llamamod/docs/manual/09-objects.md

Objects

Objects are everything in a level that does something: the llama itself, coins and fruit, checkpoints, exits, enemies, villagers, moving platforms, cameras, cut-scene triggers and many invisible helpers. This chapter shows how to find, place, move, turn and configure them, how to reuse them in other levels and how the editor checks them.

What objects are

In the game's files an object is called a strat (short for strategy). Every object has

• a type (Coin, CheckPointPost, LevelDoor, CityGuard …) – the name of its script,
• a position and a rotation (only the turn about the vertical axis is used by most types),
• a short list of parameters – numbers the script reads when the level starts (for example "snap to floor" for a coin or the target chapter of an exit),
• optionally a waypoint chain – a list of points the object uses as a path, a camera position, a respawn point or the corners of an area (see Waypoints and paths).

The script code and the 3D model of each type are stored inside the level file. The editor never changes them: it copies them from the base level and only edits position, rotation, parameters and waypoints.

Which objects you can place

Every level is built on a base level (see Introduction). The object types of that base level can be placed right away, because their code and model are copied from it; types of other levels must be imported first (below). The village (Village – Chapter 1, the default base of new levels) has coins, fruit, checkpoints, exits, villagers, cameras and more; other bases offer other enemies and gadgets – the river has river logs, the city has guards, and so on.

Note: If a type is missing in your base level, the Objects panel simply does not list it. A setup that needs a missing type (for example an exit on a base without LevelDoor) tells you so in an error message, such as "this base level has no LevelDoor to copy".

To use object types from other worlds, import them from Assets → All worlds – see Importing objects from other worlds.

The Objects panel

The Objects panel sits in the left dock next to the Outliner – the tab with the ⊙ icon (open it with Tools → Object palette if you closed it). It has three parts: a search row, the Quick setups buttons and the list of all placeable types.

Element	What it does
Search objects…	Filters the list by type name and by the description of decoded types
Category box	All categories, Player & start, Exits, Checkpoints, Collectibles, Cameras, Triggers & dialogue, Forces & currents, Other objects
★ button	Shows only your favourites
Quick setups	One-click helpers, see One-click setups
Type list	Every placeable type with a rendered thumbnail, its category, the number of variants and the marker parameters decoded

Object list

• Click an entry to make it the current type and switch to the Place objects tool (P). Then click in the viewport to place it.
• Drag an entry into the viewport to place one object exactly under the mouse pointer.
• Right-click an entry for its menu (this does not pick the type or switch tools): Add to favourites ★ / Remove from favourites (favourites are marked with ★, listed first and remembered between sessions) and, for your own custom types, Edit type… and Delete type…. The same menu (with Place at view centre) opens on the types in Assets → Objects.
• Hover an entry for a tooltip with the description of the type.
• parameters decoded means the editor knows the meaning of the type's parameters and shows named fields in the Inspector (see Object parameters).
• n variants means the base level contains the type with different settings (different code entry points). The palette places the first variant; to get another one, duplicate an existing object of that variant.

Thumbnails are rendered in the background the first time the panel is shown; until then a category icon is displayed.

Objects in the Assets panel

The bottom Assets panel also has an Objects tab with the same types as large tiles, filtered by category. Drag a type from there into the viewport to place it under the mouse pointer. The Prefabs tab next to it holds your saved groups of objects (see Prefabs).

Place tool (P)

The Place objects tool (key P) puts objects onto surfaces and moves them along the ground. It is chosen automatically when you click a type in the Objects panel or a quick setup.

Placing an object

1. Click a type in the Objects panel (the options bar shows Placing: Coin or similar).
2. Move the mouse over the level. The tool finds the surface under the pointer.
3. Click to place. The new object is selected, and the status bar shows its position.

