Forum rules - please read before posting.
Some feature requests (List exports, Variables, Dragging Action fields)
Hi Chris,
since I'm working with Adventure Creator for some time now and our Project is growing constantly I came up with some ideas that could optimize our workflow a lot:
1. Convertable Variables (global to local, local to global)
We have more than 200 global Variables in the game now which - even if the "path"-feature (I mean using "/") is really helpful - tend to get quite difficult to work with. I found that I better had used some of them as local variables to have a much cleaner structure in the project. To do this afterwards is a lot of work since all the references in different Action List had to be updated munually. So it would be great to have a Button to switch variables either to global if they are local in a scene or vice versa while keeping the references to these variables in Actions.
2. Possibility to save the list of Variables as a csv file
As I mentioned the list of variables is growing constantly and a way to export the complete (or filtered) list of variables as a simple csv file would be great for external documentation for other team members.
3. Possibility to save the list of Inventory Items as a csv file
The same as with Variables. A possibility to export the list of Inventory Items would be great and a big time saver. I keep all the lists in a Project Excel sheet for overview purposes that is used by all team members and I update it manually. But sometimes you forget updating it for some Items and an export function would help me a lot with it.
4. Possibility to drag actions fields to another action
Would it be technically possible to enable dragging the reference that is stored in an Actions field to another Actions field? For example if I have a Dialogue: Play Speech Action then dragging the Speaker reference directly to the Object: Animate Action that comes after it. Working with the Hierarchy window tend to end up in constantly scrolling up and down throught the list of Meshes, Markers, Cutscenes and so on. Having a way to drag those things from one Action to another would speed up the workflow a lot.
5. Description field for variables
A really great feature for teams would be to have a multiline text field for each variable to add a descrition to it. I'm currently using small sentences as Variable names but they tend to get badly readable with the short fields that are used in all the Component and Action fields. With the description field I could use shorter Variable names and could also look up what exactly does this variable do and where is it used, completely inside the Project.
All those ideas are non-vital to successfully make a game with AC but would speed up the workflow at least for us but maybe for others, too.
Mac
since I'm working with Adventure Creator for some time now and our Project is growing constantly I came up with some ideas that could optimize our workflow a lot:
1. Convertable Variables (global to local, local to global)
We have more than 200 global Variables in the game now which - even if the "path"-feature (I mean using "/") is really helpful - tend to get quite difficult to work with. I found that I better had used some of them as local variables to have a much cleaner structure in the project. To do this afterwards is a lot of work since all the references in different Action List had to be updated munually. So it would be great to have a Button to switch variables either to global if they are local in a scene or vice versa while keeping the references to these variables in Actions.
2. Possibility to save the list of Variables as a csv file
As I mentioned the list of variables is growing constantly and a way to export the complete (or filtered) list of variables as a simple csv file would be great for external documentation for other team members.
3. Possibility to save the list of Inventory Items as a csv file
The same as with Variables. A possibility to export the list of Inventory Items would be great and a big time saver. I keep all the lists in a Project Excel sheet for overview purposes that is used by all team members and I update it manually. But sometimes you forget updating it for some Items and an export function would help me a lot with it.
4. Possibility to drag actions fields to another action
Would it be technically possible to enable dragging the reference that is stored in an Actions field to another Actions field? For example if I have a Dialogue: Play Speech Action then dragging the Speaker reference directly to the Object: Animate Action that comes after it. Working with the Hierarchy window tend to end up in constantly scrolling up and down throught the list of Meshes, Markers, Cutscenes and so on. Having a way to drag those things from one Action to another would speed up the workflow a lot.
5. Description field for variables
A really great feature for teams would be to have a multiline text field for each variable to add a descrition to it. I'm currently using small sentences as Variable names but they tend to get badly readable with the short fields that are used in all the Component and Action fields. With the description field I could use shorter Variable names and could also look up what exactly does this variable do and where is it used, completely inside the Project.
All those ideas are non-vital to successfully make a game with AC but would speed up the workflow at least for us but maybe for others, too.
Mac
Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
Categories
Welcome to the official forum for Adventure Creator.
Comments
Difficult, but I'll consider it. Bear in mind that there would be caveats, e.g. ActionList assets linked to Global variables would be broken if switched to Local.
2. Possibility to save the list of Variables as a csv file
3. Possibility to save the list of Inventory Items as a csv file
These can feasibly be done already through a custom script, because they can be read without the need for amending any of AC's scripts. I'll consider this as well, but can also direct you to the script variables you'd need to read if you wanted to tackle it yourself.
4. Possibility to drag actions fields to another action
Not possible I'm afraid. The closest to this is the use of ActionList parameters to set multiple fields to the same value. Parameters are traditionally used to alter Action fields at runtime, but the ActionList: Set parameter Action can be used to set its own parameters too - meaning you can have all such Actions refer to the same GameObject parameter, and then just set the parameter's value before any of them run.
5. Description field for variables
Yes, that's a good idea.
I'll take a look at the ActionList: Set parameter Action when I do the next cutscene or long dialogue. Never thought about it, but that could indeed be helpful.
About the convertable variables: Wouldn't it be possible to iterate through the ActionList assets in the project folder to switch variable references in there, too?