Classes Guide
All you need to know about Classes
All entities in HELIX are represented by a Class. In Lua, classes are represented by tables. That means that every interaction with entities (Players, Characters, Props, etc) are made with Classes/tables methods following an OOP (Object-oriented programming pattern). In this page we will explain more about that.
In HELIX we have 3 types of Classes (or structures): Classes, Static Classes and Utility Classes.
Classes
If you read our Quick Start guide, you noticed we were spawning entities in the following format:
-- Spawning an entity with a Constructor
local my_entity = Entity()
-- Interacting with the entity with it's methods
my_entity:MyFunction()
Access to Entities / Spawned Objects Methods are made with :.
This is how OOP works! You create objects and call functions/catch events on that object. Unlike other scripting games which have tons of global functions and events to interact with entities, HELIX scripting is a modern approach to modern programming.
Base Classes
Under the hood, HELIX Classes follow an Inheritance Pattern, which means we have base parent classes, and it's children which "inherits" all functions, events and properties from them. You will notice that all Classes that can be spawned in the world are Actors, for example in Character and Prop it is possible to call the function: :SetLocation(Vector).
The Base Class Actor is a very important class in HELIX. It contains the most of methods which are shared through all Classes we have, and also Static Methods to get and retrieve entities directly.
Spawning Entities
Spawning entities in HELIX is extremely easy and straightforward, let's say we want to spawn a Character:
local my_character = Character()
Each Class will contain it's own Constructor, Properties, Methods and Events.
Check all Classes that HELIX provides in the sidebar Scripting Reference -> Classes item.
Keep in mind that some Classes can only be spawned in the Server, others can only be spawned in the Client.
Destroying Entities
All classes (but Player) allow you to destroy them with the method Destroy():
my_character:Destroy()
Destroying an Entity will trigger the event Destroy and also will automatically detach all attached entities it had attached*.
*If you attached entities with auto_destroy_when_detached parameter, all attached entities will be destroyed as well 😉.
Static Classes
Static Classes in HELIX are Classes which you cannot Spawn. Instead you can use it's methods directly with ..
For example, if you want to interact with World (move the sun, set it raining, etc), you will need the World Static Class:
-- Makes it 9:25 AM
World.SetTime(9, 25)
Access to Static Classes / Static Methods are made with ..
Utility Classes
Besides Classes and Static Classes, we have the Utility Classes! Those are mostly structs used in HELIX API such as Vector, Rotator, Color, JSON and some others.