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Simple animations game,clickable buttons which change scenes and start player&other animations
Hello,
I would like to ask if my idea can be achieved in AC(I am using Unity 5.0.1f and AC 1.45).
I would like to make a simple animations game for Android and IOS.
The game starts with simple animation,player appears on the scene and says "Choose your game"Then on the right and left from him one clickable button appears with name of the game.When user presses or clicks the button,new scene starts which represents new game.
When game is over,scene changes back to the previous selection games scene.
Another problem.I would like to surround the player with clickable buttons and when buttons are pressed,the scene does not change,the player says something and does some animation and then turns back to idle animation.I would first like to make this game for PC(since I am using mouse and keyboard controls)and then to switch to touch controls and export it to IOS and Android.
Is this possible to be done in AC or do you recommend some other environment?
If yes,please explain me in DETAILS how to do this if possible,because you will truly help me a lot.Many thanks in advance!John
I would like to ask if my idea can be achieved in AC(I am using Unity 5.0.1f and AC 1.45).
I would like to make a simple animations game for Android and IOS.
The game starts with simple animation,player appears on the scene and says "Choose your game"Then on the right and left from him one clickable button appears with name of the game.When user presses or clicks the button,new scene starts which represents new game.
When game is over,scene changes back to the previous selection games scene.
Another problem.I would like to surround the player with clickable buttons and when buttons are pressed,the scene does not change,the player says something and does some animation and then turns back to idle animation.I would first like to make this game for PC(since I am using mouse and keyboard controls)and then to switch to touch controls and export it to IOS and Android.
Is this possible to be done in AC or do you recommend some other environment?
If yes,please explain me in DETAILS how to do this if possible,because you will truly help me a lot.Many thanks in advance!John
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Menus can be created within the Menu Manager. So long as you've clicked "Organise room objects" within your Scene Manager, you'll be able to preview them as you build them. Menus consist of elements within them, such as buttons. Buttons can be made to run an ActionList asset when clicked. ActionLists are lists of Actions, or commands, that perform different tasks. To switch scene, you simply need to use the Engine: Change scene Action. The player can be animated at any time by using Character: Animate, and speak by using Dialogue: Play speech.
You can find a variety of tutorials on working with menus here, including one that covers the creation of a Main Menu.
I don't quite understand what you mean about "surrounding" the player with clickable buttons, but if you're referring to a Menu in 3D space (Heavy Rain style), then that too should be possible provided you use Unity's UI system to create a Canvas that's renderered in World Space. You can link a Unity UI Canvas to Adventure Creator's menu system, a concept that is also covered in this tutorial. as well as section 11.3 of the manual.
First I would like to thank You for very fast&accurate answer!Forums on which people respond this fast and deep are very rare!I really appreciate it!I will go through the tutorials and hopefully solve all problems.
About the clickable buttons.I ll explain my idea better.
The player is at the top of the screen and under him are a,b,c,d letters,each represented by a clickable button.When a user clicks on a letter,the whole scene changes and the player does an animations related to that letter.After that,scene comes back to the previous a,b,c,d letters scene and user can click another letter.This is doable,correct?
Can AC be used to make a very simple arcade game scene on which you have to,for example,walk the dog between obstacles to his dog house?After that,scene goes back to the previous.
Can you give me any advice on which scene&player resolution to pick from start for exporting the game to Android&IOS.Different cell phones have different resolutions so this seems as a complicated problem since its hard to pick the right resolution that will work on all or most of the modern cell phones.Could I somehow see how the game would look like on different cell phones before I export it?(inside the AC&Unity for example).
Thanks,John
Arcade games: AC is intended for traditional adventure games, so while other styles of play are possible, you may need custom scripting or asset depending on what that is. But moving a character around in e.g. Direct control (keyboard keys / drag / etc) can be done with AC without a problem. You can place Triggers where your obstacles are if you want things to happen when you walk into them.
Cell phone resolutions: I'm not the best to advise on this, since that's a more general question on game development than one to do with AC. However, AC is able to lock itself to a fixed perspective, so that you can be sure it'll display correctly on all cell phones: just click "Force aspect ratio?" in the Settings Manager, and you'll be able to enter in an aspect ratio. If the game then plays on a screen with a different aspect ratio, borders will appear at the sides.
If you're just getting started with AC, you might want to take a look at the two video tutorials, which cover the core concepts.
Thanks for the help.
I went through menu tutorials but I am a bit confused.
Here is what I would like to do.
I added animations frames from sprite sheet into hierarchy,animation created and now I have a graphical object in scene without player component(just automatical Transform,Sprite Renderer,Animator and Constand ID components).
I created Idle and Dancing animations.
When the game starts,the sprite should be constantly playing Idle animation.
Next to the sprite on scene I want to have a button "Dance".
When I click on it,the sprite should dance(only 1 time)WITHOUT changing the scene and the button should be turned OFF during the dancing and be turned ON back after the dancing and sprite should go back to idle animation.So if I click Dance button again,sprite should repeat the same process again.Can you please give me some precise info how to do this in ActionLists Editor?
