Version 1.54: Game text wizards, community wiki

ChrisIceBox

AC's focus on refinement continues..  The main features:

Import and export wizards
Not a groundbreaking feature, but one that those with big, multi-language projects will appreciate: new wizards for the exporting and importing of game text CSV files give you the ability to carefully choose exactly what gets imported, exported, and in what order.  The number of modified lines upon a succesful import is now listed, too.  Don't worry - this won't affect pre-existing translation files, however you will need to explicitly state which column represents the translation when importing.

Multi-polygonal 2D pathfinding
This is somewhat experimental, but testing has been promising: 2D NavMeshes can now be expanded upon by adding additional PolygonCollider2D components to the NavMesh gameobject.  These colliders must be kept separate from one another, and the idea is that they allow for characters in separate rooms to navigate without the need for a connecting strip.  The caveat, however, is that the character evasion and "NavMesh hole" features will not work in these additional colliders.

Community wiki
Not technically part of this update, but the community-led AC wiki site is now populated enough to warrant a mention here.  This is intended as an unofficial supplement to AC's education resources, so if you have a custom script, Action, or a general tip when it comes to working with AC please share it!  Credit goes to @Alverik for spearheading this project.


And the full changelog:

Upgrade notes

• The ability to import and export all translations at once is moved to the new text import and export wizards (workflow changes, but functionality is retained)
• Narration speech text scroll audio is now defined by a separate field
• Camera shaking is no longer ceased when the game is saved or loaded

Game text

• Added: Game text import and export wizards - use for greater control when importing and exporting text listed in the Speech Manager
• Added: Option to transfer "Dialogue: Play speech" Action comments to speech line descriptions when gathering text in the Speech Manager
• Changed: The ability to import and export all translations at once is moved to the new text import and export wizards (workflow changes, but functionality is retained)
• Changed: For performance, game text is no longer listed in the Speech Manager while the game is running in the Editor and not paused

Speech

• Changed: Narration speech text scroll audio is now defined by a separate field
• Fixed: Issues with subtitle display if a speech line contains a [continue] tag followed by a [wait] tag

Parameters

• Fixed: ActionList asset parameters sometimes syncing with scene-based ActionList unintentionally
• Fixed: ActionList asset GameObject parameters not always being correctly assigned
• Fixed: Display issue with "ActionList: Check parameter" Action's GUI

Menus

• Added: If the New Game Wizard is used to create a "Default AC" interface, copies of the UI prefabs are created to aid in later switches to Unity UI
• Added: "OnGenerateMenus" event - use to perform custom code when the Menus are generated upon the game's start
• Fixed: Issues when removing the first page of a Journal

Camera shaking

• Changed: Camera shaking is now stored in save games, and no longer ceased when the game is saved or loaded
• Fixed: "Camera: Shake" Action having an effect when the game is paused

Other

• Added: Isolated areas in 2D NavMeshes can created by adding extra PolygonCollider2D components to the same NavMesh GameObject
• Added: Ability for Triggers to react during gameplay, cutscenes, or both
• Added: Auto-created ActionList asset files are given default names that better describe their function
• Added: Warning message if a Player GameObject is not tagged as Player
• Added: Manual section on integrating AC with other gameplay types
• Fixed: Rotation issue with "Object: Transform" Action
• Fixed: Sound volumes not updating correcting immediately when a scene starts

Alverik

Hey, great stuff as usual!

Mehrdad

Nice job Chris!!! . Great features.

Alverik

Ah, by the way, I have a few articles in backlog which I want to add to the wikia , but I'm sort of swamped in work right now, so I'll have to take them slowly. Still, I will keep posting more stuff from the forums from time to time. But, anyway, if anyone else wants to contribute they are welcome to add all their tips, tricks and scripts which may help others get up to speed in their development too. (Just remember, those articles in the wikia may someday make your life easier too, so everybody wins if we all share! )

Suro

• Added: Auto-created ActionList asset files are given default names that better describe their function

I think this is what I think this is!
Thank you!

machineboy

Nice job!

flyhog

Thank you!

