Adding Flownode Inputs and Outputs

Overview

The Flowgraph is the implementation of visual scripting allowing non-programmers to interact with different parts of CryENGINE.

More information on the Flowgraph in the Sandbox Manual: Flow Graph Editor.

Adding the FlowEvents Table

The FlowEvents table is needed to define the customs inputs and outputs supported by the Script Entity.

NewEntity.FlowEvents =
{
  Inputs =
  {
    PowerOn  = { NewEntity.Event_PowerOn,  "bool" },
    PowerOff = { NewEntity.Event_PowerOff, "bool" },
    Position = { NewEntity.Event_Position, "Vec3" },
  },

  Outputs =
  {
    PowerOn = "bool",
    PowerOff = "bool",
  },
}

Value types supported for the inputs and outputs:

  • string
  • bool
  • entityid
  • int
  • float
  • vec3

Adding a Flow Node Input

The following line, taken from the Inputs table contained inside the FlowEvents, outlines the addition of a flow node input.

PowerOn = { NewEntity.Event_PowerOn, "bool" },

Each input element is defined by its name and a table which contains two elements:

  1. a reference to the script function, to call when the input is activated;
  2. the value type accepted by the input.

The following code snippet represents a skeleton of the implementation of a function that would receive the flow input.

function NewEntity:Event_Position(sender, position)
  -- read the position value and set it somewhere
end

The following code snippet represents the implementation of a function that would read the input value.

function NewEntity:Event_PowerOn(sender)
  -- code to implement a reaction to the flow node input
end

Adding a Flow Node Output

A new element needs to be added to the Outputs table with a name and the value type of the output. Example:

PowerOn = "bool",

An output is activated by calling the function BroadcastEvent with a string representing the name of the output to be activated.

BroadcastEvent(self, "PowerOn");

If output value matters, use function ActivateOutput:

self:ActivateOutput("ActiveCount", self.nActiveCount);