Easy Grid Builder Pro

This component handles all the Easy Grid Builder Pro grid-based functionalities. And this is the major component you will be using the most to manipulate the grid data.

You can find this component under EGB Pro > Easy Grid Builder Pro XZ and Easy Grid Builder Pro XY in the EGB Pro prefab. You can find the EGB Pro prefab located in EasyGridBuilder Pro > Prefabs.

Since this component has many properties, we are going to divide it into smaller sections to cover all the features.

EASY GRID BUILDER PRO

You can find "GRID LITE" and "GRID PRO" buttons under this section. By default, start with GRID PRO enabled and you can switch back to GRID LITE version by simply clicking on "GRID LITE button".

The major differences between GRID LITE and GRID Pro versions are as follows,

Version	Difference
GRID PRO	Provide all the functionalities current Easy Grid Builder Pro provides
GRID LITE	Does not support Buildable Free Objects. Does not support Vertical Grid Levels.

NOTE: GRID LITE is simply a lighter version of the GRID PRO and it is more suitable for 2D games. But the majority of the time you will want to use GRID PRO version.

CORE GRID - PRO

Property	Function	Required
Buildable Grid Object Type SO List	BuildableGridObjectTypeSO assets. These are the prepared buildable grid objects.	No
Buildable Free Object Type SO List	BuildableFreeObjectTypeSO assets. These are the prepared buildable free objects.	No
Grid Axis	Grid axis XZ or XY. Axis XZ is more suitable for 3D games and XY is more suitable for 2D games.	Yes
Grid Width	Width of the grid (Number of cells in the first axis)	Yes
Grid Length	Length of the grid (Number of cells in the second axis)	Yes
Cell Size	Size of a single grid cell (Size 1 = 1 Unity Unit)	Yes
Grid Origin XZ/XY	Depending on Grid Axis, the grid's local origin. This is locked if "Use Holder Position As Origin" is enabled.	No
Use Holder Position As Origin	Set the holder object's local position as the grid's local position (Simply move the holder object to move the grid)	No

Vertical Grid Data

Vertical Grid Data section is currently in beta stage. You can still use this feature but, it is not fully stable as of yet. Easy Grid Builder Pro v1.2.0 update will have a full release of this feature. See what's upcoming on EGB Pro using Trello.

By adding multiple vertical grids you can build objects vertically on top of each other. This can be very useful for modular buildings, Interior build systems, vertical-level buildings and so much more.

Property	Function	Required
Vertical Grids Count	The number of grids should be created vertically (If it's 1, only the base grid will be created)	Yes
Grid Height	The height (space) between vertical grids. If "Vertical Grids Count" is 1, this property is ignored.	Yes
Change Height With Input	Switch between vertical grid levels using a provided input	No
Auto Detect Height	Switch between vertical grid levels automatically. This is calculated using the mouse position. If "Change Height With Input" is also enabled, this property will be ignored.	No

Buildable Distance Data

By enabling buildable distance you can add distance check conditions for placing objects on the grid. This can be useful especially in Third & First person perspectives to prevent object placement far from the player character.

Property	Function	Required
Use Buildable Distance	Enable buildable distance check settings	No
Distance Check Object	Object transform that will be used to check the buildable distance from. If empty Main Camera will be used.	No
Distance Min	The minimum distance from the Distance Check Object	No
Distance Max	The maximum distance from the Distance Check Object	No

Grid Object Collision Data

This part of the component handles the collision check and the gird collider options.

Property	Function	Required
Grid Object Colliding Layer	Layer that buildable grid objects should collide. Set this layer mask to the "Grid Surface" layer.	Yes
Free Object Colliding Layer	Layer that buildable free objects should collide. Set this layer mask to the "Grid Surface" layer and by adding other layers you can build free objects on top of other layer objects (Ex: Default layer).	Yes
Collider Size Multiplier	Set the grid's "Collider Size Multiplier" relative to the grid's size (1 = collider size equal to the gird's size)	Yes
Lock Collider On Height Change	When enabled grid collider position will change according to the current active vertical grid's position	No

You can see an example use of the "Collider Size Multiplier" of 2 (the collider is 2x the size of the grid) in the top image. Here you can move your ghost-buildable object outside of the grid area and it will still display. This is because it's still inside the collider's bounds. When the mouse pointer is outside the collider's bounds ghost-buildable object visual will disappear.

NOTE: When using multiple grids, make sure to set their colliders not to overlap with each other. Otherwise, it can cause unnecessary issues.

VISUALS

This section controls all grid visual data. There are four unique methods you can use to display your grid visuals and you can use one or more of these methods at the same time.

Canvas Grid Data

This is the default grid visual solution for the Easy Grid Builder Pro and it is highly customizable and extremely performant. This visual is available in the editor and in the play mode.

