Cutscene

The only instruction that talks not to the map but to the player's screen

mediumYou need: What a world processor is, A message to the player

cutscene pan 100 100 0.06 0
cutscene zoom 0.5 0 0 0
cutscene stop 0 0 0 0

Action	What it does	What is in the fields
pan	moves the camera to a point	coordinates in tiles and a speed
zoom	zoom level	a level from 0 to 1
stop	gives the camera back to the player	—
shake	shakes the screen	strength and duration in seconds
active	whether a cutscene is running	where to put the answer
getHud, setHud	whether the interface is visible, and showing it	an answer or a value

The camera has to be given back

While a cutscene is running the player does not control the camera: it goes where the script takes it. That is good in the campaign — showing what is happening on the far side of the map — and unbearable if the script forgets to let go.

Silent failure

stop is compulsory. One mistake in a script and the player is left without a camera until the end of the game; they cannot get out of it themselves. So a cutscene is limited by time with a timer or a flag, and stop is written first of all.

Speed and zoom

pan’s speed is the fraction of the distance covered per tick: 0.06 gives a smooth approach, one gives an instant jump. Zoom is a fraction of full: the smaller the number, the further you see.

Note

The instruction works per player. On a server a cutscene happens on the screen of whoever’s client received it; on a dedicated server with no players it does nothing at all.

Note

The course sandbox has no camera, so there is no example for this lesson. In the game the instruction works as usual.

Remember

• cutscene drives the player’s camera: pan, zoom, shake, stop.
• While a cutscene runs, the player does not control the camera.
• stop gives control back — without it the player is left without a camera.
• getHud and setHud hide and show the interface.