedded you in coral). </p> </div>