Foundation - Modding Documentation

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Creating & Using a Custom BUILDING_FUNCTION

Step 1: Defining a BUILDING_FUNCTION Class using a Lua Table

To create a custom BUILDING_FUNCTION class we will need to make use of the mod:registerClass(AssetTable) function providing it with an associated Lua Table.

Here you decide what properties your custom BUILDING_FUNCTION object will contain. Furthermore you can override default BUILDING_FUNCTION methods as well as define custom ones.

local MY_BUILDING_FUNCTION = {
    TypeName = "MY_BUILDING_FUNCTION",
    DataType = "BUILDING_FUNCTION",
    Properties = {
        { Name = "Property1", Type = "string", Default = "SomeString" },
        { Name = "Property2", Type = "list<RESOURCE_QUANTITY_PAIR>" },
        { Name = "Property3", Type = "integer", Default = 1 }
    }
}

Now that the base BUILDING_FUNCTION Lua Table is ready we can define functions for it before registering it.

And finally we register out custom BUILDING_FUNCTION class.

mod:registerClass(MY_BUILDING_FUNCTION)

Note that BUILDING_FUNCTIONs do not need the SAVE_GAME flag as their properties are read from their registration on load. As such it is not possible to save runtime data in them directly!

Also remember that you can define properties based on the basic data types (i.e. string, integer, float, etc.) or based on any of the existing DATA or ASSET objects, as well as lists therof!

Step 2: Registering an Instance of a BUILDING_FUNCTION Class

Note: This also aplies to using vanilla BUILDING_FUNCTION classes!

In your mod's lua code you when you want to register an instance of your new BUILDING_FUNCTION class you will have to use the mod:registerAsset(AssetTable) method as follows.

mod:registerAsset({
    DataType = "MY_BUILDING_FUNCTION",
    Id = "MY_BUILDING_FUNCTION_INSTANCE",
    Property1 = "SomeOtherString",
    Property3 = 5
})

Remember, each unique BUILDING_FUNCTION instance requires an Id that identifies it from other BUILDING_FUNCTIONs of the same class.

In case you omit any properties you don't yet need to explicitly set they will use their default values. As we have done with Property2 above.

Step 3: Using an Instance of a BUILDING_FUNCTION Class

When you want to use your new BUILDING_FUNCTION instance in a BUILDING_PART registration you can use the string Id to reference it by name.

mod:registerAsset({
    DataType = "BUILDING_PART",
    Id = "MY_BUILDING_PART",
    .
    .
    .
    AssetBuildingFunction = "MY_BUILDING_FUNCTION_INSTANCE"
})

Table of Contents

Creating & Using a Custom BUILDING_FUNCTION

Step 1: Defining a BUILDING_FUNCTION Class using a Lua Table

Step 2: Registering an Instance of a BUILDING_FUNCTION Class

Step 3: Using an Instance of a BUILDING_FUNCTION Class