Property	Function	Required
Show Editor&Runtime Canvas Grid	Enable using the canvas grid	No
Grid Canvas Prefab	Add provided Grid Canvas prefab (located in EasyGridBuilder Pro > Prefabs > Canvas Grid Samples)	Yes
Grid Image Sprite	Add a custom sprite to use as the grid cell image (pre-made sprites are located in EasyGridBuilder Pro > Prefabs > Canvas Grid Samples)	No
Show Color	Color of the grid visual when it is being displayed	No
Hide Color	Color of the grid visual when it is not being displayed (by default alpha value set to 0)	No
Color Transition Speed	Speed of the color transition when switching between show visual color and hide visual color	No
Show On Default Mode	Show canvas grid visual in Default Grid Mode in play mode	No
Show On Build Mode	Show canvas grid visual in Build Grid Mode in play mode	No
Show On Destruction Mode	Show canvas grid visual in Destruction Grid Mode in play mode	No
Show On Selection Mode	Show canvas grid visual in Selection Grid Mode in play mode	No
Lock Canvas Grid On Height Change	When disabled canvas grid visual will change it's position according to the current active vertical grid's position	No

As displayed in the image above, the canvas grid visual is functioning at runtime.

Debug Grid Data

This is the quickest and most simple grid visual solution for the Easy Grid Builder Pro. This visual is available in the editor and in the play mode.

Property	Function	Required
Show Editor&Runtime Debug Grid	Enable using the debug grid	No
Grid Lines Color	Color of the debug grid	No
Lock Debug Grid On Height Change	When disabled debug grid visual will change its position according to the current active vertical grid's position	No

As displayed in the image above, the debug grid visual is functioning at runtime.

Node Grid Data

With this grid visual method you can spawn objects in each grid cell. This visual is only available in the play mode.

Property	Function	Required
Show Runtime Node Grid	Enable using the node grid	No
Grid Node Prefab	Prefab object to spawn in each grid cell. If multiple provided, a random prefab will spawn in each cell.	Yes
Grid Node Size Percentage	Size percentage of the provided node prefab	No
Grid Node Local Offset	The local position of each node object relative to the grid cell	No

NOTE: In this method, it spawns objects at the start of the game. Do not use this visual method in larger grids with high cell counts.

As displayed in the image above, the node grid visual is functioning at runtime.

Text Grid Data

With this grid visual method you can spawn highly customizable text objects in each grid cell. This visual is only available in the play mode.

Property	Function	Required
Show Runtime Text Grid	Enable using the text grid	No
Grid Text Color	Color of the spawned text	No
Grid Text Size Multiplier	Size multiplier of the grid text (0.5 = half of the size)	No
Show Cell Value Text	Display each cell's value (first cell = 0,0)	No
Grid Text Prefix	A prefix text to display in text grid	No
Grid Text Suffix	A suffix text to display in text grid	No
Grid Text Local Offset	The local position of each text object relative to the grid cell	No

NOTE: In this method, it spawns objects at the start of the game. Do not use this visual method in larger grids with high cell counts.

As displayed in the image above, the text grid visual is functioning at runtime.

SAVE & LOAD

This section of the component cover all the Easy Grid Builder Pro save & load functionalities.

Property	Function	Required
Enable Save & Load	Enable using the grid data save & load	No
Unique Save Name	A unique name to save the file. This must be a unique name and not any other grid system should have the same name.	Yes
Save Location	Save file location. This is a read-only property.	Yes

NOTE: To prevent accidental changes "Save Location" property is set to read-only. You can change it inside the EasyGridBuilderPro.cs script in line 198 as follows.

[Tooltip("Provide save file location.")][ReadOnly]
[SerializeField]public string saveLocation = "/EasyGridBuilder Pro/LocalSaves/";

DEBUG

This section of the component can be used to quickly debug Easy Grid Builder Pro runtime functionalities by enabling console messages for different features in Easy Grid Builder Pro.

Property	Function	Required
Show Console Text	Enable using the grid data save & load	No
Object Placement	Enable console messages when placing objects	No
Object Destruction	Enable console messages when destroying objects	No
Object Selected	Enable console messages when selecting objects	No
Grid Level Change	Enable console messages when changing the vertical grid level	No
Save And Load	Enable console messages when saving and loading grid data	No

As displayed in the image above, the debug console messages are functioning at runtime.

UNITY EVENTS

This last section of the component is extremely powerful and can be used to hook your own functionalities to the Easy Grid Builder Pro events directly, add extra features and much more.

Property	Function	Required
On Selected Buildable Changed Unity Event	This event will fire up when selecting a new object to build from UI or from inputs	No
On Grid Cell Changed Unity Event	This event will fire up when a grid cell data is changed (If 5 cells changed at a time, the event will fire up 5 times)	No
On Active Grid Level Changed Unity Event	This event will fire up when the current vertical grid level changes	No
On Object Placed Unity Event	This event will fire up when trying to place a buildable object	No
On Object Removed Unity Event	This event will fire up when trying to destroy a buildable object	No
On Object Selected Unity Event	This event will fire up when a placed object on the grid is selected	No
On Object Deselected Unity Event	This event will fire up when a selected place object on the grid is deselcted	No

You can find an example implementation of unity events in the "3D All In One Demo" located in EasyGridBuilder Pro > Demo Scenes folder.