Team Score Tracking: Broadcasting the Cove Scoreboard

Overview

There is no single magic "team score" device in Verse — team scoring is a pattern you build. You keep the running totals in your own Verse variables, you detect scoring events with a trigger_device (a player steps on a treasure plate, dunks a coconut, captures a flag), and you broadcast the current standings to players with a hud_message_device.

Reach for this pattern whenever you want a scoreboard that reacts to gameplay: a tug-of-war on the dock, a coconut-toss on the shore, two pirate crews racing to loot the cove. The trigger_device gives you a clean TriggeredEvent that hands you the scoring agent, and the hud_message_device gives you Show(...) / SetText(...) / SetDisplayTime(...) to paint the totals on-screen.

In this article we'll build a two-crew cove scoreboard: step on the Red plate or the Blue plate, that crew scores, and a HUD banner updates for everyone. We rely on which team the scoring agent belongs to via the playspace team collection.

API Reference

team

Full public surface, resolved verbatim from the live Epic digest (Verse.digest.verse).

team<native><public> := class<unique><epic_internal>:

player

Full public surface, resolved verbatim from the live Epic digest (Verse.digest.verse). Inherited members are merged from agent.

player<native><public> := class<unique><persistent><module_scoped_var_weak_map_key><epic_internal>(agent):

hud_message_device

Used to show custom HUD messages to one or more agents.

Full public surface, resolved verbatim from the live Epic digest (Fortnite.digest.verse).

hud_message_device<public> := class<concrete><final>(creative_device_base):

Events (subscribe a handler to react):

Methods (call these to make the device act):

trigger_device

Used to relay events to other linked devices.

Full public surface, resolved verbatim from the live Epic digest (Fortnite.digest.verse). Inherited members are merged from trigger_base_device.

trigger_device<public> := class<concrete><final>(trigger_base_device):

Events (subscribe a handler to react):

Methods (call these to make the device act):

Walkthrough

Our cove has two treasure plates (each a trigger_device) and one hud_message_device bolted to the mast. When a pirate steps on their crew's plate, we bump that crew's score and refresh the banner.

using { /Fortnite.com/Devices }
using { /Fortnite.com/Teams }
using { /Fortnite.com/Playspaces }
using { /Fortnite.com/Characters }
using { /Verse.org/Simulation }

# Live scoreboard for a two-crew treasure race on the cove.
cove_scoreboard := class(creative_device):

    # The plate the Red crew stomps to score.
    @editable
    RedPlate : trigger_device = trigger_device{}

    # The plate the Blue crew stomps to score.
    @editable
    BluePlate : trigger_device = trigger_device{}

    # The HUD banner bolted to the mast.
    @editable
    Scoreboard : hud_message_device = hud_message_device{}

    # Our own running totals — THIS is the "team score tracking".
    var RedScore : int = 0
    var BlueScore : int = 0

    # Helper to turn a plain string into a localized message.
    Banner<localizes>(S : string) : message = "{S}"

    OnBegin<override>()<suspends> : void =
        # Keep the banner up permanently and subscribe both plates.
        Scoreboard.SetDisplayTime(0.0)
        RedPlate.TriggeredEvent.Subscribe(OnRedScored)
        BluePlate.TriggeredEvent.Subscribe(OnBlueScored)
        RefreshBoard()

    # Red plate stomped: add a point for Red, refresh.
    OnRedScored(MaybeAgent : ?agent) : void =
        set RedScore = RedScore + 1
        RefreshBoard()

    # Blue plate stomped: add a point for Blue, refresh.
    OnBlueScored(MaybeAgent : ?agent) : void =
        set BlueScore = BlueScore + 1
        RefreshBoard()

    # Paint the current standings on every player's screen.
    RefreshBoard() : void =
        Scoreboard.SetText(Banner("RED {RedScore}   -   BLUE {BlueScore}"))
        Scoreboard.Show()

Line by line:

• The three @editable fields are the placed devices — you drag your two plates and one HUD device onto them in the UEFN Details panel. Without declaring them as fields you cannot call their methods.
• var RedScore / var BlueScore ARE the team score tracker. Verse variables hold the state; the devices only react to and display it.
• Banner<localizes>(...) is the required trick to build a message from a string. Every method that takes a message (like SetText) needs this — there is no StringToMessage.
• In OnBegin, SetDisplayTime(0.0) makes the banner persistent (0.0 = never auto-hide). Then we Subscribe each plate's TriggeredEvent to its handler.
• TriggeredEvent is listenable(?agent), so each handler receives MaybeAgent : ?agent. We don't need the agent to score here, but we keep the exact signature.
• RefreshBoard calls SetText with the freshly-formatted score, then Show() pushes it to everyone's HUD, replacing the previous banner.

