playMaker

Author Topic: Dialogue/Conversation editor  (Read 2181 times)

markfrancombe

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Dialogue/Conversation editor
« on: December 14, 2012, 09:46:28 AM »
I´m looking ahead to a vital part of my project, that is conversations with NPC's.

I am tempted to build everything right in PlayMaker, but don't want to reinvent the wheel. If I can utilise a 3rd party script/system that works for me, I would be very happy.

I have looked briefly at a few options in the Asset Store, for example UniSpeech. (This one seems to be a bit dead, I would want to pick something with ongoing development). And something that will integrate nicely with PlayMaker.
This could be as simple as PlayMaker being used to enable a game object with the dialogue/options in, from a collidor as you approach, or by clicking on an NPC.

The nice thing about UniSpeech appears to be that it handles both GUI, the interactive conversation, and mouth animation. I would like some rudimentary animation of lips, but not much more. (Im no AAA dev ha ha).

But it could be relatively simple to do it all within PlayMaker?

1. An bunch of FSMs are waiting for globals.
2. When an FSM "hears" its specific global, it displays an opening text (plays audio) and...
3. Lerps camera to position facing the NPC.
4. When audio is finished it displays options for you to click (Your replies to the NPC, including "GoodBye")
5. You click an option, its does nothing more than send a global to...
6. Another FSM spots its global and plays.. as in 1. above and repeat. (camera lerp wont happen cos its already in place)
7. If "goodbye" is clicked, the dialogue closes and the camera is lerped back to the Player position

Is this a good way? just copying FSMs and change the dilogues/option and Sound files.

Has anyone done any work with this in PM, or suggest such a tool that works?


markfrancombe

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Re: Dialogue/Conversation editor
« Reply #1 on: December 17, 2012, 09:10:58 AM »
>Has anyone done any work with this in PM, or suggest such a tool that works?

Apparently not?

 >:(

Alex Chouls

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Re: Dialogue/Conversation editor
« Reply #2 on: December 17, 2012, 11:15:32 AM »
Your proposed Playmaker setup sounds fine. It's the kind of thing that an event driven state machine is very good at handling.

I remember seeing some dedicated dialog tree tools on the Unity forums (I want to say with Playmaker integration advertised), but I haven't used them...