Implementing Blaster Behavior

Implementing blaster behavior is the process of programming a blast mechanic in first-person shooter experiences. While players can blast with a single click or press of a button, creating a satisfying and accurate blast behavior is important because it enhances players' enjoyment of the overall gameplay.

Using the sample laser tag experience as a reference, this section of the tutorial teaches you about the scripts behind implementing blaster behavior for two different types of blasters, including guidance on:

• Detecting when players press the blast button.
• Checking whether the player can use their blaster if they recently pressed the blast button.
• Generating blast data that tells the server who initiated the blast, where it came from, and what was each laser beam's final destination.
• Notifying the server of the blast data so it can perform the appropriate actions if the blast collided with another player.
• Resetting the blaster between each blast to give the blaster enough time to cool down before it can blast again.

After you complete this section, you will learn about the scripts that allow the blaster to detect when its blasts collide with other players, then deduct the corresponding amount of health according to each blaster type.

Detect Player Input

The first step to implementing blaster behavior is to listen for when a player presses the blast button. The input type that players use to press the blast button depends on which device they're using to access the experience. For example, the sample laser tag experience supports mouse and keyboard controls, gamepads, and touch controls. You can see each of these input types in ReplicatedStorage > UserInputHandler.

This client script uses ContextActionService to bind MouseButton1 and ButtonR2 to the blasting action. This means that every time a player either presses a left mouse button or a gamepad's R2 button, it triggers a laser beam to blast out of the blaster. Note that the HUDGui contains a button for blasting on mobile devices, which it connects to later in the script.

UserInputHandler
ContextActionService:BindAction("_", onBlasterActivated, false,
  Enum.UserInputType.MouseButton1,
  Enum.KeyCode.ButtonR2
)

Another important note is the use of Enum.UserInputState.Begin in the onBlasterActivated() definition. Many user interface interactions, such as choosing a blaster in this example, don't occur until after the mouse button comes up (Enum.UserInputState.End), which gives users a last-second chance to avoid the interaction. However, a blasting mechanic doesn't feel responsive unless it occurs the instant the button goes down.

To demonstrate, you can change Enum.UserInputState.Begin to Enum.UserInputState.End, then playtest to see how the responsiveness of the blast impacts the gameplay of the experience. For example, if players can hold down the button without triggering the blast, how might that change the their experience while tagging other players?

UserInputHandler
local function onBlasterActivated(_actionName: string,
  inputState: Enum.UserInputState, _inputObject: InputObject)
    if inputState == Enum.UserInputState.End then  -- updated line, be sure to change back
        attemptBlastClient()
    end
end

Check Whether the Player Can Blast

After UserInputHandler detects a button press or screen tap, it calls ReplicatedStorage > Blaster > attemptBlastClient to check whether the player can blast or not. Like most checks in the sample laser tag experience, it occurs twice: first on the client, then later on the server. attemptBlastClient then calls ReplicatedStorage > Blaster > canLocalPlayerBlast to perform a simple check of the blasterStateClient player attribute:

canLocalPlayerBlast
local function canLocalPlayerBlast(): boolean
    return localPlayer:GetAttribute(PlayerAttribute.blasterStateClient) == BlasterState.Ready
end

If you examine ReplicatedStorage > Blaster > BlasterState, you can see that the experience has three blaster states: Ready, Blasting, and Disabled. To see the effect of each of these states, you can playtest the experience, select your player under the Players service, then observe the blasterStateClient attribute in the Properties window. Notice how it displays Disabled while you choose your blaster, Ready most of the time, and Blasting for less than a second after you press the button.

This slight pause prevents you from being able to blast as quickly as you can click. For example, if you change the function to always return true, you can rapidly blast your blaster without any delay, which is unrealistic for laser tag gameplay.

canLocalPlayerBlast
local function canLocalPlayerBlast(): boolean
    return true -- updated line, be sure to change back
end

Generate Blast Data

After verifying that the player's blaster is in the Ready state, attemptBlastClient calls ReplicatedStorage > attemptBlastClient > blastClient. The first step that blastClient takes is to set the blasterStateClient player attribute to Blasting, which avoids the same rapid fire case from earlier.

The next step is to generate the blast data. If you review ReplicatedStorage > Blaster > BlastData, you can see that each blast consists of three pieces of information:

• The player who initiates the blast.
• A DataType.CFrame that represents the blast's point of origin.
• A RayResult table that contains each laser beam's final destination and the hit player, if hit another player.

To generate this data, blastClient calls ReplicatedStorage > attemptBlastClient > blastClient > generateBlastData, which you can review below.

generateBlastData
local function generateBlastData(): BlastData.Type
    local blasterConfig = getBlasterConfig()

    local rayDirections = getDirectionsForBlast(
        currentCamera.CFrame, blasterConfig)
    local rayResults = castLaserRay(
        localPlayer, currentCamera.CFrame.Position, rayDirections)

    local blastData: BlastData.Type = {
        player = localPlayer,
        originCFrame = currentCamera.CFrame,
        rayResults = rayResults,
    }
    return blastData
end

This function starts by using getBlasterConfig to retrieve the player's blaster type. The sample provides two types of blasters: one that produces several beams with a wide, horizontal spread, and another that produces a single beam. You can find their configurations in ReplicatedStorage > Instances > LaserBlastersFolder.

