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NPC, path & animations

FRACTOFRACTO
edited October 2017 in Technical Q&A
Hello,

I have an NPC that moves along a path as shown in this video.

These are my questions about it:

- We want to activate an other animation different to walk in some nodes like stop and search in the bookshelf, and next continues with walking. I add a cutscene for testing in one node but doesn't works.




- Do I have to link hotspot into the NPC hierarchy so that it moves jointly or is there any option in Hotspot menu?
- How can I do when I click on the NPC and activate "talk" option, the NPC stops and Player goes in his direction? And when they find each other are faced.

Many thanks!

Comments

  • ChrisIceBoxChrisIceBox
    I'm afraid that last Path image isn't showing up for me, but your Character: Animate Action doesn't have Wait until finish? checked which means it ends as soon as it runs, and the path is resumed.

    Do I have to link hotspot into the NPC hierarchy so that it moves jointly or is there any option in Hotspot menu?

    The Hotspot should be placed either on the NPC's root object, or as a child object.  If the root object has a Capsule Collider already on it, then the Hotspot can make use of that.  See the 3D Demo's "Brain" NPC for a practical example.

    How can I do when I click on the NPC and activate "talk" option, the NPC stops and Player goes in his direction? And when they find each other are faced.

    In the Hotspot's Interaction panel, set the Player Action to Walk To, and check Set minimum distance?.  The Player will then move towards him and stop when he is close enough (which is set by the Proximity field).  To have the NPC and the Player face each other, begin the Interaction ActionList with two Character: Face object Actions.
  • FRACTOFRACTO
    edited October 2017
    Hello Chris,
    thanks for your help, I solved almost all doubts I had, but other derivates have appeared:

    - In "Talk to Kevin" Interaction I add an ActionList:Pause for the Cutscene when Kevin goes through the bookshelves, and at the end of interaction an ActionList: Resume so thats resume Cutscene.
    I would like it to resume from the point where it has stopped and not from the beginning.

    - Conversation starts but the Cutscene continues and the NPC goes to other point. Is there any way to make NPC stops and wait for the player?

    - When player executes another interaction intercedes with the text of the NPC cutscene.

    - I wish to NPC would turn to the bookshelves when it stops. How could I do it?
    I thought of introducing a hotspot in which bookshelves but is incompatible with the path system, or not?

    Attach a video in-game and ActionList "Talk to" Kevin and Kevin Hotspot.



    Thanks.
  • ChrisIceBoxChrisIceBox
    1/2) And "OnStart" is running at the time?  You can see if it is by checking List active ActionLists in Game window? at the bottom of the Settings Manager.  If all "OnStart" is doing is sending Kevin along the path, and the rest is done through Node Cutscenes, then I'm not sure that's the right approach.

    To make him stop moving along his path, use the Character: Move along path Action, and set the Method to Stop Moving.  The same Action can be used to resume his last path when the player's interaction is over.

    3) The Subtitle Menu in your Menu Manager has an option named Duplicate for each line?.  Checking it will allow multiple to display simultaneously.  Further options allow you to limit the Menu's display for specific characters, so that you can move e.g. the Player's spech to a separate Subtitles Menu.

    4) The Character: Face object Action can be used to make a character turn.
  • FRACTOFRACTO
    Hello Chris,

    1/2) What's the right approach for this dog you think?

    The Stop Moving & Resume of move along path works but the NPC resumes his movement from the beginning of Path and not from point where are. Can I indicate where to resume?

    3) Ok, solved!

    4) I use "Character -> Face Direction" option because each bookshelf is a different object. KevinWalk Path is the cutscene I call in different points from this path, if I refer to an object I would always look at the same bookshelf.
    Another option is create at each path point a different ActionScript.
  • ChrisIceBoxChrisIceBox
    edited October 2017
    1/2) It should be automatic, IIRC.  I'll look into this for you.  What AC version are you using?

