Talk:Dissecting the Scripts for Weapon Racks

Erroneous assertion

It's written: « I'm not going to try and explain states here, but it's redundant and has no utility if you only have a single state in a script. »

Actually, a singleton state can be essential e.g. when monitoring things, while using RegisterForSingleUpdateGameTime for instance. One example which is quite self-explanatory:

Scriptname FactionDetectionScript extends ObjectReference  
{Script to be attached to some object in the cell you wish to be monitoring for the player to be a member of some allowed faction}
Actor Property PlayerREF Auto
Bool ShouldWaitForAllowedFaction = True

Event OnLoad()
	If ShouldWaitForAllowedFaction
		GoToState("WaitForAllowedFaction")
	EndIf
EndEvent

State WaitForAllowedFaction
	Event OnBeginState()
		If PlayerREF.IsInFaction(AllowedFaction)
			ShouldWaitForAllowedFaction = False
			; Do what you want to do
		Else
			RegisterForSingleUpdateGameTime(0.9)
		EndIf
	EndEvent

	Event OnUpdateGameTime()
		GoToState("WaitForAllowedFaction")
	EndEvent
EndState

--HawkFest (talk) 2013-01-29T15:34:42 (EST)

Variables vs. Hidden Literal Properties

A recurring theme that I see in Bethesda scripts is the use of Hidden Properties to represent literal values. This snippet is taken from WeaponRackTriggerSCRIPT.psc:

Bool Property HasBeenTriggered Auto Hidden

Int Property numInTrig Auto Hidden

Bool Property AlreadyInit Auto Hidden

I'm relatively new to Papyrus, but based on my understanding of the language, the fact that these are Hidden means that they're private; inaccessible outside this script. This would seem to make them functionally equivalent to variables:

;Wouldn't this be the same?
bool HasBeenTriggered

int numInTrig

bool AlreadyInit

Is there a reason Properties are used in these instances instead of variables? --Geekofalltrades (talk) 2013-12-15T15:42:35 (EST)

A hidden property is neither private nor inaccessible from outside the respective script. For example, the Hearthfires BYOHDivertPrefabsScript reads the hidden PlayersDroppedWeapon property from some weapon racks. A hidden property is just literally hidden, i.e. entirely concealed from public view; in other words, if you didn't have the source code of the script to look at, you wouldn't even know of its existence. Of course, it also doesn't appear in the properties window in the CK - which effectively prevents it from being inadvertently manipulated.--Sclerocephalus (talk) 2013-12-20T15:46:54 (EST)