Buildbox Content Nodes — Label
In this blog we’re gonna be looking at Label node, what it has, and how to use it, so pack your popcorn and let’s go.
Overview
As you can see the label can or can’t be enabled using the input attribute, it does not have an edit icon so the node itself can’t be edited but it has a self-reference (the purple circle on the top right of the node).
Name attribute is used to rename or give the Label node a personality or uniqueness for API usage, the best practice here is to have the name Unique inside each entity or have the same name to update it properly in multiple entities at the same time (for example if the label is called “Score” you know for sure that that can be changed to print or show up a specific score related info)
Position attribute is used for positioning the label relative to it’s asset (entity). Note that the Z axis can be used to move closer or farther to the camera in 2D worlds and depending on the 3D setup it can be used to get the same results.
X — if is + it will go to the right side if is — it will go to the left side of the asset
Y — if is + it will go up and if is — it will go down relativ to the asset
Z — if is + it will get closer to the camera view and if is — it will go back / farther to the camera view
Rotation attribute is used to rotate the label in relation to its asset or entity, there are no API functions that we can use to animate it around via code but you can use state machines and multiple label nodes to achieve some type of text pop-ups in some type of games.
X —will rotate the object in x plane
Y — will rotate the obejct in y plane
Z — will rotate the object in z plane and for 2D world this is how you rotate the text around
Note: in 2D if you use the same values for X and Y at the same time you will get an “italic” effect on the text so if the text looks like this “testing” if both X and Y are 30 for example the text will be viewed like this “testing”
Scale attribute is used to scale up or down the Label node useful when you have multiple objects containing the same family font but you need them in different sizes. This can also be used to create a “bolded” effect if you increase the X value by 0.1 or 0.2.
Color attribute is used to overlay colors of the basic font family that’s available in the “font editor” In other words if you created a font that’s white at the base you can change its color on certain assets (entities) and have it white on others.
Horizontal / Vertical Alignment are 2 attributes that you can use to set the nodes alignment relative to its asset. The options available are Left Center or Right.
Horizontal Alignment options:
Left — when this is used for alignment it will always start from the central point of the asset to the right side.
Right — when this is used for alignment it will always end on the left side from the central point of the asset.
Central — if this is used for alignment it will always be centered on the central point of the asset, in our case the 3 will be on central (or close to central)
Vertical Alignment options:
Top — if this is used for alignment the start line of the text will always be aligned just below the central point of the asset
Bottom — if this is used for alignment the end line of the text will always be aligned just above the central point of the asset
Central — if this is used for alignment the middle of the text/label/textbox will be always aligned on the central point of the asset.
Text attribute is used to set the text of a label in other words what you wish to see as text inside the label.
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Font attribute is used to select from a list of labels created in Font Editor that’s available in Tools->Font Editor.
3D mode attribute is used to show Billboard Attribute that’s useful for 3D worlds, not that important on 2D. Basically, it’s a feature flag that can be used to change the text appearance when building 3D games.
Depth Order attribute is used on 3D worlds or at least it’s working only on 3D and not in 2D and can be used as follows:
If the value is grater than 0 that label will be on top of a animation that has depth set to 0
If the value is less than 0 that label will be behind of a animation that has depth set to 0
Billboard Mode attribute, available only when 3D attribute is enabled and it’s used to determine how the text will change its angle to face the camera
None — the label will not change its view or angle in the game so it will remain mostly the same the exception being that the label is not having the Depth Order to control if it’s on top or behind other objects
Point — the label will change its rotation in the game to always point towards the camera so if you move around in 3D space the text will always face you a a character
Here’s a practical example video that this option can be used
Plane — keeps the label aligned with the camera view at all times it’s very similar to Point option but I rarly used it so I can’t give you an example for now… but Will update this when I got something.
2 Sided attribute, available only when the 3D attribute is enabled & Billboard Mode is set to “None” is used when you wish your text to be rendered even if you see it from behind.
