Layout Link Object

Layout Link

Description

This Level Object is used to contain one or more Level Objects, but treat them as a single object. Any changes made to the Layout associated with the Layout Link are automatically updated in every Layout in which it is used.

Location

Right-click on an empty space in the Layout Scene Manager and choose Building Blocks > Layout Link from the list.

Properties

Name	Type	Description	Read Only
BRUSH
BRUSH ID	string	ID of the brush that created the Layout Link.	true
ORIENTATION
FORWARD	CVector3	Forward by X,Y,Z.
RIGHT	CVector3	Right by X,Y,Z.
UP	CVector3	Up by X,Y,Z.
YAW	float	Yaw rotation.
POSITION
POSITION	CVector3	Position by X,Y,Z world coordinates.
PROPERTIES
CAN ALIAS	bool	Controls whether or not the Layout Link can be aliased.
ENABLED	bool	Set the Layout Link enabled or not.
NO ROOMPIECE COLLISION	bool	Room Pieces within the Layout Link will not have collision.
VISIBLE	bool	Set the Layout Link visible or not.
RESOURCES
LAYOUT FILE	string	The Layout file to load.
SCALE
SCALE	float	Scale the Layout Link uniformly on the X, Y, Z axes (if set to be Scalable).
X	float	Scale the Layout Link on the X axis (if set to be Scalable).
Y	float	Scale the Layout Link on the Y axis (if set to be Scalable).
Z	float	Scale the Layout Link on the Z axis (if set to be Scalable).

Input Events

Show

Set the Layout Link to be visible.

Hide

Set the Layout Link to be invisible.

Enable

Enable the Layout Link object.

Disable

Disable the Layout Link object.

Enable and Show

Enable the Layout Link and set it to be visible.

Disable and Hide

Disable the Layout Link and set it to be invisible.

Collidable

Set the Layout Link object to be collidable.

Not Collidable

Set the Layout Link object to not be collidable.

Output Events

On Visible

This event will fire when the Layout Link receives a "Show" Input event.

On Invisible

This event will fire when the Layout Link receives a "Hide" Input event.

Enabled

This event will fire when the Layout Link receives an "Enable" Input event.

Disabled

This event will fire when the Layout Link receives a "Disable" Input event.

Examples

A few examples for what would be placed inside a Layout Link are:

• A campfire room piece, a fire particle, a light source, and logic to turn the fire and light on and off based on time of day. (media\levelSets\props\Z1Tundra_props\Campfire_01_TOD.layout)
• A randomized assortment of cattails and water lilies with a water ripple particle. (media\levelSets\props\Z1Tundra_props\waterplants.layout)
• A small cave room piece and enemy spawners that warbeasts can jump out of, and a trigger box to detect when the player is near. (media\levelSets\props\Z1Tundra_props\Warbeast_den_WithTrigger.layout)
• A large piece of outdoor scenery that randomizes between various props. (media\levelSets\props\Z1Tundra_props\Filler_Large.layout)

Even though these layout links serve very different purposes, they all have a few things in common:

• Precise alignment between internal objects. For example, the warbeast spawners must be aligned properly with the cave so it looks like they're jumping out of the cave. Another example is the fire particle being aligned with the campfire prop. You only have to make sure that these things are aligned in a single layout and then you can use that layout link everywhere.
• Standalone, reusable objects. You generally use layout links when you have an group of objects that you would want to place together over and over again.
• Internal Logic that you only want to set up once. Setting up time of day or trigger boxes may not be difficult, but doing a lot of them can be tedious and error-prone. If you set it up inside a layout link, you can reuse that layout link multiple times and know that the logic will work every time. If you find a logic bug, you can fix it for every layout link at once as well.

It should be noted that these objects may contain logic inside of them, but the logic cannot be triggered by logic objects outside of the layout link. However, Layout Link Timelines can be accessed via logic in a limited manner.