Adventure Creator - a 3D engine for Unity

Dave Gilbert · Mon 14/10/2013 13:26:28

I recognize that voice! Shelly called me up a few days ago to ask how to pronounce "integer" and "boolean." And lo and behold, I hear her say it in this.

This looks incredible. I've been putting off learning unity for ages. Perhaps I'll change that.

@M0ds: The actress is Shelly Shenoy. She's one of my regulars. She played Sayuri in Gemini Rue, Yuriko in Puzzle Bots, Josie in Blackwell Convergence, and Clarice in Da New Guys 2. Among others. If you want an intro, let me know!

Grim · Mon 14/10/2013 14:55:39

This could finally be the reason to try Unity! I wish there was a trial version, though... I don't really want to spend 70 bucks and find out that I can't work with Unity after all...

Would you consider a free trial?

Knox · Tue 15/10/2013 00:16:06

Geeze this looks great!

How easy is it to setup sierra-style portrait animations with this?

IceMan · Wed 16/10/2013 13:26:49

Quote from: Dave Gilbert on Mon 14/10/2013 13:26:28
I recognize that voice! Shelly called me up a few days ago to ask how to pronounce "integer" and "boolean."

Hah, that's great! Shelly was perfect - the trailer was literally done in a day, since the kit was approved about a week before I thought it was going to be.

Quote from: Grim on Mon 14/10/2013 14:55:39
This could finally be the reason to try Unity! I wish there was a trial version, though... I don't really want to spend 70 bucks and find out that I can't work with Unity after all... Would you consider a free trial?

I wouldn't honestly know where to start on a trial version, but I've just released a tutorial series to get people started with it. Hopefully you can use that to see if it's right for you. AGSers might be particularly interested in the parts on hotspots and interactions.

Quote from: Knox on Tue 15/10/2013 00:16:06
How easy is it to setup sierra-style portrait animations with this?

You'd have to modify the GUI script a little, but it wouldn't be too difficult. I didn't really expect that feature to be requested since it's in 3D, but I'll be looking into 2D features this week. I'll consider that as a suggestion, thanks

CaptainD · Wed 16/10/2013 15:11:55

I interviewed Iceman about Adventure Creator Here!

(BTW... if Iceman has a baby, will he name it Vanilla Ice?)

straydogstrut · Wed 16/10/2013 15:22:05

Looks very impressive and very slick presentation all round! I haven't used Unity for three years - wow, that long? - but just watching the Adventure Creator tutorial videos brings back lots of fond memories. Very reasonable price point too especially considering it works with Unity free. When the time's right for me to pick up Unity again, i'll definitely give this a whirl:)

Knox · Wed 16/10/2013 17:25:22

Quote from: IceMan on Wed 16/10/2013 13:26:49
You'd have to modify the GUI script a little, but it wouldn't be too difficult. I didn't really expect that feature to be requested since it's in 3D, but I'll be looking into 2D features this week. I'll consider that as a suggestion, thanks

I would definitely consider trying this out then! 2D/2.5D features would be cool.

David Ostman · Thu 17/10/2013 09:03:11

Because of budget reasons I would probably not have any voice acting in a 3D point and clicker, so having the Telltale Games/BioWare camera angles wouldn't make much sense to me. You could have them with text only, I suppose, but I've prototyped it and it doesn't play out very well.

What I would do with a 3D adventure framework is recreate the work I've done in 2D. Same camera angles, Sierra style portrait dialogs.

The main advantage using Unity 3D would be to more easily add things such as top down views, and most importantly, have 3D characters physically interact with each other as well as a 3D environment.

Being able to use particles properly is also nice, as well as having action sequences that aren't awkwardly hacked together in AGS.

Dave Gilbert · Thu 17/10/2013 12:20:41

Wasn't AGS originally called Adventure Creator back in 1999 or so? It's like we've come full circle!

IceMan · Thu 17/10/2013 16:59:51

Quote from: Dave Gilbert on Thu 17/10/2013 12:20:41
Wasn't AGS originally called Adventure Creator back in 1999 or so? It's like we've come full circle!

