Simple setup and testing

Auto-loading feature

As mentioned previously, the notecard containing the encoded movement sequence can be named as you wish. However, this implies that the controller scripts tells which notecard to load.

To make things easier, an auto-loading feature was added that relies only on the name of the notecard: if your notecard is named .movementconfig (all lower case with a leading dot), then it will be automatically loaded as soon as the MvtPlayer boots.

Testing with MVTP_GeneralController

The MVTP_GeneralController script is a controller script designed as a test script as well as a very useful controller that is able to cover all features of the MvtPlayer system. It is also full perm so that you can learn from it and maybe adapt it to fit your needs.

Note: in previous versions of the MvtPlayer (up to v2.0), this script was named SimpleControl.

Test setup

In order to test your previously recorded notecard, please follow these steps.

  1. Remove the MvtRecorder from your object inventory.

  2. Drop your notecard containing your sequence into your object inventory.

  3. Equip your object with the MvtPlayer script.

At this stage, the MvtPlayer will load the notecard (if it was named according to the rule explained above), and then just sit there waiting for a "Start" command. We need another script, called a controller, to send it. Since we are just testing for now :

  1. Equip your object with the MVTP_GeneralController script.

The MVTP_GeneralController Menu

When the MVTP_GeneralController script is installed as described above, touching the object will bring a new menu with a number of buttons, shown here.

The first thing to note about this menu is the Last Status part: it is displaying, in a human-readable form, the last message returned by the MvtPlayer.

Below is a description of the available buttons in this menu, which should be rather straightforward.

  • Select config: this will display the list of available notecards as a new menu for you to select one of them. If you then click on the name of a notecard, it will be loaded and the sequence it contains will be available after a short time. Assuming said notecard really contains such a sequence, of course.

  • Start: this button will send the command to start the sequence. If a sequence is loaded, it will start playing immediately.

  • Stop: this button will stop the sequence if one is currently playing. If the sequence was looping (because of the Looping flag active), then this command is the only "normal" way to stop it. If the "Back to origin" feature is active, then the object will go back to its starting point.

  • Pause: sending a "pause" message means that the currently playing sequence will temporarily stop and wait for a "resume" message. The object will pause where it currently is and not go back to its starting point, even if "Back to origin" is active.

  • Resume: this button will cause the object which had a paused sequence active to resume the sequence playback.

  • PluginWake: if the sequence contains "plugin wake" steps, you will be able to satisfy them by clicking on this button. A new textbox will open so that you can type the message you want to send to the MvtPlayer. The lastly requested message will be shown in the menu prompt, but you remain free to send what you want.

  • Version: by clicking this button, you will ask the MvtPlayer for its version number. When it replies (normally immediately), this number will be shown in the local chat window.

  • Web site: this button essentially gives a link to this web site.

  • Playback opt.: this button opens another menu where you can select one of the playback options. This new menu will display the currently set playback option values, and give you the opportunity to change them with a number of buttons (see below).

  • Close menu: this button just closes the menu.

Additionally, it is worth noting that (by default) the MVTP_GeneralController script will show the messages originating from the MvtPlayer in a human-readable format (like "configuration error", "configuration loaded" etc.). This is also the case for "plugin action" steps: the included message will be said in the local chat window.

Here is the description of the buttons provided by the "Playback options" menu:

  • Back: takes you back to the main menu.

  • Defaults: give all playback options their default values again

  • Help: give a short help message

  • Set scale: change the scale of the (smooth or immediate) motions (1.0=normal, 2.0=twice as big, 0.5=half size, -1=reverse, etc.)

  • Set speed: change the speed of the sequence (affects smooth motion and pauses): 1.0=normal, 2.0=twice as fast, 0.5=half speed...

  • Set volume: set the volume for sound steps. 1.0=full volume (default), 0.5=half, 0.0=mute (etc.).