<cat>Code.Misc</cat> <title>Custom Asset Types</title> Custom assets are things you can define yourself. They give you a nice inspector window and they're hotloaded in-game, which means you can whip things up pretty quickly if you're using them. ⤶ # Creating a custom asset type⤶ ⤶ Let's say you wanted your own custom weapon asset type. Here's how you'd do that.⤶ ⤶ ## Creating the FGD⤶ ⤶ Make a folder in your addon's root directory, call it `config`. Make a file in there called `weapon.asset`.⤶ The file name you choose here will be the name for the base class and the extension for any files of this type.⤶ ⤶ Writing the FGD here is similar to [how you'd write an FGD normally](https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/FGD).⤶ ⤶ You can find plenty of examples of assets throughout s&box, here's a snippet from the clothing asset:⤶ ``` @BaseClass = weapon : "A weapon"⤶ [⤶ Name(string) : "Name" : "Weapon Name"⤶ Description(string) : "Description" : "This is my weapon."⤶ Damage(float) : "Damage" : "5"⤶ ]⤶ ```⤶ ⤶ When writing these, give your fields some sane default values to make it easier on yourself.⤶ ⤶ You can obviously do a lot more than this - you could define all of the possible parameters here - but we'll keep things simple for now.⤶ ⤶ ## Mirroring it in code⤶ ⤶ You then need to mirror this class in code. Make sure you specify the same defaults that you specify in the FGD.⤶ ⤶ ```⤶ [Library( "weapon" )]⤶ public class WeaponData : Asset⤶ [Library( "clothing" ), AutoGenerate]⤶ public partial class Clothing : Asset⤶ { // Data from weapon.asset⤶ public string Name { get; set; } = "Weapon Name"; public string Description { get; set; } = "This is my weapon.";⤶ public float Damage { get; set; } = 5.0f; [Property]⤶ public string Title { get; set; } ⤶ [Property, ResourceType( "vmdl" )]⤶ public string Model { get; set; } ⤶ // ...⤶ } ``` ⤶ <warning>⤶ If you don't specify defaults in code, then they won't be assigned to at all - regardless of whether these are set up in the FGD.⤶ </warning>⤶ ⤶ ## Using the inspector⤶ ⤶ ⤶ * `[Library( "clothing" )]` specifies the file extension our assets use will be .clothing⤶ * Because we specified `[AutoGenerate]` on our asset class a .asset file will automatically generate for us.⤶ * Properties that should be editable via the inspector in your asset should be marked with `[Property]`⤶ ⤶ ⤶ ## Using the inspector⤶ Now that you have everything set up, you can use the inspector tool to edit your first weapon. 1. Click the "Inspector" icon in the asset browser. <upload src="44a6e/8d941a81d2276f1.png" size="36799" name="image.png" /> 2. Pick your asset type. <upload src="44a6e/8d941a921ee5812.png" size="15315" name="image.png" /> 3. Set up your weapon however you want. <upload src="44a6e/8d941a8a3d0efee.png" size="9916" name="image.png" /> 4. Save your asset into your addon's config directory - call it "MyWeapon.weapon" ## Loading the asset type⤶ ⤶ Loading an asset type is super easy.⤶ ## Accessing assets⤶ ⤶ All assets are loaded when you first start the game, there are several ways you can access them:⤶ ⤶ ### FromPath⤶ ⤶ When assets are loaded they are stored in a dictionary with their path, you can access these with `Resource.FromPath<T>`.⤶ ``` // Property allows for hot-loading public WeaponData WeaponData { get; set; } public Clothing Clothing { get; set; } // ... // Load the weapon data from a path WeaponData = Resource.FromPath<WeaponData>( "config/MyWeapon.weapon" ); Clothing = Resource.FromPath<Clothing>( "config/tshirt.clothing" ); ``` ⤶ Congrats, you can now get your weapon's data using the WeaponData object you just created.⤶ For example:⤶ ⤶ ```⤶ Log.Info( WeaponData.Name );⤶ Log.Info( WeaponData.Description ); Log.Info( WeaponData.Damage );⤶ ⤶ // Output: // Cool Weapon⤶ // This is my cool gun⤶ // 69⤶ ⤶ ### PostLoad⤶ ⤶ When assets are loaded they call their PostLoad method, you can use this to store a list of your assets for later use.⤶ ⤶ ```csharp⤶ public partial class Clothing : Asset⤶ { // Access these statically with Clothing.All⤶ public static IReadOnlyList<Clothing> All => _all; internal static List<Clothing> _all = new();⤶ ⤶ protected override void PostLoad()⤶ {⤶ base.PostLoad();⤶ ⤶ if ( !_all.Contains( this ) )⤶ _all.Add( this );⤶ }⤶ }⤶ ``` ⤶ You can edit these values in the inspector and they'll apply in-game as soon as you hit save with no extra work required.