Adventure Creator - Make 3D adventure games (DEMO, VIDEO, WEBSITE)

The point of the "Straight to Cursor" mode is that you don't need NavMeshes at all - simply a collider underneath. If you want to have a "void" area, try placing a separate collider far beneath - you'll be able to click on it, but the player will be far above it and will still fall.

You can then use a Trigger prefab to disable the collider once he falls - use the Object: Send message Action and call "Turn Off" on a CollisionCube to disable it.

 

Thanks for the amazing support and the awesome answers,

Just tested the new movement system, can you please make it so that it has both capabilities, 1 - on click move to point, 2 on hold move to point... not necessarily just "on hold"


error; so I think I'm getting a bunch of errors now because I tried the "save" option from the menu, now everytime I run the game the player does not instantiate and this is the warning:

NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object
AC.PlayerStart.SetPlayerStart () (at Assets/AdventureCreator/Scripts/Navigation/PlayerStart.cs:51)
AC.SceneSettings.FindPlayerStart () (at Assets/AdventureCreator/Scripts/Game engine/SceneSettings.cs:95)
AC.SceneSettings.Start () (at Assets/AdventureCreator/Scripts/Game engine/SceneSettings.cs:72)

Also on that note, how can I have the player in the hierarchy already as is, and the game-engine to just recognize it without instantiating... I'll need to swap the player between 2 or more characters... or does it make sense to always leave the game engine swap the players?

thanks again highly appreciated.

 

Hi,

Adventure Creator seems to have namespace conflict with one of my assets here.
Are the "TransformData" and "Options" in global namespace?

Could you do a favor to put them in self namespace? Thanks

 

AC supports multiple Player characters: go to your Settings Manager and set Player switching to Allow. You have to let AC do the instantiating, but you'll now be ab

Yes, of course.

 

About the new movement system, can you please make it so that it has both capabilities, 1 - on click move to point, 2 on hold move to point... not necessarily just "on hold"


error; so I think I'm getting a bunch of errors now because I tried the "save" option from the menu, now everytime I run the game the player does not instantiate and this is the warning:

NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object
AC.PlayerStart.SetPlayerStart () (at Assets/AdventureCreator/Scripts/Navigation/PlayerStart.cs:51)
AC.SceneSettings.FindPlayerStart () (at Assets/AdventureCreator/Scripts/Game engine/SceneSettings.cs:95)
AC.SceneSettings.Start () (at Assets/AdventureCreator/Scripts/Game engine/SceneSettings.cs:72)

 

No need to repeat yourself. I'll look into your movement request. As for your save error, that was grouped with my previous answer. Set up your Player prefabs correctly in the Settings Manager, and it should work fine.

 

Sorry for repeating thought you missed it,

thanks for looking into the request.

The player prefab is setup 100% correct, it worked as I said and when I was just curious and used your "save" system, on the next run the player does not show up and those errors show up,

and the player start is setup properly in the game editor it wasn't really changed..

 

Indeed the charcter walks on any collider that exists now which is awesome, with the new system,

I get this warning message:

No NavMesh set. Characters will not be able to PathFind until one is defined - please choose one using the Scene Manager.
UnityEngine.Debug:LogWarning(Object)
KickStarter:Awake() (at Assets/AdventureCreator/Scripts/Game engine/KickStarter.cs:232)

should I place 1 NavMesh just so it has something and the warning doesn't show up or?



Also, how do I make the "player" walk/run by choice (on touch) basically toggle, and how can I change the "distance" of where the RayCast is for it to start running, currently I have to touch some distance before it starts running towards it I'd like that to be shorter, or custom per level as well as the option to run/walk by choice

Also how can I manually tell AC that the "character" cannot walk further more due to either the player being dead, or I'm working on other things with it, basically I want to take away the players controls till I'm done with what I'm doing on command.

Thanks for this wonderful updates and a great asset.

Due to your kindness, generosity & amazing work I have just written a review on the asset store because you surely deserve it.

God Bless

 

You can safely ignore the warning message if you don't intend to use pathfinding.

You can't yet - the movement method is still new, and will be implemented in a future update. It'll likely depend on the distance between the touch point and the player - if it's above a certain threshold, the player will run.

Look for the NavMesh ray length field in the Settings Manager.

The Player: Constrain Action can be used to lock player movement. It may be that this is not yet compatible with Straight To Cursor movement - if this is the case, I will fix it.

Very much appreciated, thank you.

 

Both uFrame and Adventure Creator has SceneManager in global namespace. I hope both starts to use their own namespace so they could work in same project.

 

Quite right - did the others but missed that one. Will have that taken care of.

