Tracking Players with a Lua Module
Introduction
In game development, tracking player data and responding to player events like joining, leaving, or changing characters is crucial for creating engaging multiplayer experiences. This guide introduces a Lua script that helps manage player information within a game environment.
Create a Player Tracking Module
1. Initialize Player Tracking
To start, create a table called players that will store information about each player as they join the game.
players = {}
- This line sets up an empty table named
playersto keep track of player data.
2. Implement Player Tracking Function
Next, define a function named TrackPlayers to handle player-related events such as when a player joins, changes their character, or disconnects from the game.
local function TrackPlayers(game, characterCallback)
-- Event: Player Joins
scene.PlayerJoined:Connect(function(scene, player)
-- Add the player to the 'players' table with initial data
players[player] = {
player = player,
score = IntValue.new("score" .. tostring(player.id), 0)
}
-- Event: Character Changed
player.CharacterChanged:Connect(function(player, character)
local playerinfo = players[player]
-- Check if the character is instantiated
if character == nil then
return -- If no character, exit the function
end
-- Call the provided callback function with player info
if characterCallback then
characterCallback(playerinfo)
end
end)
end)
-- Event: Player Disconnects
game.PlayerDisconnected:Connect(function(player)
-- Remove the player from the 'players' table upon disconnect
players[player] = nil
end)
end
- This function sets up event listeners to respond when a player joins (
PlayerJoined), changes their character (CharacterChanged), or disconnects from the game (PlayerDisconnected).
3. Client-Side Initialization
Configure client-side behavior and define a callback function (OnCharacterInstantiate) to handle character-related events.
function self:ClientAwake()
-- Callback Function for Character Instantiation
function OnCharacterInstantiate(playerinfo)
local player = playerinfo.player
local character = player.character
-- Listen for changes to the player's score
playerinfo.score.Changed:Connect(function(newVal, oldVal)
print(player.name .. ": " .. tostring(newVal)) -- Print the new score value
end)
end
-- Start tracking players on the client side
TrackPlayers(client, OnCharacterInstantiate)
end
- This section sets up a callback function (
OnCharacterInstantiate) that listens for changes to a player's score and prints the updated value to the console.
4. Server-Side Initialization
Initialize player tracking on the server side, which focuses on managing player data without specific client-related behavior.
function self:ServerAwake()
-- Start tracking players on the server side
TrackPlayers(server)
-- Increase a players Score by 1
function addPointToPlayer(player)
local newScore = players[player].score.value + 1
players[player].score.value = newScore
end
end
TrackPlayers(server)initiates player tracking on the server to handle player events like joining and disconnecting.addPointToPlayer(player)Increases the given player's Network Valuescoreby 1. This is to be called after connecting to anEventfired from theclientdepending on gameplay.
Complete Module Script:
players = {} -- a table variable to store current players and info
local function TrackPlayers(game, characterCallback)
scene.PlayerJoined:Connect(function(scene, player) -- When a player joins a scene add them to the players table
players[player] = {
player = player,
score = IntValue.new("score" .. tostring(player.id), 0) --Score is a Network integer with an ID built of the player's ID to ensure uniqueness
}
-- Each player is a `Key` in the table, with the values `player` and `score`
player.CharacterChanged:Connect(function(player, character)
local playerinfo = players[player] -- After the player's character is instantiated store their info from the player table (`player`,`score`)
if (character == nil) then
return --If no character instantiated return
end
if characterCallback then -- If there is a character callback provided call it with a reference to the player info
characterCallback(playerinfo)
end
end)
end)
game.PlayerDisconnected:Connect(function(player) -- Remove player from the current table if they disconnect
players[player] = nil
end)
end
--[[
Client
]]
function self:ClientAwake()
-- Create OnCharacterInstantiate as the callback for the Tracking function, to acces the playerinfo on client for each player that joins
function OnCharacterInstantiate(playerinfo)
local player = playerinfo.player
local character = player.character
--The function to run everytime someones score changes
playerinfo.score.Changed:Connect(function(newVal, oldVal)
print(player.name .. ": " .. tostring(newVal))
end)
end
-- Track players on Client with a callback
TrackPlayers(client, OnCharacterInstantiate)
end
--[[
Server
]]
function self:ServerAwake()
-- Track players on the server, with no callback
TrackPlayers(server)
-- Increase a players Score by 1
function addPointToPlayer(player)
local newScore = players[player].score.value + 1
players[player].score.value = newScore
end
end
Conclusion
This Lua script provides a structured approach to tracking players in a game environment. It manages player data efficiently and responds to player-related events using event listeners and callback functions. Use this script as a foundation to enhance multiplayer game functionalities in Lua.
Updated over 1 year ago