It seems that making the menu come back on and switching the sprite animation back to previous is very complicated.I managed to make the button turn off and the animation plays just once and freezes(Menu:Change State-Turn off menu - Object:Animate)
Many Thanks,John
Since you're using the Animator component, and therefore Mecanim, you'll have to set up a transition from your Dance animation to the Idle animation so that it goes from your Dance to Idle once Dance is complete. This isn't a workflow of AC, but Unity: you can read more about Unity's Animator transitions from these pages.
So your ActionList would look something like:
Thank you for helping me!Your response time if out of this world,especially when I see how much people asks for your help daily!
Could you please advice me if there is any Unity asset that simplifies achieving animation ideas like this that could be used together with AC in Unity or separately?
Many Thanks,John
I followed your ActionList steps advice and almost managed to realize the idea completely!
I connected Dance and Idle animation in Animator(One connection that points from Dance to Idle animation).
On start of the game,the sprite idle animation runs indefinitely.
When I click on Dance button,the button vanishes,the sprite dances,then it goes back to Idle animation.Idle animation plays just ONCE,AFTER that Dance button reappears again and Idle animation keeps looping.If I click on Dance button,the same process will repeat.
Is it possible to make the Dance button reappear right AFTER the Dance animation,NOT after the Idle animation plays once?I changed different settings in ActionList editor and was not able to do this.
Many Thanks,John
Thanks for the help.
Here is the ActionLists editor screenshot.
Even if I change some settings,it still works.
<a href="http://imgur.com/4GAYVoF"><img src="http://i.imgur.com/4GAYVoF.png" title="source: imgur.com" /></a>
So,at the moment,after button is clicked,it vanishes,sprite plays dance animation,then plays idle animation ONCE and then button reappears and it can be clicked again so the whole process repeats.My goal is to make the button reappear right AFTER the dance animation.
I have another very important question!
The game starts,the sprite plays idle motion indefinitely.
I press the keyboard key "D" and the sprite dances,returns to idle and waits for another keyboard key to be pressed so it could do another animation.
Can this be done in AC?
Could you also please advice me if there is any Unity asset that simplifies
achieving animation ideas like this that could be used together with AC
in Unity or separately?
By the way,any response from you accelerates my progress at light speed!
I know that these questions are piece of cake for a pro like you,but for a beginner like me,its help from the heaven and I am sure this is going to help other people on this forum too.
Many Thanks,John
You're welcome for the replies, but please understand that I am only active when I am able to be - weekends are generally not possible.
But yes: AC can also run ActionLists when you press button keys. What you'll need to do is create a new Input axis in your Input Manager - give it the name e.g. "D key" and the Postive button of "d".
Next, open up the Active Inputs window from the top toolbar: Adventure Creator -> Editors -> Active Inputs Editor. Create a new input, give it the name of your new input ("D key"), and then you'll be able to tell it which ActionList asset to run when it's pressed. You can create a new ActionList asset by righ-clicking in your Project window, but bear in mind you'll probably want to use an Engine: Check scene Action inside it, to make sure that this key will only work when you're in this particular scene.
You can find out more about Active Inputs in the manual, section 2.14.
I perfectly understand that you can respond when you have the time and that you wont respond during weekends in general.Still,you are helping today although it is weekend?This is mind blowing!I am sure that AC community will keep growing in future if you continue helping like this in future!I can only imagine how polished and powerful 2.0 version will be given the fact how much you improve things and how slowly the version number goes up!Thanks for the help!I solved both last problems easily and its working perfectly!
Questions
a)Could I set some cool transition effect to appear during the transition from one scene to another?
Currently there is no effect during transition since that is the default setting.
b)Lets say that I have two scenes.In scene No2 animation runs.After it finishes the No2 scene goes back to scene No1.How could I do this?
c)Could I set the game to automatically stops running after certain period of user inactivity?
d)When I make new scene No2(No1 scene has full hierarchy since AC was loaded),there is almost nothing in hierarchy except Main Camera and Directional Light.Is this normal or should I load AC(New game wizard) again so that full hierarchy appears in that scene too?
e)Lets say that I have dozens of animations and I set each animation to run in a new scene.After that the scene goes back to previous one.Is this too heavy on resources and has higher probability to trigger bugs OR would it be better if I would run all animations in just one scene?
Thanks in advance!
John
b) Simply use the same Object: Animate Action as before, check Wait until finished? (or use an Engine: Pause game Action), and follow it up with another Engine: Change scene.
c) Create a new Cutscene that runs when your scene begins, and set it's When running field (in the Inspector) to Run In Background. Then chain up as many pause Actions as you need to create the total "no activity" time. Then you could use a Menu: Change state Action to turn on a Menu that pauses the game with a message (you'd have to create the Menu in the Menu Manager first). Then, whenever the user interacts with an object, simply cancel the Cutscene by using the ActionList: Kill Action. You could re-run the Cutscene when the Interaction is finished with ActionList: Run.
d) You'll only need to use the New Game Wizard once per game. To convert a new scene into an AC one, simply click Organise room objects at the top of the Scene Manager.
e) I don't think there'd be much difference, but that's more of a Unity workflow question than it is an AC one. You might get a better answer by asking on the official Unity forums.