With Snap to floor on, the object is put onto the collision floor under the pointer, not just onto the visible surface – so it ends up where the llama can actually reach it. Like the game, the editor only counts the tiles listed in the grid cell under the point: a floor polygon that reaches into the cell from a neighbouring tile is ignored there (it is used only when the cell has no floor at all). With grid snapping on (G), the position snaps to the move step first.

Moving and turning objects

• Click and drag an object to move it along the ground. Its height follows the floor when Snap to floor is on. Hold Ctrl while dragging to invert grid snapping.
• With Move waypoints along on, the object's waypoint chain moves with it (a guard keeps its patrol path, a camera zone keeps its box).
• The selected object shows a yellow knob in front of it. Drag the knob to turn the object; the angle snaps to the angle step (Ctrl inverts). A checkpoint's respawn node turns around the post with it.
• Each drag is a single undo step.

You can of course also use the general Move (W) and Rotate (E) tools and the Inspector – see Selection and transforming.

Place tool options

Option	Meaning
Yaw: Camera direction	New objects face the way the camera looks (default)
Yaw: Facing the camera	New objects face you – handy for characters and signs
Yaw: 0° (+z)	New objects face the +z direction (south on the grid)
Yaw: Keep type default	New objects get the rotation stored for the type in the base level
Snap to floor	Put new and dragged objects onto the collision floor under the cursor
Move waypoints along	Dragging an object also moves its waypoint chain
Exit target	Only in Exit mode: world and chapter the new exit leads to

The yaw of new objects also snaps to the angle step while grid snapping is on.

One-click setups

Some objects only work together with other things: a checkpoint needs a respawn point, an exit needs a special floor, a secret needs an area. The Quick setups buttons of the Objects panel create the complete set with one click in the viewport.

Button	Creates
Player start	Moves the player start (or places a Llama with its camera node)
Checkpoint	Checkpoint post with its respawn node in front
Exit	LevelDoor on a 1×1 exit floor (material 16)
Secret	Secret object with a 3×3 box
Coin line	Starts the Coin tool in line mode, see Coin tool (O)
Coin arc	Starts the Coin tool in arc mode

Player start

The player start is the Llama object. A level has exactly one, so the setup moves the existing Llama to the clicked point (and turns it to the chosen yaw) instead of adding a second one. If the level has no Llama yet, one is placed with a single waypoint 2 cells behind it.

The Llama's waypoints are start camera positions: the game uses the first one within 2.5 cells of the llama. Moving the start takes the nearby nodes and the village fly-by trigger along. See The start camera.

Tip: Level → Play from camera position (Shift+F5) starts a play-test at another point without moving the real start – see Building and play-testing.

Checkpoint

Places a CheckPointPost (or CheckPointBox if the base has no post) and a respawn node 0.4 cells in front of it, on the floor. When the llama touches the post, the game stores the node as the respawn point; after losing a life the llama reappears there, facing the node's direction. Turn the post with its knob and the node turns along.

Exit

Places a LevelDoor in the centre of the clicked grid cell and a 1×1 Floor brush with collision material 16 (exit floor) under it. The door fires only when the llama stands on material-16 floor in the door's own grid cell, which is why both are needed.

Choose where the exit leads in the options bar (Exit target) before you click, or later in the Inspector:

• a world (1 · Village … 8 · Lab, 9 · TestLevel) and a chapter of that world,
• World finished → world map (7,7,7) – the end of a world: the game shows the tally and returns to the world map.

Engine limit: Do not use World finished in a level that runs as a TestLevel chapter (world 9): it would unlock a world 10 that does not exist and the map crashes. Pick a chapter instead – the Problems panel warns you.

Secret area

Places a Secret object with a waypoint box of 3×3 cells around the clicked point and switches its Box area parameter on. When the llama enters the box, the game shows the secret message and counts the secret. Resize the box with the Zones and triggers tool (J).

Coin tool (O)

The Coin line / arc tool (key O, or the Coin line / Coin arc quick setups) places many coins at once. A live preview shows the coins while you move the mouse; Esc cancels after the first click.