Meanwhile, 1.37 is out!

Variable: Check random number Action
It was suggested on the forum to have an Action that plays random lines of speech, but this Action widens that possibility. You can set as many output sockets as you like, and one will be picked at random. This'll make it much easier to have things occur at random.

Menu: Check state Action
Previously, if you wanted to have a Menu Button that toggled another Menu on and off, you'd have to mess around with Variables and so forth. Now, no need: just use this Action to see if the Menu in question is already on, and turn it on/off accordingly.

Improved 2D pathfinding
Polygon Collider-based NavMeshes now make use of the Djikstra algorithm, which is a fancy way of saying it's more reliable when gaps in the NavMesh are involved. If performance and quality tests well, I may upgrade the Mesh Collider pathfinding similarly.

More ActionList parameters
String-based parameters can now be sent to the Menu: Change state and Input: Check Actions, making it far easier to have complex QTE events. A tutorial will be up in a while, in the meantime a new one was created for "simple" ones without parameters.

And the rest...

Upgrade notes:

• "Do outline" checkbox in Menu Elements has been replaced with "Text effect" popup, to allow for more options
• "Restore previous" option from Player: Switch Action has been moved from a popup to a separate checkbox, all instances need correcting

• Added: Variable: Check random number Action - use to run subsequent actions at random
• Added: Menu: Check state Action - use to check if Menus and Elements are hidden or locked
• Added: Character: Face direction Action - use to make a Character face a direction relative to the camera
• Added: Ability to add and remove Polygon Collider 2D holes from 2D NavMeshes with Engine: Change scene setting Action
• Added: RememberNavMesh2D script - add to 2D NavMeshes to save changes in holes
• Added: Ability to set individual screen proportions when using Camera: Split screen Action
• Added: When using Menu: Change state Action to change a Menu's visibility, pausing is now optional
• Added: When using Menu: Change state Action to lock a Menu, fading out is now optional
• Added: Ability to set an overriding "Speaker name" for Characters - see Dialogue settings in Inspector
• Added: String parameters can now be declared and used by Menu: Change state, Menu: Check state and Input: Check Actions
• Added: Float parameters can now be declared and used by Engine: Pause game Action
• Added: GameObject parameters can be used by Engine: Run ActionList when running scene-based ActionLists
• Added: Ability to add shadow effect to Menu Elements - "Text effect" replaces "Do outline" setting
• Added: Ability to set the new Player's position if first time present in game when using Player: Switch Action
• Added: All Label menu elements now support Variable token replacement
• Added: Interaction menu elements now support animated Cursor Icons
• Added: Option when using Touch Screen mode for the cursor to be draggable, rather than be underneath the touch position
• Added: Option for single-clicks to move Player when using Straight To Cursor movement (default is just when click is held)
• Added: Ability to paste copied Menu Elements onto a Menu with no Elements to begin with
• Fixed: Variable: Check Action breaking when comparing Global Variables
• Fixed: Various issues related to Polygon Collider pathfinding
• Fixed: "On Load" Cutscene not being called when loading a new scene due to switching Player prefab
• Fixed: Per-Player camera data not being restored when switching Player prefab
• Fixed: Momentary animation glitches when switching to 2D or Legacy-based Player prefabs
• Fixed: Changes in Character portrait graphic, movement sounds and Legacy "Standard" animations not always saving correctly
• Fixed: Characters very rarely sliding indefinitely after reaching destination
• Fixed: Minor issues with Menus with Position type set to On Hotspot
• Fixed: Removed warnings if Run or ToggleRun inputs aren't defined - Settings Manager's listing of available inputs is enough
• Fixed: Not being able to Kill delayed ActionLists
• Fixed: Menus with appear type set to During Gameplay not always obeying transition settings
• Fixed: "Search scenes" button for finding objects referenced in ActionList assets not appearing in certain Actions
• Fixed: GameCameras losing their target after using the Player: Switch Action
• Fixed: Cursor influence now works correctly for GameCameras that are rotated on local Z axis
• Fixed: Various issues when using Engine: End game to restart a game with multiple Player characters involved
• Fixed: Player: Constrain Action not affecting Player movement when using Straight To Cursor movement
• Fixed: "Stuttering" effect when using Ultimate FPS movement after a Cutscene that manually moves the Player

As always, backup before updating!

 

Hi, this asset looks really interesting, I had a look at the 2D Demo and I'm wondering if its possible to mix 2D backgrounds with 3d characters.

For example would I be able to create something like this: http://youtu.be/NaRJAjBIVJI?t=2m3s using Adventure Creator or would it require enough rewriting that it'd be just as easy to create something from scratch.

