Introduction

A Datablock is a portion of TorqueScript that defines some standard settings for an Object. Once a Datablock has been written, it can be applied to as many objects as you want to give them all the properties defined in that Datablock. In this Tutorial, we will learn how to place a Datablock on some objects, then how to modify that Datablock so it affects all of the objects it has been placed on.

System Overview

A Datablock is nothing more than a piece of script that defines a set of properties for an object. Think of it like a configuration template. All of your datablocks will be found in the file /projectFiles/scripts/datablocks.cs. The Datablock that we will be working with today looks like the following:

datablock t2dSceneObjectDatablock(FishDatablock) {
   Class = "FishClass";
   Layer = "0";
   WorldLimitMode = "NULL";
   WorldLimitMin = "-321.426 -185.000";
   WorldLimitMax = "320.000 173.116";
   UsesPhysics = "1";
   WorldLimitCallback = "1";
      minSpeed = "15";
      maxSpeed = "55";
};

This datablock allows us to setup some basic data for the Fish in our scene. By applying this datablock to every Fish object, we can be assured that they all have the exact same world limits and movement speed, and all use the FishClass object class.

Template

A datablock only requires a few pieces of data, allowing the user to add any other properties they require. The following is a basic, raw datablock, ready to be carved into whatever the developer requires.

datablock t2dSceneObjectDatablock(rawDatablock) 
{
   Layer = 1;
   Size = "100 100";
};

This raw datablock will cause any object it is assigned to, to be placed on Layer 1 and have a size in the Scene View of 100x100.

Example

Now that we understand the basics of what a datablock is, let's see how it makes modifications of objects easy. We will do this by adding a property to our fish. Open the Aquarium project, which ships with iTorque2D. Let's make it so all of our fish have a blue tint.

Load up the datablocks.cs file for the Aquarium project. You will see one Datablock within it, the FishDatablock. Modify this so it has the following line of code at the bottom:

blendColor = "0.0 0.0 1.0 1.0";

Your datablock should now look like this

datablock t2dSceneObjectDatablock(FishDatablock) {
   Class = "FishClass";
   Layer = "0";
   WorldLimitMode = "NULL";
   WorldLimitMin = "-321.426 -185.000";
   WorldLimitMax = "320.000 173.116";
   UsesPhysics = "1";
   WorldLimitCallback = "1";
      minSpeed = "15";
      maxSpeed = "55";
   blendColor = "0.0 0.0 1.0 1.0";
};

Now save your datablock and go back into the iTorque2D editor. Note that nothing has changed - yet. Datablock properties are only visible when the game is running. Hit the play button, and your fish should now look like this:

Conclusion

Modifying a Datablock is easy, and allows the developer to quickly assign and adjust properties across all common objects in a game. Use them to configure your AI properties for certain enemy types, rendering properties, physics properties and more.