Common patterns

Award only when the RIGHT crew triggers the plate

Instead of one plate per team, use one shared plate and check which team the scoring agent belongs to via the playspace team collection.

using { /Fortnite.com/Devices }
using { /Fortnite.com/Teams }
using { /Fortnite.com/Playspaces }
using { /Verse.org/Simulation }

cove_team_plate := class(creative_device):

    @editable
    TreasurePlate : trigger_device = trigger_device{}

    @editable
    Scoreboard : hud_message_device = hud_message_device{}

    var TeamZeroScore : int = 0

    Banner<localizes>(S : string) : message = "{S}"

    OnBegin<override>()<suspends> : void =
        TreasurePlate.TriggeredEvent.Subscribe(OnLooted)

    OnLooted(MaybeAgent : ?agent) : void =
        if (Scorer := MaybeAgent?):
            TeamCollection := GetPlayspace().GetTeamCollection()
            if (Team := TeamCollection.GetTeam[Scorer]):
                # Award a point to "team 0" only, as an example.
                if (FirstTeam := TeamCollection.GetTeams()[0], Team = FirstTeam):
                    set TeamZeroScore = TeamZeroScore + 1
                    Scoreboard.SetDisplayTime(3.0)
                    Scoreboard.Show(Scorer, Banner("Team 0 loot: {TeamZeroScore}"))

Here Show(Agent, Message, ?DisplayTime) targets a single scorer's screen, so only the pirate who triggered it sees their crew's tally.

Limit how many times a plate can score, then close it off

Use SetMaxTriggerCount so a plate can only be looted a fixed number of times, and check how many remain with GetTriggerCountRemaining. When it's empty, Disable it.

using { /Fortnite.com/Devices }
using { /Verse.org/Simulation }

limited_treasure := class(creative_device):

    @editable
    TreasurePlate : trigger_device = trigger_device{}

    @editable
    Scoreboard : hud_message_device = hud_message_device{}

    Banner<localizes>(S : string) : message = "{S}"

    OnBegin<override>()<suspends> : void =
        # This chest can only be looted 5 times.
        TreasurePlate.SetMaxTriggerCount(5)
        TreasurePlate.TriggeredEvent.Subscribe(OnLooted)

    OnLooted(MaybeAgent : ?agent) : void =
        Remaining := TreasurePlate.GetTriggerCountRemaining()
        Scoreboard.SetDisplayTime(2.0)
        Scoreboard.Show(Banner("Loot left in cove: {Remaining}"))
        if (Remaining <= 0):
            TreasurePlate.Disable()
            Scoreboard.Show(Banner("The cove is plundered!"))

Reset the board with ClearAllMessages

When a round ends, wipe every queued banner off all screens with ClearAllMessages and trigger a fresh round-start signal in code.

using { /Fortnite.com/Devices }
using { /Verse.org/Simulation }

round_reset := class(creative_device):

    @editable
    Scoreboard : hud_message_device = hud_message_device{}

    @editable
    RoundStart : trigger_device = trigger_device{}

    Banner<localizes>(S : string) : message = "{S}"

    OnBegin<override>()<suspends> : void =
        RoundStart.TriggeredEvent.Subscribe(OnNewRound)
        # Kick off the first round from code (no agent needed).
        RoundStart.Trigger()

    OnNewRound(MaybeAgent : ?agent) : void =
        # Clear old scoreboard banners, then show the new-round title.
        Scoreboard.ClearAllMessages()
        Scoreboard.SetDisplayTime(4.0)
        Scoreboard.Show(Banner("New round! Grab the treasure!"))

Gotchas

• You store the score, not the device. There is no team.GetScore() in this surface. Team scoring is your own var totals plus a trigger to detect events and a HUD device to display them. Keep the numbers in Verse.
• message, not string. SetText and Show(..., Message, ...) take a message. Declare a Banner<localizes>(S:string):message = "{S}" helper and pass Banner("..."). StringToMessage does not exist.
• Unwrap ?agent. TriggeredEvent is listenable(?agent). The handler gets MaybeAgent : ?agent; you must if (Scorer := MaybeAgent?): before using it. A pure-code Trigger() sends no agent, so MaybeAgent? will fail — that's expected.
• DisplayTime values matter. SetDisplayTime(0.0) makes the banner persistent. A negative time falls back to the device's configured time. Set it before Show().
• int vs float. SetDisplayTime and SetResetDelay take float (3.0, not 3). Your scores are int. Verse never auto-converts between them.
• Show() replaces, it doesn't stack. Each Show() call replaces the currently active message on that screen. To wipe queued messages entirely, use ClearAllMessages().
• Enable/Disable gate scoring. A Disable()d trigger fires nothing — handy for closing a plundered chest, but remember to Enable() it again on the next round.