ChrisIceBox

v1.54a fixes a critical issue involving exported game text that take up multiple lines.  It's strongly recommended you update if this affects you:

Version 1.54a

• Added: Ability to define the highlighted colour of already-chosen Conversation options that have already been chosen
• Fixed: Issues with the importing and exporting of game text that has carriage returns in v1.54
• Fixed: Audio paths in exported script sheets missing a trailing slash if speaker subfolders are enabled
• Fixed: Remember scripts attached to Player prefabs not saving correctly on Android devices in Unity 5.4.x
  

ChrisIceBox

Another critical bug was found in v1.54 - apologies, a fix is now here:

Version 1.54b

• Fixed: Not being able to manually create ActionList assets via the Create context menu in v1.54

TayannaStudios

I'd actually noticed this and was having to duplicate existing ActionLists and editing them. Glad it's fixed, cheers, Chris

ChrisIceBox

The bughunt continues..

Version 1.54c

• Added: “Click By Hovering Cursor Example” script - demonstrates how custom events can be used to interact with Hotspots and Menus by hovering over them for a set time
• Added: Events that are called whenever a Menu is turned on or off
• Added: Ability to play looped MovieTextures as background images in 2.5D games
• Added: Option to disable Hotspots that have no relevant Interaction when an Inventory item is selected
• Added: The “Dialogue: Stop speech” Action can now be used to end either background or blocking speech only, as well as all types
• Added: Unity UI prefab alternatives for the “Walking Dead template” downloadable interface package
• Added: Option to Menu Manager on Windows platform to apply a fix to Menu preview outlines, which occurs in some versions of Unity / Windows
• Added: Ability to pause and stop movie clips that are playing on materials with the “Engine: Play movie clip” Action
• Added: Alternative Brain2D player prefab that makes use of Sprites Unity Complex, to demonstrate its usage
• Fixed: Unity UI-sourced Menus still being reactive to cursors and Hotspot labels even if the root Canvas Group component has “Interactable” unchecked
• Fixed: Duplicated subtitle Menus not being closed when the “Dialogue: Stop speech” Action is used to force off subtitles
• Fixed: Game sometimes hanging if a “ActionList: Check running” Action being used to check for skipping is skipped
• Fixed: “Time before can skip” field not showing in Speech Manager for all cases in which its value is used in-game
• Fixed: 2D characters sometimes walking on the spot if they are talking but no talking animation is supplied
• Fixed: Occasional camera jittering when transitioning between GameCameras follow the Cursor
• Fixed: Background speech becoming skippable if blocking speech is playing at the same time
• Fixed: Issue with Menu Element hover sounds not playing correctly
• Fixed: OnMouseOverMenu event sometimes not being called
• Fixed: Spamming of error messages if a FollowSortingMap component cannot find a SortingMap to follow
• Fixed: Door and Pinboard Hotspots in 3D Demo not highlighting when selected

Alverik

Nice stuff! And not only bug fixes, there's a lot of nice new additions

salex

Nice

Deckard_89

Huntin' more bugs than Starship Troopers! Good work Chris.

themightyzq

Hey all - I'm having an issue and want to see if it's just me.

Is anyone having problems with inventory and player switching?  I'm noticing that if I have one character, switch to a different player, and then switch back the original player's inventory is now empty.  I'm not transferring inventory on any of the switches, so theoretically, the first player's inventory should maintain in their own possession, but something seems to have broken for me.

ChrisIceBox

@themightyzq: Can't see anything wrong upon recreating your described situation.  What was your previous AC version when it was working?  Post more details in a new thread and I'll look into it further.

themightyzq

Hmmmmmm...Last time I was using player switch quite a bit would have been early August, so I'd imagine it was 1.52.  I'll start a new thread.  

matrix211v1

• Added: Ability for Triggers to react during gameplay, cutscenes, or both

Oh thank you!

radiantboy

Great work as usual Chris. The new export wizard, does that mean I can export a type of script file, and share it with my mate in dropbox, and we can edit, then I can simply reimport it into AC? If so that is so perfect for collaborating, here's hoping :-)

ChrisIceBox

@radiantboy: You could always export translation files, this just means you have total control over the columns, row sorting etc, in a much nicer UI.  Same goes for importing: you choose what columns get imported as what translation, which should make things much easier.

radiantboy

I see, but i can only find an html export when I hit create script sheet, dont I need to use CSV or something to import it back?