What are services?

What are services?

Services are module scripts that serve a specific purpose within your experience. For example, you might have services dedicated to handling the user interface (UI), managing player points, or controlling game-specific logic.

Creating a Service

To create a service, you’ll need to place a new ModuleScript in one of the designated Knight service folders based on its purpose:

  • Server-side services: Server

  • Client-side services: Client

  • Shared services: Shared

Default Functions

  • Init(): Called during the initialization phase of the service. This is optional and typically used for setting up any necessary data or connections before the service starts.

    function Knight:Init()
        -- Initialization logic here
    end
  • Start(): Called when the service is ready to begin its main functionality. This is also optional and is typically used to start processes like event listeners, timers, etc.

    function Knight:Start()
        -- Start logic here
    end
  • Update(deltaTime): Called every frame. This function is optional and is used for tasks that need to be updated regularly, such as animations or game logic.

    function Knight:Update(deltaTime)
        -- Frame update logic here
    end

Configuration Options

  • CanStart, CanUpdate, CanInit:

    These booleans determine whether the Start(), Update(), and Init() functions will be called.

Priority Startup

Folders named "Database" will have the first priority during initialization, followed by manual "Priority" set within the module. This is useful for ensuring that core game systems, such as data management, are loaded before other services.

The default priority levels are as follows:

  • Internal Services: 4

  • Objects: 3

  • Services: 2

You can adjust the startup priority by setting Knight.Priority to a specific number in the script. Higher priority numbers indicate an earlier startup.

Additional Configuration

Optionally, if you have the instance named "Init" or "EnivornmentInit" or it has the collection tag "KNIGHT_IGNORE" it will be automatically ignored and not inited/imported into the framework.

Template

Each service in Knight follows a standard template structure:

local Knight = {
    -- Optional variables
    ServiceName = script.Name,
    ServiceData = {
        Author = "YourName",
        Description = "Description of what this service does"
    },
    
    -- Defaults to true if not specified.
    CanStart = true,
    CanUpdate = true,
    CanInit = true,
    
    -- Automatic .Priority calculation; this forces the dependencies to start before
    -- this service/controller does.
    Dependencies = {
        "shared/someAPI",
        "PlayerData"
    }
}

Knight.__index = Knight;

-- Optional
function Knight:Init()
    warn(self.ServiceName .. " Service Initialized!")
    
    -- For client services only
    print(self.Player.Name)  -- self.Player is an reference to the LocalPlayer.
    
    -- Access shared modules and functions
    self.Shared.SomeSharedModule:DoSomething()
    
    -- Access server or client-specific functionality
    self.Services.SomeOtherService:DoSomethingElse()
end

-- Optional
function Knight:Start()
    warn(self.ServiceName .. " Service Started!")
end

-- Optional
function Knight:Update(deltaTime)
    -- This is ran every frame; this works on server & client!
end

return Knight

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