The function then uses currentCamera.CFrame as the point of origin for the blast, passing it to getDirectionsForBlast. At this point, the code is no longer about the blaster, it's about the laser beam, which you will learn more about in the Detecting Hits section of the tutorial. Finally, after creating the rayResults table, generateBlastData has all the information it needs to return the blast data to blastClient.

Notify the Server

Once blastClient has complete data for the blast, it fires two events:

blastClient
local laserBlastedBindableEvent = ReplicatedStorage.Instances.LaserBlastedBindableEvent
local laserBlastedEvent = ReplicatedStorage.Instances.LaserBlastedEvent

laserBlastedBindableEvent:Fire(blastData)
laserBlastedEvent:FireServer(blastData)

The BindableEvent notifies other client scripts of the blast. For example, ReplicatedStorage > FirstPersonBlasterVisuals uses this event to know when to display visual effects, such as the blast animation and cooldown bar. Similarly, the RemoteEvent notifies server scripts of the blast, which begins processing the blast in ServerScriptService > LaserBlastHandler.

LaserBlastHandler
local function onLaserBlastedEvent(playerBlasted: Player, blastData: BlastData.Type)
    local validatedBlastData = getValidatedBlastData(playerBlasted, blastData)
    if not validatedBlastData then
        return
    end

    if not canPlayerBlast(playerBlasted) then
        return
    end

    blastServer(playerBlasted)

    processTaggedPlayers(playerBlasted, blastData)

    for _, replicateToPlayer in Players:GetPlayers() do
        if playerBlasted == replicateToPlayer then
            continue
        end
        replicateBlastEvent:FireClient(replicateToPlayer, playerBlasted, blastData)
    end
end

To help prevent cheating, the server must verify all data that each client sends. These checks include:

1. Is BlastData a table? Does it contain a Class.CFrame and another table named rayResults?
2. Does the player have a blaster equipped?
3. Does the player have a character and a location within the world?
4. After sending the blast data, has the player moved an excessive distance away from where they blasted the laser beam?

This last check involves a judgment call, and according to server latency and player movement speed, you might decide that different values are excessive for your own experience. To demonstrate how to make this judgment call, you can get a sense of the typical magnitude of positional change by adding a print statement in getValidatedBlastData and playtesting the experience.

getValidatedBlastData
local distanceFromCharacterToOrigin = blastData.originCFrame.Position - rootPartCFrame.Position
print(distanceFromCharacterToOrigin.Magnitude) -- updated line, be sure to remove
if distanceFromCharacterToOrigin.Magnitude > ToleranceValues.DISTANCE_SANITY_CHECK_TOLERANCE_STUDS then
    warn(`Player {player.Name} failed an origin sanity check while blasting`)
    return
end

As you move and blast, note the output. It might look something like this:

1.9019629955291748
3.1549558639526367
2.5742883682250977
4.8044586181640625
2.6434271335601807

If you increase the movement speed for players in ReplicatedStorage > PlayerStateHandler > togglePlayerMovement, then playtest again, you will likely encounter many failed checks due to excessive movement between blasts.

togglePlayerMovement
local ENABLED_WALK_SPEED = 60 -- updated line, be sure to change back

The server then does the following:

• Validates rayResults.
• Checks whether the player can blast.
• Resets the blaster state.
• Reduces health for any tagged players.
• Replicates the blast to all other players so that they can see third-person visuals.

For more information on these server operations, see the Detecting Hits section of the tutorial.

Reset the Blaster

In the sample laser tag experience, blasters use a heat mechanic. Rather than reloading after a set number of blasts, they need time to "cool down" between each blast. This same cooldown delay occurs on both the client (blastClient) and the server (blastServer), with the server acting as the source of truth.

blastServer
local blasterConfig = getBlasterConfig(player)
local secondsBetweenBlasts = blasterConfig:GetAttribute("secondsBetweenBlasts")

task.delay(secondsBetweenBlasts, function()
    local currentState = player:GetAttribute(PlayerAttribute.blasterStateServer)
    if currentState == BlasterState.Blasting then
        player:SetAttribute(PlayerAttribute.blasterStateServer, BlasterState.Ready)
    end
end)

The secondsBetweenBlasts attribute is part of the blaster configuration in ReplicatedStorage > Instances > LaserBlastersFolder. After the secondsBetweenBlasts delay passes, the player can blast again, and the entire process repeats. To help the player understand when they can blast again, the experience includes a cooldown bar.

At this point, players can spawn and respawn, aim and blast, but the experience still has to determine the results of each blast. In the next section of the tutorial, you will learn how to program the ability for the blaster to detect when the blast hits another player, then reduce the appropriate amount of player health according to blaster settings.