Forum rules - please read before posting.
Draggable Dialogue
Hi!
I'm just getting started with AC and loving it so far, but I need help creating a new mechanic. I'm working in a 3D environment, but using 2D sprites for characters, including the player.
I'm trying to setup a system where the player can see an NPC's emotions or inner-thoughts (floating next to them) when you click on them. Think of these emotions or inner-thoughts (single words for now) like stats hovering above or around an NPCs head. Not only does clicking the NPC generate these floating thoughts, but it also initiates a conversation at the same time. Once the conversation is initialised the player is presented with a few standard dialogue options, and I'd like to be able to drag these floating "emotion words" onto the dialogue options that in turn generates a unique response.
For example, the player is in a prison cell and an NPC guard is outside the door. The player wants to escape the prison cell. When you click on the NPC guard two words float next to him, "Daughter" and "Money". At the same time a conversation is started, the player is now presented with one dialogue option "Tell me the keycode for the prison door". If the player clicks on the dialogue option, as you would in an adventure game, you don't get the required information. The guard says something like "I'm not telling you!". Or something.
To make things interesting I'd like the player to be able to drag the words, in this case "Daughter" and/or "Money" onto the dialogue option. Doing so starts results in a conversation about how his daughter would be disappointed if he didn't help the player, and he gives up the code. Essentially getting the information the player needs.
Basically, I need to use these draggable NPC floating words as a sort of inventory item or crafting mechanic. The player goes through a trial and error scenario by pairing up these NPC float words with the dialogue options available in order to unlock as much information as possible. In story terms using their own thoughts/emotions against them. The player keeps doing this until all options are exhausted and all the information is revealed. The player can then move on.
Hopefully I'm not being too confusing, it's a tough concept to explain 
Please ask me any questions if things are unclear.
Please ask me any questions if things are unclear.Any help on this would be amazing. Thanks in advance.
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
Inventory items can be listed by name, rather than icon, and can also be categorised. By using custom menus, you can therefore list different types of items in different parts of the screen.
Try creating Inventory items for each emotion and dialogue option, and categorise them as either Emotion of DialogueOption. (You'll have to create a third category for regular Inventory items, and filter to them in existing Inventory box menus). You'll then be able to define "combine" interactions between them.
Next, create a custom menu that displays Emotion items above (wherever the floating is supposed to be), and one that displays DialogueOptions like a regular Conversation list. You'd have to display these menus manually, rather than using a normal Conversation, but you should be able to get the mechanics of it working. It may be a bit of a hack, this is rather a unique mechanic.
The MenuLink script is covered on page 90 of the manual, but there's a detailed tutorial about it here. This may be something that'll be a lot easier once Unity's UI is official, as AC will be getting official support for it (no ETA, however).
The order that Menus are listed in the Menu Manager should affect this - try placing your "active" Menu beneath the invisible one. That said, the 1.39 update will likely allow you to let certain Menus ignore the mouse cursor completely.
I'll look into eliminating this with 1.40.