• Line: click the start point, then the end point. Coins are placed every Spacing cells from the start towards the end.
• Arc / circle: click the centre, then a point on the circle (this sets the radius and the start angle). Count coins are spread over Arc° degrees; with 360° they form a closed ring.

Option	Default	Meaning
Line / Arc / circle	Line	Shape
Coin / Coin5	Coin	Coin type (Coin5 is worth five)
Spacing	0.75	Distance between coins of a line (0.25–5 cells)
Count	12	Number of coins on an arc (1–128)
Arc°	360	Angle covered by an arc (10–360°)
Height	0.3	Height of the coins above the floor (0–3 cells)
Follow floor	on	Every coin is put onto the floor below it, then raised by Height

Grid snapping applies to both clicks (Ctrl inverts it). All coins of one line or arc are one undo step.

Object parameters

Select an object and the Inspector shows the section Object parameters above the general properties. It is shown when one object or several objects of the same type are selected; changes then apply to all of them.

Parameter fields

At the top a short description explains the type. For decoded types it ends with (decoded, confidence high/medium/low):

• high – the script was read and the behaviour was seen in the game,
• medium – the script was read,
• low – only the values of the original levels were compared.

Each parameter is a row with a name, an editor and the raw value in small grey hexadecimal digits on the right:

Parameter kind	Editor
On/off	Check box (stored as 0 or 1.0)
Number, distance	Number field in cells
Radius	Number field in cells; the script squares it before comparing. Drag it in the viewport with the Zones and triggers tool
Seconds	Number field in seconds (the game counts 30 frames per second)
Count, world, chapter	Whole number
Choice	Drop-down with the known modes; an unknown value shows as other: …
Event bit	Number 1–32 (0 = none): a progress flag shared with other objects
Raw	Plain number for values whose meaning is unknown

Hover a row for a tooltip with the parameter number (p0, p1 …), its description, the valid range, the values used in the original levels and the raw value. Values outside the known range get an orange warning line below the row.

Types that are not decoded show Parameters of this type are not decoded yet – raw values, with one row per parameter (Parameter 0, Parameter 1 …). The tooltips still list the values the original levels use, which is a good hint what makes sense.

If an object has a different number of parameters than its type reads, a warning line appears with the button Reset to defaults. It sets the parameters back to those of the type in the base level.

Exit target

For a LevelDoor (and the village's VillageEndDoor) the section starts with Target level: a world box and a chapter box, and the line Leads to: … that names the target in words. The options are the same as for the Exit setup.

Waypoint row

At the end of the section a row describes the object's waypoint chain – No waypoints or Waypoints: 4 nodes · patrol path – with a short explanation of what the nodes mean for this type, or how many original objects of the type have a chain. Buttons:

Button	Action
Create path / Edit path	Switches to the Waypoint tool (N) to add and move nodes
Unlink	The object stops using the chain (the nodes stay in the level)
Delete path	Deletes the chain's nodes
Link…	Uses an existing chain: choose its first node from a list
Look through	Only for cameras: pilot mode

Details: Waypoints and paths.

General properties

Below the plugin sections the Inspector lists the raw properties of every object:

• Type – object type, code offset in the level's script block, number of variables and slots, type flags and extra memory (read-only information copied from the base level),
• Transform – position (x, y, z in cells) and rotation (degrees about x, y and z),
• Behaviour – the raw parameter list, the waypoint chain reference and the object flags.

You rarely need these; the named fields above are easier and safer.

