Clone object makes an 'identical' duplicate of another object. Say that you want to make 100 identical objects: you could load each object seperately - the problem with this is that DB will physically load the object off the harddrive 100 times, so takes 100 times longer than making a single object.
You could also do this by loading the first object as a mesh, loading the image seperately and then using the
make object command to construct 100 objects from the mesh and image stored in memory. Fine, and fast, but won't retain limb or animation data.
Clone object gets past the mentioned problems of the other two methods. You would load the first object as normal and then execute the
clone object command on it 99 times. There you go: 100 identical objects with preserved limbs and animations, in only a little bit longer than it takes to load one object!
Of course, the other use is to hide the main object until you need it later. Let's say that half-way through the level, you'll meet a machine that creates an infinite supply of enemies. Rather than create loads of enemies at the start of the level, you'd load one and then hide it. That way, when the machine is found, you can keep cloning from this hidden enemy as often as you need. Also, since you loaded this 'reference' enemy at the start, there won't be the usual loading delay each time an enemy is made by the machine!
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