Thanks for the help!
Previous question a):Can cross fade effect be manipulated?Could I import some external cool effect and use it as a cross fade effect?For example,when scene No1 is about to change to scene No2,some cool effect or short animation with sound runs during the transition.I could make a short animation with background music and make it run during the transition from scene No1 to scene No2.
Many Thanks,John
Thank you for the help!I have already asked a question in previous post so I am marking the next question with a letter b.
b)Is it possible to connect a button with several animations and to set the button to play RANDOMLY a new animation every new time the game starts?That way a user will never know what animation will play after the same button is pressed when the game starts.
c)What would be the best way to make an animated background in a scene?It would be best if several animated backgrounds could randomly change each time the game starts so every time its different.
d)Could you please give me any advices on how to make very cool and attractive buttons?(I know the basic procedure but have no idea where to download the best graphics for it which would also be light on resources)
Many Thanks in advance,
John
To do this, you could consider using Unity UI to make a "start transition animation" for Scene 1, and an "end transition animation" for Scene 2, since Unity UI is well suited to playing sprites and animations at full screen.
b) Yes - just use the Variable: Check random number Action as the first Action in your Buttons' ActionList. You can then create multiple "branches" of Actions, based on what the result might be. This is best done in the ActionList Editor window, rather than the Inspector, since it'll be easier to follow.
c) In 2D? Static background images are made by dragging the sprite into the scene, and scaling it so that it fits the scene (see the 2D Demo). You could easily make this animated by adding an Animator component to the sprite, and creating a Mecanim FSM / sprite-based animation. You can find more about this in Unity's manual, as it's not something you do in AC.
d) Sorry, I'm not the best person to ask about that. Again, that's probably one for the Unity forums.
To do this, you could consider using Unity UI to make a "start transition animation" for Scene 1, and an "end transition animation" for Scene 2, since Unity UI is well suited to playing sprites and animations at full screen.
b) Yes - just use the Variable: Check random number Action as the first Action in your Buttons' ActionList. You can then create multiple "branches" of Actions, based on what the result might be. This is best done in the ActionList Editor window, rather than the Inspector, since it'll be easier to follow.
c) In 2D? Static background images are made by dragging the sprite into the scene, and scaling it so that it fits the scene (see the 2D Demo). You could easily make this animated by adding an Animator component to the sprite, and creating a Mecanim FSM / sprite-based animation. You can find more about this in Unity's manual, as it's not something you do in AC.
d) Sorry, I'm not the best person to ask about that. Again, that's probably one for the Unity forums.
Thanks a lot for the help!
I had posted some questions some time ago on Unity forum but am a bit disappointed since nobody is responding.The forum is huge,many people asking there but still no reaction.
Could you please advice me on what background image&sprite to use for 2d animations game I am building?For example I have found some 1600x1200 background images and I know that I should resize them down to a smaller resolution since they are too heavy on resources and sprites should also have some ideal resolution.How do you choose graphics resolutions?Any advice would be deeply appreciated.
Thanks in advance,
John
Thanks again for the help!
b)I made a small intro animation.I would like the intro to have sound too.
Is it better to 1)make a soundless animation and to connect it with sound file in Unity OR
2) is it better to make an animation WITH the sound and make the Unity start animation movie clip intro when the game starts?(if we take complexity and resources into consideration).
c)How could I achieve both previous animation options in AC?(I used Engine:Play move clip action but it did not work)
Thanks in advance,
John
However, if you are building to desktop, then Unity will only let you play a movie as a texture - so you'd have to play the sound separately using Sound: Play. This'll give you the added benefit, though, of linking it's volume to your options data - so that the user can control the volume if you wish them to.
On PC/Mac, Unity only allows for movie playback by projecting the movie onto an object as a texture - so you'll have to create a plane that faces the camera, and covers the view, for your movie to play on.
Thanks for the help!
For now,primarily I would like to build the animations game for IOS/Android.Later I would like to modify it for the desktop PC.
a)I have made soundless animation.Now I would like to connect it with a sound file so when the animation starts sound can be heard too.How could I do that in AC?
b)I dont know what is better in terms of stability,resources and simplicity,if I want to play an animation with sound.
1)Animation connected with a sound file OR
2)Animation made in external software which already contains sound?(movie file)
If animation is connected with a sound,it can always occasionally happen that sound and animation are not synchronized so problems in reproduction can appear.
If the animation already has a sound(movie file)there are NO synchronization problems,but using movie clips in AC as an ALTERNATIVE for previous animation option can be more complicated,correct?What option from these two do you recommend me to use?
Many Thanks in advance,
John