No toe-stepping intended, just grabbed whatever domain was available

New version out, iOS and Android now supported with Touch Screen input.

DazJ · Fri 18/10/2013 11:58:13

This looks absolutely amazing, Mr. Man of Ice.

Seriously considering purchasing this for the Dick LaRenzo reboot I'm planning on after Calm Waters.

The Â£40 is reasonable and I was going to purchase but bloody Unity/PayPal add a Â£15 added tax on top of it, bring it to Â£55 which is a little steep right now. I'll be purchasing very soon though. I am genuinely intrigued.

EDIT: Couldn't resist. Just purchased

IceMan · Fri 18/10/2013 13:55:12

Quote from: DazJ on Fri 18/10/2013 11:58:13
Couldn't resist. Just purchased

Thanks, DazJ! Just so you're aware, here's the link to the official Unity forum thread, which is always the first place updates are announced.

DazJ · Fri 18/10/2013 15:26:33

No problem and yes, I found that link earlier. I'm very impressed with the capabilities and sheer professionalism that this add-on brings to the table.

One little thing I've noticed though is that the demo doesn't play any audio or music once built as an APK and tested on an Android device (two in fact). I'm not sure though if this is something I'm not doing right or if it's a bug?

IceMan · Fri 18/10/2013 20:07:08

Quote from: DazJ on Fri 18/10/2013 15:26:33The demo doesn't play any audio or music once built as an APK and tested on an Android device (two in fact).

Sorry to hear that - I haven't heard of anyone else having such an issue. Check the in-game menu - are the volumes all displaying correctly?

DazJ · Sat 19/10/2013 14:22:20

Yeah all volume menus are maxed out so I'm not sure what's going on there. Any other things I've compiled all seem to work fine though.

IceMan · Sun 20/10/2013 10:11:58

Quote from: DazJ on Sat 19/10/2013 14:22:20
Yeah all volume menus are maxed out so I'm not sure what's going on there. Any other things I've compiled all seem to work fine though.

Hmm. Try going to the music objects in the sound folder, and changing their sound "type" to Other. This'll put their volumes back onto the regular Unity levels, does it work then?

Calin Leafshade · Sun 20/10/2013 14:04:59

I am generally sceptical of all GUI solutions because they invariably turn out to not be quite flexible enough for what you want to do.

Especially when it comes down to stuff like that variable panel thing where you specify conditions based upon bools and ints... it's just not flexible enough for someone who wants to break new ground a little.

Monsieur OUXX · Sun 20/10/2013 17:10:25

Quote from: Calin Leafshade on Sun 20/10/2013 14:04:59
I am generally sceptical of all GUI solutions

I think I've seen int he presentation video that scripting is available for advanced things? Very much like AGS actually.

IceMan · Sun 20/10/2013 22:14:55

Quote from: Calin Leafshade on Sun 20/10/2013 14:04:59
I am generally sceptical of all GUI solutions because they invariably turn out to not be quite flexible enough for what you want to do.

Myself too, actually. Much of the development time was spent finding the right balance between things being either automated or GUI-based, and having to hard-code everything. I want things to be simple and friendly when they can be, but there's a risk of bringing in limitations when you take too much control away from the user. I'm very keen to keep things away from a "this way or not at all" scenario. It's a trade-off, but I think it's got a good balance now. And, as Monsieur OUXX says, custom scripting is available. It features a plug-and-play system for your own actions (events), but also allows for your own scripts to be called from within cutscenes - passing integers to custom functions. I'm adding features as requests are made, but the kit definitely allows for more tailor-made code when needed.

IceMan · Tue 29/10/2013 20:15:29

Just an update: in the last couple of weeks, I've added Touch-screen support for iOS and Android, and laid the foundation for 2D and 2.5D games. At the moment, 2D games require a separate 2D animation plugin called 2DToolkit, but when Unity comes out with their own 2D framework (soon, I think), I'll be supporting that as well. More updates in the works!

Tutorials, for those curious: