multisource Last edited 4 months ago2024-06-23 08:17:45 UTC

multisource - Point Entity

The multisource acts as an AND gate. It only triggers its targets if all entities targeting it are in the 'ON' state. It can also be used as a master (instead of actively triggering something when the conditions are met, events or entities using it as a master will only be able to function when the conditions are met).

In other words, the multisource can be used in 2 ways:

1. As a way to activate something, only if an X amount of entities are already active (it can be 1 entity, 2, 3 or how many you wish to have). For instance: 3 buttons which have their targets set at a specific multisource, and when those buttons get activated, the multisource will activate a door (this is an example of course, the possibilities are endless).
2. To unlock an entity, such as a door, or a button, again only if an X amount of entities are already active. For instance, if a door has its master parameter set to the name of the multisource, then that door will only unlock once that multisource gets activated in some way. Be aware though: If just 1 of those X amount of entities gets disabled (such as a button turning off), the multisource will turn off and the door (or anything else you have) will now be locked once again.

Attributes

• Name (targetname) - Property used to identify entities.
• Target (target) - When an entity is activated, it triggers the entity with the name specified by Target.
• Global State Master (globalname) - This is the name of the global variable (set by an env_global) that can be used to control the state of the multisource.

Notes

• It is very important that the multisource has to be able to be activated by some other entity in some way, otherwise it will not work. That can be anything, from buttons to triggers, but always make sure that something triggers it.
• Note that all clients need to be 'active' at the same time in order for the multisource state to be 'on'. If you have two buttons targeting a multisource, pressing both will make the multisource active, until either one resets (pops back).
• When naming a multisource, do not call it "multisource". It will not function properly. Give it a helpful name that relates to your entity set-up.
• At the start of the game a multisource registers up to 32 entities as its clients capable of affecting its state. These include only entities that have the multisource's targetname in the target parameter and multi_managers pointing to the multisource in the trigger list. It means that other triggers like TriggerTarget (in monsters) won't correctly affect the state of the multisource. You'll need to place an intermediate trigger_relay between monster and multisource (e.g. if you want to track whether the all marked monsters have been killed).
• The list of acceptable "clients" is built once and can't be changed during the game. If you set some entity to target the multisource (via trigger_changetarget), the multisource won't recognize this entity as a suitable client. It also won't recognize if the target of some client has been changed (doing so will effectively remove the ability to change the state of the multisource).
• A multisource doesn't actually look at the state of the entities that trigger it. Instead, it stores its own 'on/off' flag for each entity (initially set to 'off'). Whenever an entity triggers the multisource (no matter the use type), it simply toggles the 'on/off' flag for that entity. Auto-resetting func_buttons have special behavior when targeting a multisource: they normally don't trigger their target when they reset, unless the target is a multisource, so the button state automatically matches the multisource's 'on/off' flag for that button.
• As a multisource doesn't recognize the input use-type, you can use a mapping trick to force it to the off or on state (and ensure that if it's already in the needed state, nothing will happen). The trick relies on the button_target behavior trait that makes it to trigger its targets only when the button_target changes its state. Put your multisource as a target for a button_target (or multiple button_targets), and use two trigger_relays (per each button_target) to send an 'on' or 'off' signal to the button_target. This allows you to enable the multisource with the trigger_relay that sends the 'on' signal, and disable it with the trigger_relay that sends the 'off' signal. In this case button_targets are used as intermediate state holders and you should make sure they're not reachable by players.
• Bug: when a func_button with its 'Toggle' flag set targets a multisource, it will fail to trigger the multisource once every 4 times (the third time out of every 4 times that the player uses the button). To work around this bug, make the button target a trigger_relay which then targets the multisource.
• To invert the relationship between a 'Toggle' button and a multisource, use an intermediary trigger_relay as above, and add a trigger_auto that triggers the trigger_relay when the level starts (be sure to set its 'Remove On fire' flag to prevent problems when loading savegames). This results in a button that can disable other entities when pressed. This is more difficult for auto-resetting buttons, because they won't trigger the intermediary trigger_relay when they reset, but one workaround for that is to make the button target a multi_manager that then triggers the trigger_relay twice (first with a delay of 0, then with a delay that matches the buttons auto-reset time).

Trigger setup table

The table below should help illustrate the state of the input as tracked by a multisource.

#	Setup	Odd-th triggering	+ wait	Even-th triggering	+ wait	Remarks
1	Buttons
1.1	button (w/wait) → ms	🟢ON	🔴OFF	🟢ON	🔴OFF	Turns off when button resets ("pops out").
1.2	button (toggle) → ms	🟢ON*	🟢ON	🔴OFF	🔴OFF	See note about bug every 3rd of 4 triggers.
1.3	button (toggle) → relay → ms	🟢ON	🟢ON	🔴OFF	🔴OFF	The above bug fixed with a trigger_relay.
1.4	button (toggle) → ~relay* → ms	🔴OFF	🔴OFF	🟢ON	🟢ON	trigger_relay triggered with trigger_auto at start of map.
1.5	button (w/wait) → mm ⇉ ~relay → ms	🔴OFF	🟢ON	🔴OFF	🟢ON	ditto + multi_manager triggering the relay twice, with interval the same as the button's reset time.
2	Direct relays
2.1	relay (ON) ⇀ ms	🟢ON	🟢ON	🔴OFF	🔴OFF	trigger_relay's trigger state is ignored.
2.2	relay (OFF) ⇀ ms	🟢ON	🟢ON	🔴OFF	🔴OFF	ditto.
2.3	relay (Toggle) ⇀ ms	🟢ON	🟢ON	🔴OFF	🔴OFF	ditto.
3	Relay + button_target
3.1	relay (ON) ⇀ button_target → ms	🟢ON	🟢ON	🟢ON	🟢ON	Explicitly set value via button_target which only fires target when it itself changes state.
3.2	relay (OFF) ⇀ button_target → ms	🔴OFF	🔴OFF	🔴OFF	🔴OFF	ditto.
3.3	relay (Toggle) ⇀ button_target → ms	🟢ON	🟢ON	🔴OFF	🔴OFF	ditto.

Related pages

• Tutorial: Multisource