This week’s Quick Dev Tip is a useful one which I never see people talking about!

You probably know about adding variables to Categories, but did you know that you can also then add them to subcategories. This is perfect for if you have a large number of variables as it can help keep things orderly and allows you to quickly find the things you are after.

First off, you can set a variables main category by selecting it, then in its details panel editing the Category text field, which by default, is set to default. You can replace this text with whatever you want, below I am using “Shopkeep”. If you set instance editable to true here you will expose this variable for later on.

In the variable list, you will now see that your variable has been placed under the category you just named. You can drag other variables directly into this category or set them through the details panel in a similar way. Clicking the drop-down on the Category text field will bring up a list pre-existing category names that you can choose from.

If you place your actor into the scene and have exposed the variable (setting Instance Editable in the detail panel) then you should now see this variable under your new category.

Now for the interesting bit. You can add a subcategory by selecting the variable and returning to the Category text field. Now you want to use Shift + \ to add a Verticle Bar ( | ). Then you can write the name of the subgroup that you want, in my case “general”.

As you can see a new subcategory is born and the variable is placed inside it.

If we return to the exposed variables on an actor placed in the scene, we can also see it is in the subcategory here as well.

You can add as many subcategories as you want.

This is a really useful technique if you have an actor that has a lot of different functionality that you want to keep split into separate groups, so variables are easier to find and work with.

If you want more tips and tricks make sure to give me a follow on Twitter @cbGameDev

Also, check out the parkour game I'm solo developing called Freerunners. Give it a wishlist if you like the way it looks!: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1430330/Freerunners/