Movement and interactions all being handled by keyboard instead of by mouse.

A minute or 2 of that is exactly what I'm after creating.

 

Yes, this is quite possible. When making 2.5D games like this, AC has some helpful features, including the ability to assign a background image to a camera, making it much easier to change camera angle. Check out this tutorial - it's quite outdated and simplified, but does at least demonstrate what you can do.

And switching from mouse control to a keyboard is as simple as choosing Keyboard from a drop-down box.

 

Ah thats great, video more or less nails it then, fantastic.

My only remaining question is how much control I have over the nav mesh, I'm a 3d artist so I'd be creating my collision in Maya and then just converting it to a navmesh in unity.

It looks like, using this tool, I could create a whole game (provided its not too large) within a single unity scene, simply switching camera often, however sometimes I'll also want to switch the navmesh, is that also easily possible to do, between 2 scenes I imagine its simple, but within the same scene I'm unsure how you'd go about such a thing.

 

Yes you can change navmeshes within a scene with a command. I have a switch in one of my scenes.

 

That's correct: the Engine: Change scene setting Action can be used to swap out the NavMesh, when using the Mesh Collider method of navigation (which involves using a custom-modelled mesh).

Unfortunately, an annoying bug has cropped up in the latest release that has stopped this from working. It'll be fixed in 1.38, but if you're using 1.37, you can fix it by doing the following:

1) Open up ActionNavMesh.cs (it's in AdventureCreator / Scripts / Actions)
2) Remove lines 49-52

Sorry about that!

 

Hi Chris!

I'm sorry if this has been answered before. I tried scrolling through past answers and couldn't fid it.

Recently I installed a new asset into my game and when I did this error came up and now I can't play the game. I deleted the asset, but that didn't seem to help. Here is the error I'm getting.

UnityException: Tag: PersistentEngine is not defined!
KickStarter.Awake () (at Assets/AdventureCreator/Scripts/Game engine/KickStarter.cs:125)

Thanks again!

 

Hello again, I'm also receiving this error on numerous objects.

UnityException: Tag: PersistentEngine is not defined!
UnityEngine.GameObject.FindWithTag (System.String tag) (at C:/BuildAgent/work/aeedb04a1292f85a/artifacts/EditorGenerated/UnityEngineGameObject.cs:405)
AC.SceneSettings.GetPlayerStart () (at Assets/AdventureCreator/Scripts/Game engine/SceneSettings.cs:95)
GameCamera.ResetTarget () (at Assets/AdventureCreator/Scripts/Camera/GameCamera.cs:146)
GameCamera.Start () (at Assets/AdventureCreator/Scripts/Camera/GameCamera.cs:122)

Thank you!

 

I suspect that the other asset over-wrote the Tags settings that AC relies on. Much of the setup for AC should be automatic, but in cases like this you'll need to manually do it. No worries, though, it's easy: just follow the steps in this tutorial, and you should be good.

 

Fantastic! It worked like a charm! And so simple to do. Thank you, Chris! You are a life saver!

 

I'm probably missing something simple here but I'm trying to use latest version of UFPS with Adventure creator to make a first person game. The character works fine. My problem is when it comes to the menus. When I pause the game the mouse cursor moves freely as it should to select the buttons but when I click on any of them, take the options button for example, it'll open the options menu but the cursor is now locked to the center of the screen and can't move it. I've followed the tutorials and set everything up so I'm not sure what's wrong. I'm sure I'm missing something simple but any help would be great.

[Edit]
My fault, I had ticked force cursor in Vp_FPInput. However now the cursor is not in view unless paused which is what I want but the cursor keep leaving the game screen and can click off game. Any way to fix that?

Thanks.

 

Hi guys. I´ve created a demo scene like in the tutorials and I´m using the robot character with Unity Navigation pathfinding set up. Everything works fine, i.e. the robot walks around my obstacles. I wanted to exchange him and just set up the constructor character the same way. The character walks around my scene, but he ignores the obstacles. The path script is attached. Any idea what I´m doing wrong?
Version 1.36a.

Never mind. Capsule-Collider was offset

 

Hi, I just bought this, I'm very excited to get started!! But when I import it I get this error, anyone!?

Error while importing package: Couldn't replace asset ProjectSettings/TagManager.asset
Asset current path does not match the path name it is being replaced with

 

Argh no replies yet, I really had hoped either an email or this thread would have answered this by now, its friday night I bought this so I can work on it all weekend - now is the best moment for me to use this and it is buggered. Please anyone seen this issue before? I simply cannot even get it installed.

