Channelcaster

Based on game build 714014 | Last updated: 2026-03-03

Overview

Channelcaster handles the logic for entities that are currently channeling an action via an item or ability (e.g., holding down a button to cast a spell). It coordinates with channelcastable items to signal when channeling begins or ends, adjusts movement speed during channeling using locomotor, and maintains internal state for the channeling item and duration. It also synchronizes channeling status to the player classification UI on the client.

Usage example

local inst = CreateEntity()
inst:AddComponent("channelcaster")

-- Begin channeling with an item
inst.components.channelcaster:StartChanneling(some_channelcastable_item)

-- Set callbacks for channel start/stop events
inst.components.channelcaster:SetOnStartChannelingFn(function(inst, item)
    print("Started channeling with", item and item.prefab)
end)
inst.components.channelcaster:SetOnStopChannelingFn(function(inst, item)
    print("Stopped channeling with", item and item.prefab)
end)

-- Stop channeling manually
inst.components.channelcaster:StopChanneling()

Dependencies & tags

Components used: channelcastable, locomotor, player_classified Tags: None identified.

Properties

Property	Type	Default Value	Description
item	Entity?	nil	The item currently being used to channel (if any).
channeling	boolean	false	Whether the entity is currently channeling.
onstartchannelingfn	function?	nil	Optional callback executed when channeling starts.
onstopchannelingfn	function?	nil	Optional callback executed when channeling stops.

Main functions

SetOnStartChannelingFn(fn)

• Description: Sets the callback function invoked when channeling begins.
• Parameters: fn (function) - A function taking (inst, item) as arguments.
• Returns: Nothing.

SetOnStopChannelingFn(fn)

• Description: Sets the callback function invoked when channeling ends.
• Parameters: fn (function) - A function taking (inst, item) as arguments.
• Returns: Nothing.

StartChanneling(item)

• Description: Begins channeling with the specified item. If a channel is already active, it is stopped first. Adjusts speed and registers state listeners. Returns true on success.
• Parameters: item (Entity?) — The item to channel with. Must be valid and have a channelcastable component if not nil.
• Returns: boolean — true if channeling started successfully, false otherwise.
• Error states: Returns false if item is non-nil and lacks a channelcastable component or is invalid.

StopChanneling()

• Description: Ends the current channeling action. Cleans up state, restores speed, and unregisters listeners. Returns true if a channel was active.
• Parameters: None.
• Returns: boolean — true if channeling was stopped, false if no channel was active.

IsChannelingItem(item)

• Description: Checks whether the given item is the one currently being used for channeling.
• Parameters: item (Entity?) — The item to compare.
• Returns: boolean — true if item matches the current channeling item.

IsChanneling()

• Description: Queries whether the entity is currently channeling.
• Parameters: None.
• Returns: boolean — true if channeling is active.

GetDebugString()

• Description: Returns a human-readable debug string summarizing channel state.
• Parameters: None.
• Returns: string — Format: "channeling=boolean item=Entity|nil".

Events & listeners

• Listens to:

  • newstate — Triggers StopChanneling if the stategraph no longer has any of "idle", "running", or "keepchannelcasting" tags.
  • onremove (via locomotor) — Automatically removes speed multiplier when component is removed.

• Pushes:

  • startchannelcast — Fired with { item = item } when channeling starts.
  • stopchannelcast — Fired with { item = item } when channeling stops.