Questions about Multi-targeting

[Alio]

Hey guys... still rather inexperienced with playmaker and unity so I have a few questions that I hope you guys can help me with.

First off im horrible with scripting thus why i got playmaker to help me with the flow of my work.. just starting to get the basic layout principles down.  So here are my questions.

1. How can I make it so that when attacking targets in my scene it doesn't just target one?
-Ive seen that when i create a var it needs a game object to be specified.. ive gotten to the point where i can manually input that gameobject into the var or as a selected target but i need to somehow find a way to create an array of all the targets in a set range close to me so that the player isnt targeting anything across a map.  which leads me to my next few questions.
2. how would i go about creating a array list where the items inputted into this list are selected from tags from my project list and not my scene list.
3. if able how would i call for those targets and send events to them independantly depending on action of player (i assume that it would have to be with global events specifically sent to trigger said events which will have to be independantly applied as FSMs to each different target)
4. is using a ray cast the only way in playmaker to determine distance to target? (i heard that using ray cast can be a heavy load for a game)
and 5. i thought that i could prehaps us OnTriggerEnter/Stay/Exit but for some reason, colliders set as triggers do not read/register unless the player is moving when that event is triggered.  ie. when one trigger comes in contact with player marked by tag to trigger event and sent to next state it only reads and applies remaning states if the player moves when the collider/trigger comes in contact with him.  Not sure if anyone else is getting this issue.


Anyway that seems like a bunch of mumble jumbo.. sorry im not too good at expressing these questions but i hope that someone out there can take the time to guide me in the right direction.


thanks again.

[jeanfabre]

Hi,

 Welcome
 
 You might want to do too much too soon I feel 

 If you plan on working on a feature rich targeting system, I suggest you take a look at TargetPro:
http://u3d.as/content/path-o-logical-games-llc/target-pro/366

I have ported this framework with several custom actions for you to work with it via PlayMaker:
https://hutonggames.fogbugz.com/default.asp?W993

As for the remaining questions, it's really a question of design, not just with PlayMaker, but also the way you approach things. Think Object Oriented, it's not just good for programming, it's also very much critical for playmaker.

bye,

 Jean

[Alio]

Hi Jean thanks for the reply,

I've looked at target pro via one of your other post to another playmaker user and viewed their site and the examples that they used on their videos as well.  I've noticed that with unity to make things a bit easier you have to try to purchase other assests from individuals and since im lacking in the whole self scripting area. it seems thats the only option but after already paying for unity pro, playmaker, NGUi, along with other multiple assets from the store that have while allowed for me to gain a wealth of knowledge have fell short of allowing me the tools to fully utilize them by themselves without relying on other assests.  I suppose that is jsut how things are.

With the target pro it seems like its very similar to the collision/trigger effect, and i've gotten as far already as creating and utilizing health managers for individual objects.  Target pro seems to have found a very simple way to access range, dmage, tags, and mutliple objects with minimal effort from the user.  But i'm afriad that if i purchase another investment that ill come up empty handed again.  I'm the only one on my team working on the unity platform to try to establish a mom but ive come across so many bridges that are very difficult to cross, networking servers, database, and much more.

It's very discouraging a lot of the time.  I suppose my next question is, honestly for a MMORPG platform considering all that goes into it, would it be more reasonable to flip to another engine that allows support and provides all these tools for you or is it possible for someone whos not an expert in all of these programs to shmmy them together with photon, playmaker, target pro, ngui, unity, electroserver/smartfox servers and try to get it working... seems i should shift over but with the money already invested thus far it would be a shame to just throw it on the back burner and forget about it.  If there's any light you chould shine on this for me it would be much appreciated and yes, im trying to do so much way ahead of what I'm capable of doing but ive made so much progress, atm if i can get in an interactive inventory, multi targeting with mobs near my location (not all mobs as soon as scene loads) and player stats saved stored/recalled then i could launch my game as a single player game.  But sadly those arent the terms in which our company here are under. 


Thanks again for the help I know it must be difficult pointed me in the right direction.

Sincerly,
-Alio

[jeanfabre]

Hi,

 I see. I guess the problem is not Unity, but your resources ( as always... I have the same problem... )

 Unity is perfectly capable of doing MMORPG on its own, but then you are going to spend several order of magnitude the time and cost to do it all yourself then getting the assets and ready made frameworks to help you progress and achieve features.

Given your approach, how do you think you will handle the server and networking side of this?

I have of course no other experience with 3d real time framework then Adobe Director and Unity, so there may be a better, more suited system for doing only MMORPG. If you were to use something else, what would you pick? I am interested to know.

bye,

 Jean