 

@radiantboy - Sorry your having troubles... you should head on over to Chris's website, they have a forum over there that is supper active and you should get all the help you would need there.

 

Thanks man, finally I installed it in a clean project and it worked so I just copied it over to my project and set stuff up and it seems ok, I will join that forum thanks )

 

And 1.38 is out! This update is one of the largest yet for AC, adding some big new features, and a heap of more subtle refinements and fixes. So without further ado:

Physics puzzles
Inspired by the mechanics of games like The Room and Amnesia, 1.38 brings Draggable and PickUp objects, that can be "held" by clicking/touching and dragging around the screen. While PickUps can be moved around freely, thrown, brought closer to the camera, and rotated, Draggables are constrained - mainly along Tracks that limit their movement. For example, a Hinge Track will limit a Draggable object such that it can only be pivoted - allowing for interactivity such as doors and levers (especially nice in first-person games). A bunch of associated Actions and new prefabs have been included, and tutorials will be added soon to demonstrate their use - but for now, the manual covers the basics.

New Scene Manager
With the new Moveable prefabs, the old prefab list in the Scene Manager needed a makeover. Aside from some classy icons and descriptions, existing prefabs can now be listed directly in the Scene Manager, allowing for existing e.g. Cutscenes to be quickly selected without resorting to wading through the Hierarchy window.

Object instantiation
The new Object: Add or remove Action can be used to instantiate prefabs at runtime, or delete existing scene objects. The RememberTransform script has also been upgraded to optionally record such changes - so long as the object in question is placed in a Resources asset folder, it can be brought back into the scene when loading a saved game if was previously deleted.

Improved teleporting
A subtle improvement, but the Object: Teleport Action can now be used to transform objects relative to the player, or the camera. The hope is that this feature, combined with the new Draggable prefab and the object instantiation feature mentioned above, it's now possible to incorporate "Inventory close-up" gameplay without switching to a different scene.

Improved Triggers
Another subtle addition, but one that should have been made some time ago. Triggers can now be used to detect more than just the Player, whether it be any object, a specific object, or any object with a particular component. And for those who make use of ActionList parameters, the Trigger's ActionList can now use the detected object as a parameter.

Custom highlighting
A feature for shader coders: the Hotspot highlighting effect can now be customised. The Highlight script now has a public function that outputs it's intended highlight value, and can be made to not affect it's associated object at all - leaving it up to a custom script to do the effect instead.


And the full changelog:

Upgrade note:

• Third person cameras with a Pitch rotation of Free must be changed to Limited - otherwise they will be unconstrained

