Datablock fix for bidirectional/server ghosting TGE 1.3

In stock TGE, datablocks are created on the client as the same object Id as the sender. In my game I already have datablocks stored that I do not want overwritten, so I modified it to search for datablocks by name instead of Id. If a datablock of the same name is found, it is overwritten and the old Id is retained, otherwise it will find an unassigned Id to create the object. This resource has been tested and works with TGE 1.3 but newer versions of TGE have not been tested.

in gamebase.h

right under:

private:
   GameBaseData*     mDataBlock;
   StringTableEntry  mNameTag;

added this:

StringTableEntry  mDataBlockName;

right under:

/// Returns the datablock for this object.
   GameBaseData* getDataBlock()  { return mDataBlock; }

added this:

StringTableEntry getDataBlockName()   { return mDataBlockName; }

I wanted gamebase items with datablocks to search for it's datablock by name.

here's my GameBase::packUpdate in Gamebase.cc:

U32 GameBase::packUpdate(NetConnection *, U32 mask, BitStream *stream)
{
   // Check the mask for the ScaleMask; if it's true, pass that in.
   if (stream->writeFlag( mask & ScaleMask ) ) {
       mathWrite( *stream, Parent::getScale() );
   }
   if (stream->writeFlag((mask & DataBlockMask) && mDataBlock != NULL)) {
//    stream->writeRangedU32(mDataBlock->getId(),
//                             DataBlockObjectIdFirst,
//                            DataBlockObjectIdLast);
      stream->writeString(mDataBlock->getName());
   } 
   return 0;
}

here's my GameBase::unpackUpdate in gameBase.cc:

void GameBase::unpackUpdate(NetConnection *con, BitStream *stream)
{
const char * string;
   if (stream->readFlag()) {
      VectorF scale;
      mathRead( *stream, &scale );
      setScale( scale );
   }
   if (stream->readFlag()) {
      GameBaseData* dptr = 0;
//     SimObjectId id = stream->readRangedU32(DataBlockObjectIdFirst,
//                                            DataBlockObjectIdLast);
      mDataBlockName = stream->readSTString();
        
//      if (!Sim::findObject(id,dptr) || !setDataBlock(dptr))
//        con->setLastError("Invalid packet GameBase::unpackUpdate()");
      if (!Sim::findObject(mDataBlockName,dptr) || !setDataBlock(dptr))
        con->setLastError("Invalid packet GameBase::unpackUpdate()");
        
   }
}

Set the datablock event to search by names as well.

in GameConnectionEvents.h:

right under:

U32 mMissionSequence;

added this:

const char * mId;

here's my SimDataBlockEvent::SimDataBlockEvent

SimDataBlockEvent::SimDataBlockEvent(SimDataBlock* obj, U32 index, U32 total, U32 missionSequence)
{
   mObj = NULL;
   mIndex = index;
   mTotal = total;
   mMissionSequence = missionSequence;
   mProcess = false;
   mId = NULL;
   if(obj)
   {
      // use getname() instead of getID() (stock tge looked up by Id)
      mId = obj->getName();  
      id = obj->getId();   
//      AssertFatal(id >= DataBlockObjectIdFirst && id <= DataBlockObjectIdLast,
//                  "Out of range event data block id... check simBase.h");
//      Con::printf("queuing data block: %d", mIndex);
   }
}

in SimDataBlockEvent::pack right after:

AssertFatal(obj,
                  "SimDataBlockEvent:: Data blocks cannot be deleted");

added this:

bstream->writeString( mId );

in SimDataBlockEvent::unpack right after:

mProcess = true;

added this:

mId = bstream->readSTString();

here's my SimDataBlockEvent::process in gameConnectionEvents.cc:

void SimDataBlockEvent::process(NetConnection *cptr)
{
   if(mProcess)
   {
 
      SimDataBlock* obj;
      char *errorBuffer = NetConnection::getErrorBuffer();

     //call the console function to set the number of blocks to be sent
        Con::executef(3, "onDataBlockObjectReceived", Con::getIntArg(mIndex), Con::getIntArg(mTotal));
 
      if (Sim::findObject(mId,obj))
      {
//         U8 buf[1500];
//         BitStream stream(buf, 1500);
//         mObj->packData(&stream);
//         stream.setPosition(0);
//        obj->unpackData(&stream);
//         obj->preload(false, errorBuffer); 
    // found a datablock of the same name, let's overwrite it
    id = obj->getId();
      } else {
      // no pre-existing datablock found, find an unused ID
      id=1000;  // change to whatever you want, i just prefer local datablock ids to be under 1000
      while(Sim::findObject(id,obj))
      id++;
   }
         bool reg = mObj->registerObject(id);
         cptr->addObject(mObj);
         mObj->assignName(mId);
         GameConnection *conn = dynamic_cast<GameConnection *>(cptr);
         if(conn)
         {
            conn->preloadDataBlock(mObj);
            mObj = NULL;
         }
   }
}