Merge pull request #198 from limbonaut/fix-btstate-overwriting-bb-vars

Don't overwrite exisiting blackboard variables in `BTState` upon initialization

blackboard/blackboard.h

@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@ public:
 	Variant get_var(const StringName &p_name, const Variant &p_default = Variant(), bool p_complain = true) const;
 	void set_var(const StringName &p_name, const Variant &p_value);
 	bool has_var(const StringName &p_name) const;
+	_FORCE_INLINE_ bool has_local_var(const StringName &p_name) const { return data.has(p_name); }
 	void erase_var(const StringName &p_name);
 	void clear() { data.clear(); }
 	TypedArray<StringName> list_vars() const;

blackboard/blackboard_plan.cpp

@@ -416,7 +416,15 @@ void BlackboardPlan::populate_blackboard(const Ref<Blackboard> &p_blackboard, bo
 	ERR_FAIL_COND(p_node == nullptr && prefetch_nodepath_vars);
 	ERR_FAIL_COND(p_blackboard.is_null());
 	for (const Pair<StringName, BBVariable> &p : var_list) {
-		if (p_blackboard->has_var(p.first) && !overwrite) {
+		if (p_blackboard->has_local_var(p.first) && !overwrite) {
+#ifdef DEBUG_ENABLED
+			Variant::Type existing_type = p_blackboard->get_var(p.first).get_type();
+			Variant::Type planned_type = p.second.get_type();
+			if (existing_type != planned_type && existing_type != Variant::NIL && planned_type != Variant::NIL && !(existing_type == Variant::OBJECT && planned_type == Variant::NODE_PATH)) {
+				WARN_PRINT(vformat("BlackboardPlan: Not overwriting %s as it already exists in the blackboard, but it has a different type than planned (%s vs %s). File: %s",
+						LimboUtility::get_singleton()->decorate_var(p.first), Variant::get_type_name(existing_type), Variant::get_type_name(planned_type), get_path()));
+			}
+#endif
 			continue;
 		}
 		bool has_mapping = parent_scope_mapping.has(p.first);
@@ -425,7 +433,7 @@ void BlackboardPlan::populate_blackboard(const Ref<Blackboard> &p_blackboard, bo
 		if (has_mapping) {
 			StringName target_var = parent_scope_mapping[p.first];
 			if (target_var != StringName()) {
-				ERR_CONTINUE_MSG(p_blackboard->get_parent() == nullptr, vformat("BlackboardPlan: Cannot link variable $%s to parent scope because the parent scope is not set.", p.first));
+				ERR_CONTINUE_MSG(p_blackboard->get_parent() == nullptr, vformat("BlackboardPlan: Cannot link variable %s to parent scope because the parent scope is not set.", LimboUtility::get_singleton()->decorate_var(p.first)));
 				p_blackboard->link_var(p.first, p_blackboard->get_parent(), target_var);
 			}
 		}

bt/bt_player.cpp

@@ -183,6 +183,7 @@ void BTPlayer::_notification(int p_notification) {
 					blackboard = Ref<Blackboard>(memnew(Blackboard));
 				}
 				if (blackboard_plan.is_valid()) {
+					// Don't overwrite existing blackboard values as they may be initialized from code.
 					blackboard_plan->populate_blackboard(blackboard, false, this);
 				}
 				if (behavior_tree.is_valid()) {

doc/source/getting-started/using-blackboard.rst

@@ -54,10 +54,12 @@ necessary for :ref:`BehaviorTree<class_BehaviorTree>` initialization.
 
 To add, modify, or remove variables from the Blackboard Plan, follow these steps:
 
-1. Load the behavior tree in the LimboAI editor.
-2. Click on the resource header to access :ref:`BehaviorTree<class_BehaviorTree>` data in the Inspector.
-3. In the Inspector, select the "Blackboard Plan" property and click the "Manage..." button.
-4. A popup window will appear, allowing you to edit behavior tree variables, reorder them, and modify property types and hints.
+1. Open the LimboAI editor and load the behavior tree you want to edit.
+2. In the editor, click on the small button located inside the tab. This will open the :ref:`BlackboardPlan<class_BlackboardPlan>` in the Inspector.
+3. In the Inspector, click the "Manage..." button to show the blackboard plan editor.
+4. In the blackboard plan editor, you can add, remove, or reorder variables, and modify their data type and hint.
+5. The hint provides additional information about the variable to the Inspector, such as minimum and maximum values for an integer variable. Learn more about `property hints in the official Godot documentation <https://docs.godotengine.org/en/stable/classes/class_%40globalscope.html#enum-globalscope-propertyhint>`_.
+6. You can specify the default values of the variables directly in the Inspector.
 
 Overriding variables in BTPlayer
 --------------------------------

hsm/limbo_state.cpp

@@ -95,7 +95,8 @@ void LimboState::_initialize(Node *p_agent, const Ref<Blackboard> &p_blackboard)
 		blackboard = p_blackboard;
 	}
 	if (blackboard_plan.is_valid() && !blackboard_plan->is_empty()) {
-		blackboard_plan->populate_blackboard(blackboard, true, this);
+		// Don't overwrite existing blackboard values as they may be initialized from code.
+		blackboard_plan->populate_blackboard(blackboard, false, this);
 	}
 
 	_setup();