• Added: Drag objects - Move objects along pre-defined Tracks, along planes, or rotate around their centre to examine them
• Added: Straight Track prefab - Use to constrain a Drag object along a straight line, optionally adding rolling or screw effects
• Added: Curved Track prefab - Use to constrain a Drag object along a circular line
• Added: Hinge Track prefab - Use to constrain a Drag object's position, only allowing it to rotate in a circular motion
• Added: PickUp objects - grab, rotate and throw objects freely in 3D space
• Added: "Moveable: Check track position" Action - use to check how far along a locked track a Drag object is
• Added: "Moveable: Move along track" Action - use to automatically move a Drag object along a fixed track
• Added "RememberMoveable" script - attach to Moveable objects to record their position, transform and position along a track
• Added: New prefab organiser to Scene Manager - use to access prefabs in the scene, and name new prefabs on creation
• Added: "Object: Add or remove" Action - use to add prefabs to, or delete objects from, the current scene
• Added: "Object: Check presence" Action - use to determine if an object or prefab is present in the current scene
• Added:
  RememberTransform scripts now have the option to save an object's
  presence in the scene (to instantiate/delete automatically)
• Added: "Graphic" menu element - use to display animated and static textures in a Menu
• Added: "Hotspot label override" text for Buttons - replaces Hotspot label when cursor hovers over
• Added: Ability to affect child objects when using Object: Send message Action
• Added: When changing an Actions type, it's "After running" settings are retained
• Added: Animated texture speeds are now stored as floats, rather than integers, for finer tuning
• Added: Ability for GameCamera Third Person to be drag-controlled
• Added: More rotation types for GameCamera ThirdPerson
• Added: Offset angle field to GameCamera Third Person when spin rotation is locked behind target
• Added: Deceleration fields to GameCamera Third Person
• Added: Smooth-stopping when GameCamera Third Person pitching reaches limits
• Added: Mecanim-based Characters can now have their walk and run speeds changed with Character: Animate Action
• Added: Mecanim and Sprites Unity Complex-based Characters can have their change in vertical position sent to a Mecanim parameter
• Added: Object: Transform Action can now use a Marker as a target
• Added: Object: Teleport Action can now be used to teleport objects relative to the active camera and the player
• Added: Triggers can now be set to detect other GameObjects, or GameObjects with a specific component, as well as the Player
• Added: Triggers can now use the colliding GameObject as a parameter
• Added: "Dialogue: Stop speech" Action - ends all speech and subtitles instantly
• Added: "Character: Rename" Action - use to rename a Character's "speaking name" in subtitles
• Added:
  Option in Speech Manager to display speech text indefinitely until
  player responds (unless the speech is set to "Play in background")
• Added: Option in Settings Manager for Inventory combination Interactions to work in reverse
• Added: Option to Settings Manager for Inventory items to show active texture when cursor is over them, even when unselected
• Added: Multiple instances of the same Inventory item can optionally be displayed in separate slots
• Added: "Character: Change rendering" and "Character: Face direction" Actions now work for diagonal directions
• Added:
  If a ConstantID or Remember script is added to an object with a script
  already attached, the same "constant ID" number is used
• Added:
  GetHighlightIntensity public function to Highlight script - use to
  perform custom shader effects when objects are highlighted
• Added:
  Brightening of an object's materials due to Highlight script is now
  optional, so that the effect can be overridden through script
• Added: Alphanumeric Input boxes now have the option to accept spaces
• Added: Option for Input boxes to enter text right-to-left
• Added: Input boxes no longer have a character limit
• Added: Menu Buttons set to offset Inventory or Dialogue elements can now offset by any amount
• Added: "AC" namespace to all Actions, in preparation of Unity 5 compatibility
• Fixed: "Engine: Change scene setting" Action no longer working
• Fixed: Inconsistencies with loading data from objects with multiple ConstantID or Remember scripts
• Fixed: All Input boxes being simultaneously affected if multiple are on screen at once
• Fixed: Camera: Switch Action not skipping if it's already running when skipping begins
• Fixed: Previous camera being switched to if a Camera: Fade Action is called while a Camera: Crossfade is running
• Fixed: Variables being editable during gameplay if "Show realtime values?" is checked
• Fixed: Debug logging when using Player: Switch Action to restore previous Player data
• Fixed: Tokens in scrolling dialogue speech not updating until all speech is displayed
• Fixed:
  DialogList elements that display a fixed option showing the first
  Conversation option if the chosen number is not available
• Fixed: Characters not always being correctly rotated after skipping Character: Move to point Action
• Fixed: Examine cursors not animating in Context Sensitive mode
• Fixed: Shaking effect if the opening Cutscene relies on a GameCamera that's influenced by the cursor's position
• Fixed: Console errors from GameCameras when no Player prefab is present in the scene
• Fixed: Console error from GameCamera2D when viewing Inspector
• Fixed: Various errors related to pausing Menus being turned on and off using the Menu: Change state Action
• Fixed: Menus not always turning off due to Menu: Change state Action if the Action was skipped
• Fixed: Errors when creating new Interaction menu elements
• Fixed: Poor rotation transitions when using Object: Transform Action
• Fixed: RememberTransform script not un-parenting attached object when loading if the object was saved with no parent
• Fixed: Certain Trigger types still working even when Engine: Manage systems is used to disable them
• Fixed: Cutscenes with a start delay causing blocking gameplay indefinitely if the Cutscene itself has no blocking Actions
• Fixed: Menu element hover sounds not always playing
• Fixed: Conflict between camera fades and Menus that pause gameplay
• Fixed: Not all Straight To Cursor options appearing in Settings Manager if the Input method is Touch Screen
• Fixed:
  Asset-based Actions' "After running" field expecting a Cutscene, not
  another asset, if viewed in the ActionList Editor window
• Fixed: Subtitles appearing in next scene, if they were being displayed just before a scene transition
• Fixed: "Play while game paused" option on Sound objects finally works!

 

WOW... That's a lot of work, thank you Chris for your excellent support!

 

hi,
do you know how this will work in unity5 with webgl? if i start a project now, will i be able to export it to webgl? or too early to ask?

 

It is too early, I'm afraid, but I don't see there'll be a problem. I've been making updates to the code base to accommodate the changes that Unity 5 will bring, but until it's out properly I can't be specific.

 

Installed from the Asset Store, but seem to get some errors. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Scott

 

Hi Scott, sorry for the wait. Do you have any other assets installed in the same project? It could be that there's another script file in there called Player that's confusing it. Also, what Unity version are you using?

 

Yeah- there was a script that came with the Curvy asset that was conflicting. Luckily it's for a component I don't need. Figured it would be something like that- thanks. Running 4.5.3.