Decoded object types

The editor knows the parameters of these types (the rest show raw values):

Type	Parameters	Waypoints
Coin	Snap to floor (drops onto the floor at level start, random spin), Falls (keeps floor collision, rests on moving floors), No shadow	–
Coin5	Snap to floor, Falls	–
Health, HealthFull, HealthGenerator, Wompy	Snap to floor, Falls (Health also No shadow)	–
Grapes, HealthBanana, ChargeBooster	Snap to floor	–
RubyIdol	Falls, Snap to floor	–
CoinLine / CoinCircle	Coins (count), Spacing / Radius – spawners that create coins at run time	–
Secret	Box area	2 nodes: opposite corners of the secret area
Llama	Helper, Unused, Camera mode	First node = camera start
CheckPointPost	Collision radius (originals 0.2)	1 node: respawn position and facing
LevelDoor	Tribe, World, Chapter of the next level (7,7,7 = world finished)	–
CameraSide, CameraLift, CameraSetDistance, CameraFocusPoint	see Cameras and triggers	box pairs / –
CutSceneCameraDirectional, CutSceneTrigger	see Cut scenes	camera path
ForcePlayerMovement, WaterReboundPoints, ObjectDontDropInBox, FallOffNoHurt, RiverCurrentBox	see Force and water objects	points / box
RubyIdolDoor	Idols needed, Offset (sign distance)	–
PressurePadDoor	Pad flags (bit field), Door z, Camera, Camera hold	–
CityGuard (and CityGuardWithRubyIdol, CowGuard, GorillaGuard, LizardGuard, WarthogGuard)	View range, Chase range, Event bit (0 = active at once), Wall collision (CityGuard only)	Walking boxes: node pairs; the guard must start inside one box
CowGuardSpawner	View range and Chase range of its guards, Max guards, Interval (s)	Walking boxes handed to its guards; the spawner must stand inside one
Alligator, AlligatorSpawner	Spawner: Max alligators, Interval (s), Floor collision	Walking boxes: node pairs; an alligator outside every box is moved into the first one; a spawner's alligators walk straight ahead into the first box
JumpingBeetleBlue, JumpingBeetle	Jump time, Wait, Jump height, Pause	Jump targets
Spider	Range, Speed, Down time, Up time, Start down	Path
Bunny	Flee range	–

Guards: a guard walks around inside the boxes of its waypoint pairs and chases the llama only inside them. If it does not start inside one of its boxes, or the node count is odd, the game removes it when the level starts – it never appears. Placing a guard gives it one 4×4 box around itself and Event bit 0; the Inspector shows a warning and a Box around it button when the boxes are wrong. An Event bit above 0 keeps the guard hidden until another object with that event number sets the bit: TipoVillage / ChacaVillage (parameter 6), the smash statues (parameter 0), LabBigCutscene (1), LabWall (4), LabSlidingDoor (5), GoldIdol (1), CityWall (4), Condor (2), RiverCrocGame (1), RiverTriggerBox (0), KidOnCanoe (4), YzmaRiver (2, 6), EndGameTriggerBox (0). Level → Check notes a guard whose bit no object in the level sets. Guards and alligators get their one box however you add them (Place tool, drag from a panel, double-click in Assets).

Tip: For pickups, leave Snap to floor on: the game then drops the coin onto the floor when the level starts, so a coin placed slightly too high still ends up in the right place.

Duplicating, copying and pasting

• Edit → Duplicate (Ctrl+D) copies the selection one cell east. Objects keep a copy of their waypoint chain, so a duplicated guard gets its own walking boxes.
• Edit → Copy / Paste (Ctrl+C / Ctrl+V) work inside the open level.
• Delete removes objects; waypoint chains used only by the deleted objects are removed too.

Copy objects between levels

Edit → Copy objects (for other levels) (Ctrl+Shift+C) puts the selected objects – with their waypoint chains – and selected brushes on the system clipboard, relative to their common centre. Open another level (or another editor) and choose Edit → Paste objects at view centre (Ctrl+Shift+V).

Object types are matched by name and variant in the target level's base. Types that the target base does not have are skipped, and a message lists them. Code and models are not copied – for that, see Importing objects from other worlds.

Prefabs

A prefab is a saved group of objects (with their waypoints) and brushes that you can place again in any level – a checkpoint with coins around it, a guard with its patrol, a small platform with a secret.