    4) Yes, I'm afraid you'll need separate Cutscenes for each node.
  • FRACTOFRACTO
    1/2) My AC version is 1.55c

    4) OK! I can then use to create different animations too.
  • ChrisIceBoxChrisIceBox
    OK, I'll still look into it but you should also duplicate the project and see if the issue is present in the latest release.
  • ChrisIceBoxChrisIceBox
    Can't see any issue with the resume path feature - check that you're specifically commanding him to resume the last path only, and in the latest release.
  • FRACTOFRACTO
    Hello Chris,

    I updated AC to last version but the problem persist. 

    Once stopped the "Move Along Path" at the beginning of conversation and, at the end, when I restart it again, I'm indicating that calls "OnStart" cutscene and it's defined by "move in new path".  So it starts again from the starting point. This may be the problem.

    I've tried not to call the "Onstart" but then it doesn't restart the movement.

    Maybe what should I do first, inside "Onstart" cutscene, check that the action "Move along path" has already been executed previously?

    Kevin Talk Interaction Begin-End

    OnStart Cutscene

    Many thanks.
  • ChrisIceBoxChrisIceBox
    When OnStart finishes, it immediately runs another Cutscene named "KevinWalk" - what does that do?

    There's no need to run OnStart again if you're resuming the path beforehand, and doing so is what's causing the issue.  I don't know what KevinWalk does but perhaps you need to run that instead.  Then again, resuming the path in KevinTalk should be all that's necessary.
  • FRACTOFRACTO
    KevinWalk is a cutscene where I have introduced an animation and a dialogue line. From the "KevinWalk" Path I call this in some points of the route.

    KevinWalk Cutscene

    KevinWalk Path
  • ChrisIceBoxChrisIceBox
    But why run it immediately after having him begin his path?  Making him e.g. play animations / face objects while he's on the move would cause conflicts - unless you mean to have it run as a node cutscene like KevinWalk_1 etc?
  • FRACTOFRACTO
    Yes, I have a different cutscene like KevinWalk_X that run in different nodes.
    The idea is, as you have said, to play different group of animations, line text, face object... in some of the nodes of the route, for that reason the use of these cutscenes.
  • ChrisIceBoxChrisIceBox
    Sure - but you're playing "KevinWalk" (no _1 etc) immediately after setting him on the path:
    https://www.dropbox.com/s/rbam9gq7fsbygnk/OnStart Cutscene.png?dl=0
  • FRACTOFRACTO
    I replace the “after running -> run cutscene” for “continue” because I thought that it could be part of the problem but it still doesn’t work.

    I'm sure it must be something imperceptible in some action.

    I’m going to simplify “kevinwalk path”, without any action on nodes, in case there is part of the problem here.

    I’ll keep you informed.
  • FRACTOFRACTO
    Nothing... There's no way I can restart "move along path" again. 

    As I have been trying and testing different options, the last proposal I have and making a summary is this:

    - We start with a OnStart Cutscene when I initiate the "Move along path" named KevinPath.

    OnStart


    - In my KevinWalk Path I have, in some nodes, others cutscenes named NPC KevinWalk_1 (active in node 1), NPC KevinWalk_6 (active in node 6), NPC KevinWalk_10 (active in node 10) and NPC KevinWalk_15 (active in node 15).

    KevinPath


    NPC KevinWalk_1 (the same structure of others cutscenes)


    - In "NPC Kevin: Talk to" Interaction I begin with a "Character->Move Along Path->Stop Moving" and, at the end finish with "Character->Move Along Path->Resume Last Set Path".

    NPC Kevin Talk to 


    Chris, do you see something that you think might be the reason of the problem?
    If you think its come from another site do not hesitate to ask me for the information you need.

    Thanks for your help, as always.
  • ChrisIceBoxChrisIceBox
    From what you've shown in this last post, it looks OK.  It could well be something else that's causing the issue, but without knowing what else is going on it's not really possible to say.

    I'm PMing you a test scene of mine that demonstrates how they should work.
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