 

Hi Chris,
I did not buy AC by now but is it possible to create a scene 100% within code?
I would like to build my scenes dynamically. So I would have to create hotspots or the interactions more dynamic on runtime.

 

Hotspots certainly - you can just instantiate the prefab and assign it's values through script. Interactions and other ActionLists - not so. However, you would be able to create ActionList assets, and assign then dynamically to Hotspots as Interactions through script. Since AC isn't designed to be used in this way, I can only give advice when it comes to the particulars, e.g. the Hotspots you've mentioned.

 

Hi Chris! Recently our company bought AC so we can make an Educational Adventure game, and so far it has helped us al lot, and we thank you for that. But we got some questions that will really help us in development since we are in a reeaaaaly tight deadline.

1. In the conversations we need the question (dialog) to appear above the answers/options, do you think of any way of doing that with AC tools, menus, etc...?
2. Is there any way to customize text color on the word level? HTML tags? somenthing like that?
3. We are triyng to combine PlayerPrefabs+AssetActionLists+ConversationPrefabs and such so our team can make the dialogs in parallel so we can integrate further with SVN, do you have any advice for us? cause our games are heavily text based and lots of quizzes too.
4. And lastly, do you plan on streamnlining the dialog/conversation creation and implementation in any way or we should integrate somenthing like Dialogue Manager for this?

Will be really apreciated with your answers, and thanks in advance!

 

Open up MenuLabel.cs, and around lines 212-221 you'll see three lines commented out. These were removed for various reasons, but if you uncomment them, then a Label whose "Label type" is set to "Dialogue Line" will always display the last-spoken line. Placing such a Label in a Menu set to appear "During Conversation" will make it show up along with any other dialogue-options menus.

Yes - all of AC's menus use Unity's rich text features.

The main thing to keep in mind of is to never prefab a scene-based ActionList (e.g. Cutscenes). If you're sticking to the provided ActionList Assets, you should be find.

There is a discussion on the AC forum about integration with Dialogue System, which may be helpful to you.

Good luck with the deadline!

 

Thanks a lot for your help Chris!!!! Good weekend for you!

 

Chris, i'm sorry but we dindn't find any commented lines as you refer on MenuLabel.cs.... maybe you already dropped those lines on some update? We're using 1.38a (soon we'll update to 1.38c). Can you shed us some light??

Thanks in advance for your time!

 

My mistake - those comments were made as part of the 1.39 update (coming soon). You should be able to just display a speech label on your Conversation menu for it to work, in that case.

 

Will you be adding Third Person (TPS) to this asset?

 

Already have! Third Person cameras can follow the player from a set distance and avoid wall colliders. They can also be used to rotate around a single focal-point, The Room-style, which'll be demonstrated in a new Demo game that will be coming out shortly.

 

Hey Chris,

Thanks for all of the replies on here. I've watched a few of your tutorial videos and AC looks great. I know AC does not have built in combat features, but do think implementing combat might be possible via the Playmaker integration? Thanks!

 

I think it depends on how tightly you want the mechanics to overlap. If you want to have e.g. "combat sections" and "adventure sections", then it should be quite easy. The Engine: Manage systems Action allows you to disable any of AC's systems, from movement, cursor, to interactions and menus - so you could temporarily remove any systems you don't want running during a combat sequence.

A more overlapping function would be much more complex, and there's no real "best way" to go about it, since every game is different. I would suggest disabling AC's player movement system, and rely on your own one the whole time. You'd also have to create AC Cutscenes that act as "Game Over" sequences or what have you - and use PlayMaker's ability to send messages to objects to run them using PM.

Incidentally, the upcoming 1.39 introduces a few improvements to AC's PlayMaker integration - the ability to run FSM's on the player, and the ability to differentiate between multiple FSM's on the same GameObject.

 

The 1.39 update is out! The focus this time is on overall refinement, but there still a few interesting additions:

New Physics demo
There's a new demo game out! This one demonstrates AC's recent capabilities for physics puzzles, and can be played here. Though the source for it is not included in the official AC release (for file-size reasons), it can be downloaded for free on the same page.

OUYA support
All thanks to OUYA Android developer Tim Graupmann, AC now supports the OUYA console, and can emulate both the mouse and a regular controller. Instructions in the manual, but it's all pretty simple, and the controller mapping can easily be changed by editing the dedicated script file.

"Context Sensitive" mode upgrade *IMPORTANT*
Games made in Context Sensitive mode now support more than one "use" Interaction on a Hotspot - though only the first will be considered the active one. This allows you to easily change the Interaction / Icon in-game without resorting to "swapping out" different Hotspots.