• Save: select the objects and brushes, then Tools → Save selection as prefab… (or the Save selection as prefab… button of the Prefabs tab) and enter a name. The prefab is stored as <data folder>/editor/prefabs/<name>.json with a thumbnail.
• Place: open Assets → Prefabs. Double-click places the prefab at the view centre, drag places it under the mouse pointer.
• Delete removes the selected prefab file (after a confirmation); Refresh rereads the folder.

The entries show the base level they were made on and how many objects and brushes they hold. As with copy and paste, object types the target base does not know are skipped.

Importing objects from other worlds

A project can only place the object types of its base level – unless you import types from other levels. The editor knows every object type of every original level (about 900 types from 33 levels) and can copy a type into your level together with everything it needs: its script code, models, animations, textures, sounds and texts. A village level can then have spiders from the jungle, swinging blades from the city or a merry-go-round from the mountain.

The All worlds tab

Assets → All worlds lists the object types of all worlds with thumbnails:

• Search all worlds… finds types by name; the boxes filter by world (or Other levels) and by category (enemies, collectibles & pickups, platforms, doors & mechanisms, characters, animals, effects …).
• Importable only hides types that cannot be imported (player starts, cameras and cut-scene objects – about 126 of them).
• A ✓ marks types already imported into this level. The tooltip shows the source level, how many instances the original has and what the type depends on (sizes, sounds, texts).
• The first time, the editor builds this catalogue from your CD (a few seconds, shown in the status bar); it is cached afterwards. Level → Rebuild object catalogue scans again.

Importing and placing

• Drag a type into the viewport: it is imported (in the background) and placed at the drop point.
• Double-click imports it and places it at the view centre.
• The context menu has Place at view centre, Import into the project (import only) and Import all of level….

Imported types then appear in Assets → Objects and the Objects panel like the base level's own types, and you place more of them as usual. Selected instances show an Imported object section in the Inspector that names the level they come from.

Import a whole world

Level → Import objects of a world… (Ctrl+Shift+I, or Import world… in the tab) imports many types at once: choose a world or a single level, tick the types you want (with category, source level, size and notes), keep Skip types the level already has on and click Preview – the editor merges them in the background and shows exactly what would be added (code, models, textures, sounds, texts) against the engine limits. Import then adds them.

Limits and things to know

Limit	Value
Level memory (code, textures, models, map, texts)	16 MB – original levels use up to about 7 MB
Sound samples	128
Texture pages	127

The preview and Check for problems report these (errors above a limit, warnings near it).

• Imports are permanent. An import changes the level's code layout, so it clears the undo history and appears as a fixed "Import …" step. It cannot be removed from the project later – delete the placed objects instead, or start a new level.
• The project only stores which types were imported, never game data, so sharing stays legal and small; the receiver's editor and LlamaMod repeat the import from their own CD.
• A type whose code already exists in your level (for example the coin) is shared – it keeps your level's model and textures.
• New instances get the parameters of the first instance in the source level; change them in Object parameters.
• Objects that belong to level geometry (doors in walls, tile swaps, river or roller-coaster specials) import fine but only work with matching geometry. Waypoint chains are copied relative to the object.

Object checks

Level → Check for problems and every build check the objects. Double-click a message in the Problems panel to select the object.

Message	What to do
Waypoint chain … is not stored in one piece (error)	Run Tools → Repair waypoint chains
The level has n player start objects	Delete all Llamas but one
… has n parameters, Type reads m	Press Reset to defaults in Object parameters
Out-of-range value (e.g. a chapter that does not exist)	Correct the field marked orange
… needs n waypoint(s) / box nodes come in pairs	Add nodes with the Waypoint tool
… has no waypoints; all original … objects have a chain	The type probably needs a chain – create one
LevelDoor … without exit floor (collision material 16)	Use the Exit setup or paint material 16 under the door (Collision)
… targets (7,7,7) "world finished" in TestLevel	Choose a chapter as target
Respawn node is n cells away (info)	Move the checkpoint's node next to the post