Sequence API

Sometimes there's a need to sequence a number of actions, one after the other, for example in campaign scripts to unfold part of the plot.

In WZScript, there seems to be a pause() command, although I can't find it documented anywhere. Here's an excerpt from Goth's cam4 script:

showConsoleText(_("Sgt.Gibbs: Next objective is to the north. Then we'll cut eastward and rendevous with Team Two."), player);
pause(50);
showConsoleText(_("Sgt.Wilkes: -- Wilkes to Gibbs. You folks have got a horde of angry Scavengers headed your way from the north. --"), player);
pause(50);
showConsoleText(_("Sgt.Gibbs: Thanks for the heads up, Sergeant. We'll be ready!"), player);

If you did something like that in Javascript, the game would hang. So we're going to need to use queue(), but even then the code would be a mess because we'd need vast numbers of functions.

However, we can probably create a little API that will help us achieve our goals in a fairly clean manner. Using it would look something like this...

include("path/to/APIs/Sequence.js");
 
// define a sequence, probably store in in an external .js file and include() it
Sequence.define("introSequence", processor, [
	"Sgt.Gibbs: Next objective is to the north. Then we'll cut eastward and rendevous with Team Two.", 50,
	"Sgt.Wilkes: -- Wilkes to Gibbs. You folks have got a horde of angry Scavengers headed your way from the north. --", 50,
	"Sgt.Gibbs: Thanks for the heads up, Sergeant. We'll be ready!"
]);
 
// start a sequence, eg. during an event
function eventGameInit() {
	// various init
	Sequence(introSequence);
	// various other stuff
}

The sequence above is simplified version of what Goth is doing in cam4 – the sequencer also needs to be able to handle function calls, because code is often running in between console messages (eg. to spawn droids, etc).

Sequence.define()

Defines a new sequence. Any number of sequences can be created, both during script initialisation or at any other time.

Sequence.define( name, processor, steps );

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Mandatory	Notes	API Version
name	String		A unique name for the sequence, for example "Intro Sequence"
processor	Function		A function that will process steps in the sequence. See "Processor Function" for more info.
steps	Array of Steps		An array containing the steps in the sequence. Also the name of a British pop band from the '90s.

Anyway, that's the sort of thing Sequence API should handle. Currently working on a prototype...