However, all Hotspots already in your game will have to be upgraded. Upgrading is simply a matter of viewing the Hotspots in the Inspector window, and saving the scene - you might get an "Unsupported type Generic Mono" warning in the Console, but this can be safely ignored. If you run your game without upgrading Hotspots, they'll be temporarily upgraded at runtime, but you'll be reminded to upgraded them properly afterwards.

"Choose Hotspot Then Interaction" mode upgrade
Games using this mode can take advantage of a number of new features related to triggering Interactions. Firstly, the Interaction menu can be made to appear when the cursor merely hovers over a Hotspot, rather than having to click on it.

Better, though, is the ability to change how Interactions are selected. The default is still to click an Interaction icon from a Menu, but now you have the option to "cycle" through the icons with a dedicated axis and click the Hotspot (Walking Dead on PC-style) as well as the option to cycle through Cursor Icons. The latter is similar to the cursor-cycling of the old Sierra games, but only works when over Hotspots, as it'll only cycle through the Interactions that have been assigned to it.

Hardware cursors
Something a little less complicated. Want to use hardware cursors instead of a texture overlay? "Cursor Manager" -> "Cursor rendering" - > "Hardware". You can also finally define a "click offset" for each cursor, for those that don't appear in the centre.

Path Cutscenes
You can now define a Cutscene (or ActionList asset) to run whenever a Character reaches a node in a pre-defined Path. Additionally, the Character involved can be used as a parameter in this Cutscene - allowing you to control that Character dynamically. This is handy for background NPCs that can wander a scene, and do different things as they reach each destination.

"Variable: Run sequence" Action
Let's say you want the Player character to have a different response each time you click on something, so that it doesn't feel too repetitive. This Action will sync with an integer Variable (local or global) and play a different subsequent branch of Actions according to it's value. The integer will increase by one each time it's run, making it easy to set up different responses each time.

Improved PlayMaker support
You can now run FSMs attached to the Player, as well as differentiate between different FSMs on the same GameObject.

And the full changelog:

= Upgrade note =
Hotspots built for Context Sensitive games require upgrading. To upgrade, simply view each Hotspot in the Inspector and save the scene. "Unsupported type Generic Mono" errors can be ignored.

