Interactivity

Testing

Run your interface live inside the editor before exporting.

Blueprint Test mode lets you try your interface for real before you export a single line of Lua. When you press ▶ Test, Easelt Builder returns to the canvas and actually runs your GUI, executing the Blueprint logic you wired up so you can click, toggle, and branch through it exactly as a player would.

Testing your wiring inside Easelt Builder catches broken chains, missed conditions, and dead buttons long before they reach an MTA:SA server — so treat it as the last step before every export.

Starting a test

Test mode is launched from the Blueprint editor, where you wire up your logic. Once you start it, Easelt takes you back to the canvas and your GUI comes alive.

Open the Blueprint editor
Head into the Blueprint editor for the GUI you want to try, where your onClick, onHover, onLeave, and condition chains live.
Press ▶ Test
Click the ▶ Test button. Easelt Builder returns to the canvas and runs your GUI with all wired logic active.
Interact with your GUI
Click elements, toggle switches, open and close windows — everything responds through the Blueprint chains you built.
Stop when you're done
Press Esc or click the TEST MODE badge to stop testing and return to editing.

Test mode is preview-only

While a test is running, Easelt Builder locks all editing chrome so you can't accidentally change the design. You can only interact with the GUI itself — nothing you click will move, rename, or reconfigure an element.

The following editing surfaces are all locked during a test:

Locked surface	What it normally does	In Test mode
Toolbox	Add and place new elements	Locked — no new elements
Layers	Select and reorder elements	Locked — no selection changes
Inspector	Edit element properties	Locked — no property edits
Menus	Access editing commands	Locked — commands unavailable
Editing keyboard shortcuts	Trigger editing actions by key	Locked — shortcuts disabled

ℹ️

Because editing is fully locked, Test mode is a safe sandbox — you can bang on your GUI as hard as you like without risking a single change to the design.

What works in Test mode

Test mode runs the real wired logic, so every Blueprint chain you built fires just as it would in-game. Here's everything that comes alive:

Click chains

Clicking an element fires its Blueprint onClick chains, running each wired step in order.

Checkboxes & switches

Checkboxes and switches toggle on and off just like they will for players.

Windows

Windows open and close in response to the actions you've wired.

Text & colours

Text and colours change dynamically whenever your logic updates them.

Conditions

Conditions branch down their then or else paths depending on the current state.

Hover chains

Hovering an element fires its onHover and onLeave chains as your pointer enters and leaves.

The TEST MODE badge

Whenever a test is running, a TEST MODE badge appears at the top of the screen. It's your at-a-glance confirmation that you're interacting with a live GUI rather than editing, and it doubles as a quick way out.

The badge stays visible at the top the whole time a test is running.
Click the badge at any point to stop the test and return to editing.
You can also press Esc to stop — both do exactly the same thing.

Esc

Stop the test and return to editing

Preview vs Test

It's easy to confuse the two, but they do different things. Preview simply hides the editing chrome so you can see the design clean; Test actually runs the wired logic so you can interact with it. Reach for Preview to eyeball layout, and Test to verify behaviour.

Mode	How to enter	What it does
Preview	Press P	Hides all editing chrome so you can look at the design without distractions — nothing runs.
Test	Press ▶ Test	Runs the wired Blueprint logic so you can click, toggle, branch, and hover through a live GUI.

P

Enter Preview (hide chrome, no logic)

💡

Always run a Test pass before exporting. Preview shows you what your GUI looks like, but only Test proves that every button, toggle, and condition is actually wired up and behaves the way you intended.

Once your GUI clicks, toggles, and branches the way you expect in Test mode, you're ready to move on and export it for use in MTA:SA.