• Added: Physics Demo game - download for free from www.adventurecreator.org
• Added: Support for OUYA platform - just check "Playing on OUYA?" in Settings Manager
• Added: Option to see Interaction menus when cursor hovers over a Hotspot, rather than clicking one (Choose Hotspot Then Interaction-mode only)
• Added: Option to start Interactions by cycling available Interactions as Cursors or Menu icons, then clicking the Hotspot (Choose Hotspot Then Interaction-mode only)
• Added: Ability to assign a Cutscene or ActionList asset that runs whenever a Character reaches a Path node
• Added: Ability to define an ActionList asset that runs when the game begins, regardless of starting scene
• Added: "Variable: Run sequence" Action - Increases an Integer Variable's value, and runs different Actions afterwards
• Added: "Object: Change material" Action - changes any material on an object
• Added: Option to use either Software or Hardware Cursor rendering - set in Cursor Manager
• Added: Ability to define "Click offset" for Cursors, for Cursors whose "click point" is not the centre of the graphic
• Added: Ability to call FSMs on the Player prefab using the Third-party: PlayMaker Action
• Added: Ability to specify the FSM by name to call when using the Third-party: PlayMaker Action
• Added: Ability to limit the number of steps between Menu Slider values - setting to zero removes the limit
• Added: Option for Sliders not respond to player clicks - useful for creating gauges
• Added: Ability to set the global "GUI depth" of all Menus
• Added: Option for a Menu to ignore Cursor clicks
• Added: Option for Object: Send message Action to be ignored when it's ActionList is skipped
• Added: List of required inputs in Settings Manager now distinguishes between Button and Axis input types
• Added: Option to only show Menu Buttons set to Shift Inventory Or Dialogue if the button will actually have an effect
• Added: Public variable to RuntimeActionList script that stores a reference to it's "source" ActionList asset file
• Added: Hotspots in Context Sensitive mode can hold more than one 'Use' Interaction, but only the first enabled will be active
• Added: Ability to link a GameCamera's pitch to it's target's height
• Added: Notice on _Camera script Inspector that it can be attached to custom Camera types to integrate with AC
• Added: Option for Moveables to ignore collisions with any other Moveable that has a Rigidbody
• Added: Option for Moveables to place children on the same layer
• Added: Option to remove a Hotspot's yellow cube gizmo in the Scene window
• Added: Option for Paths that loop to teleport the Character moving along it to the start when they reach the end
• Added: Option to ignore gravity when using Character: Move to point Action - "Pathfind?" must be disabled, however
• Added: "LightSwitch" script - attach to Light objects and use the Object: Send message Action to turn them on and off
• Added: Option to NavigationMesh script for mesh renderer to not be disabled when the game starts
• Added: Option in Cursor Manager for Walk cursor to only display when the cursor is only a NavigationMesh object
• Added: Option to disallow Point And Click movement if the Player has an Inventory Item selected
• Added: Ability to define the starting state of Colliders with the Remember Collider script
• Added: Ability to map cycling of Hotspots to an Input Axis called CycleHotspots when Hotspot Detection is set to layer Vicinity
• Added: Ability to play a sound clip when scrolling speech text - a default Sound prefab must also be defined within the Scene
• Added: Clearer explanation of inventory and interface options in Settings Manager
• Removed: Ability to explicitly set an Input box to display text right-to-left - this is handled automatically if the current language is named "Arabic"
• Removed: Ability to translate the default label of Input boxes
• Fixed: Menus not taking "click priority" over those drawn underneath
• Fixed: Various issues related to Interaction Menus and Inventory Items
• Fixed: Colliders on sprite-based Characters not scaling with sprites according to Sorting Map
• Fixed: A Hotspot's ability to emulate Context Sensitive mode not being clear enough in the Hotspot Inspector
• Fixed: "Check" Actions not always returning correct result when skipping ActionLists
• Fixed: Container Menus not staying open when set to "Pause when enabled"
• Fixed: Menus not being able to fade out if they were previously turned on instantly
• Fixed: Third-person Cameras not decelerating properly when controlled by drag input
• Fixed: Third-person Cameras not rotating relative to target rotation if the target is not the Player
• Fixed: Player sometimes not being able to walk to Hotspot markers following a scene change
• Fixed: "After running" setting not being obeyed by Engine: Run ActionList Actions placed in asset files
• Fixed: Icons over Hotspots with BoxCollider2D components not being correctly positioned
• Fixed: Speech Manager giving copied Menu Elements the same ID number as the original Element
• Fixed: De-selecting an ActionList no longer removes the Actions from the ActionList Editor window
• Fixed: Hotspots not de-selecting if entering a Trigger initiates a Conversation
• Fixed: Sprite-based Player prefabs having wrong scale and rotation for one frame when using Player: Switch Action
• Fixed: NullReference Exception error if a Menu Slider references a Global Variable that does not exist
• Fixed: Previous subtitles occasionally briefly displaying if speech text is set to scroll
• Fixed: Backspace errors when editing Input elements that display text right-to-left
• Fixed: When a Variable is set as the value of an Input element that reads right-to-left, the text is not reversed
• Fixed: Vertical axis for activating Arrow prompts being the wrong way around
• Fixed: Character sprite children scales being forced even if "Frame flipping" is set to None
• Fixed: Left-clicking Inventory item on a Hotspot with no Interaction defined not de-selecting the Item if supposed to
• Fixed: "Right-clicking when Inventory item is active" rule not being obeyed when Cursor is over a Hotspot
• Fixed: Viewing ConstantID components in Inspector causing Scene to be marked as modified
• Fixed: "Play while game paused" option on Sound objects finally works!

As always, please back up before upgrading!

 

Hi Chris! We are back again with the conversation problem! So, we updated to 1.39, un-commented those lines you said (around 212-221 on MenuLabel.cs) and we can have this label who will display the same text as its being displayed on the subtitles menu, now we just want to show this label when the "optins/answers" appear, but if we put "during conversantion" the label will appear but won't have the text in it because it need to be active before in order to receive the text... And as we already have all the dialogs and conversations inserted in the game, we need a way to do this so we don't have to control the label by hand on every conversation... Help us Chris!! =D

 

Don't worry, we'll sort you out. But is this an issue with 1.39 or AC in general? i.e. did you get this working before upgrading?

 

No, on 1.38 as we saw that there was no commented lines, we tried a few things but couldn't imagine how to output the current dialogue to this new label. Do you have any demo scene with that, i.e. question and answers at the same time on screen?

 

Hello Chris,

I have been getting this error when I create a new scene. My old scenes work fine, but any new ones produce these two errors.

NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object
AC.Dialog.Start () (at Assets/AdventureCreator/Scripts/Speech/Dialog.cs:70)

NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object
AC.PlayerMovement.Start () (at Assets/AdventureCreator/Scripts/Controls/PlayerMovement.cs:59)

Thanks!

 

Which version of AC are you using? Please be sure to be using the latest if you can - 1.39.