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[liliththepale]

So i revamped my current wind and particle system so they can work together. They were previously decoupled and only my rain was affected by wind velocity. Now the particles react to wind, as well.

So here's a quick section of our Memory Bus:
http://gfycat.com/WealthyShadyAvians

NOTE: I removed environment geometry and other effects from this This section is pretty bonkers and I'm saving it for the trailer so I removed much of the sprite work and removed some train-specific enemies as not to show it before the trailer.

So depending on the speed of the train - the wind velocity can change and alter how much the particles are affected. Here we are at the very beginning of the Memory Bus where we are moving but not super fast. I have lots in the way of explosive eye-candy and one-off stuff that looks great when it goes boom - so adding wind changes to my particle system seemed like the right thing to do - especially on a fast moving train. Looks way nicer with the rest of the sprites up and higher speeds

I can now use my wind system globally and set parameters as needed for changes, fluctuations, etc by using simple triggers. I don't know how much "wind" will be in the game other than for shit like eye-candy but I figure small details like this, if only noticed and appreciated by a small handful, are worth it.

Ooh, nice. Is that different from the conveyor you accidentally left in the demo I tried? Because it doesn't look like it affects the player at all.

 

[electroflame]

For unity users, I tasked myself with creating a menu system. Right now I just made a bunch of canvases for each menu, and will tie them together with onclick events and some C#. Is there a better way? I'm trying to figure out how to navigate back to a previous canvas, but my severe lack of skill is proving difficult.

I'm actually kind of in the same boat regarding confusion over the new UI system.

I just started really using it (not just playing around doing tests) and it seems pretty powerful, but also a bit...over-engineered.

If I come across something regarding your question, I'll let you know! Otherwise, just know that there's at least one other person in here floundering a bit with UGUI.

EDIT: Actually, thinking about it a bit more, I'm not sure what you mean by "navigate back to a previous canvas". How are you navigating away from a canvas right now (or how are you planning to, if you haven't already got something working)?

 

[Archurro]

Hey guys, does anyone have a good tutorial on how to do game saves on Unity? This would specifically work on mobile with sort-of an autosave system. I can't seem to find a good tutorial for that.

 

[Das-J]

It does look really great fwiw, I still couldn't guess you weren't a huge team with massive resources

Thanks - You're not alone... many out there seem to think we're a 40 man team with the feature requests we're getting!

 

[Jacksinthe]

Ooh, nice. Is that different from the conveyor you accidentally left in the demo I tried? Because it doesn't look like it affects the player at all.

Aye. This is straight global. Any object that needs to interact with the wind can simply ping the controller for a global vector speed offset. Its additive (like force instead of straight velocity) so it doesn't take control. An object moving to the right with a wind moving left will gradually slow down and shift direction.

I also made sure that some objects aren't pushed by force and instead flat out offset. Not all objects that need to get moved by wind need to accelerate.

Both force and speed are multiples so when asked to increase or decrease in a single function they update concurrently and keep the same ratio.

Probably overkill but I figure I'd make something with a LOT of control and precision in case I need it later. Very simple math and not a whole lot of code, tbh.

 

[Jacksinthe]

Hey guys, does anyone have a good tutorial on how to do game saves on Unity? This would specifically work on mobile with sort-of an autosave system. I can't seem to find a good tutorial for that.

"Saves" or "states"? Do you need something that the user can easily access in the device's file explorer? PlayerPrefs a bit too simple?

 

[liliththepale]

Aye. This is straight global. Any object that needs to interact with the wind can simply ping the controller for a global vector speed offset. Its additive (like force instead of straight velocity) so it doesn't take control. An object moving to the right with a wind moving left will gradually slow down and shift direction.

I also made sure that some objects aren't pushed by force and instead flat out offset. Not all objects that need to get moved by wind need to accelerate.

Both force and speed are multiples so when asked to increase or decrease in a single function they update concurrently and keep the same ratio.

Probably overkill but I figure I'd make something with a LOT of control and precision in case I need it later. Very simple math and not a whole lot of code, tbh.

Oh, nice! Yeah, it's handy to have stuff like that. There are times when I'm really, really glad I'm not working on a program that has to be ultra optimized just to run at a decent frame rate.

 

[JulianImp]

Hey guys, does anyone have a good tutorial on how to do game saves on Unity? This would specifically work on mobile with sort-of an autosave system. I can't seem to find a good tutorial for that.

Let me see, a quick rundown of things you might want to save would be the following:

• Character-specific information (character level, name, hair color, stats, magic learned, equipment, inventory)
• World-specific information (event flags, collected energy tanks, blue coins found, shines collected, etc.)
• Room-specific information (placement and stats of character, NPCs, enemies, props and any other object you might need to keep track of)

I should note that room-specific information is only needed for games where you can save anywhere. Games with dedicated save rooms where nothing happens are more controlled, and allow you to skip having to save all this data (except for maybe current HP/ammo counts).

Saving data often comes down to serializing it, which means writing the data down in a way you can recover it later when you deserialize (load) it. You can save data as a binary file, XML, plain text or whatever you feel might be the right system for you, and you may add any number of encryption steps in between if you don't want users to mess with the save data easily (they still will find a way around it no matter what you do, though).

 

[Lautaro]

Hey guys, does anyone have a good tutorial on how to do game saves on Unity? This would specifically work on mobile with sort-of an autosave system. I can't seem to find a good tutorial for that.

To make the save system in my game I started by watching this video: https://unity3d.com/learn/tutorials...ining-archive/persistence-data-saving-loading

The idea is to make a serializable class that keeps all the data that a player session should have (health, inventory, etc). It needs to be serializable so it can be read and written from a file.

 

[Jacksinthe]

Oh, nice! Yeah, it's handy to have stuff like that. There are times when I'm really, really glad I'm not working on a program that has to be ultra optimized just to run at a decent frame rate.

I keep checking performance against my old laptop and the Xbox One. My old laptop has the hardest time but it keeps up at 60 during my MAXIMUM THROW SHIT AT SCREEN performance testing scene but just barely. I've seen it hit low 50s a split second at a time. Lowest I've gotten on XO was about 120 frames. Still don't know how the PS4 CPU will roll since I can't afford a PS4 devkit but its comparable performance to XO I'm guessing.

I'll worry more about performance at a later date if I ever need to. Especially with the amount of persistence I'm throwing down when things blow up. Particles stay forever (unless they trigger some specific circumstances, as to not make everything messy). I have no real issues at the moment except my day job, sucks up so much time

 

[Dice//]

Dear Indie Gaf if anyone is looking for an [experienced] concept artist. Drop a message.
Much love, Dice.

 

[Mental Atrophy]

To add tot he save file discussion, do be careful on what you're serializing. Everything related to the game state should be strictly data and not objects with methods. This applies more to classical OOP and not so much to data-driven ECS. It can be tempting to just serialize an entire scene and then load those objects as-is, but it can create some ugly incompatibilities. Data is cleaner to work with, using that data to reconstruct new objects from scratch.

 

[shaowebb]

Did something recently that really helped me out...I made a weekly schedule for myself.
I work best with structure and I've started making leaps and bounds more structured progression on stuff than I have in the past just working on whatever bits and bobs I wanted to enjoy poking after a long day's work.

I got a pretty rough swingshift schedule in a loud/hot industrial field so without some sort of real "assigned goals" I just don't get enough done compared to what I used to output back in college.

Life comes first and all that, but if you'll skip effort for a good reason then you'll start to skip it for bad reasons.

Also I stopped using generalized terms. Most of my cast and mechanics had no names till now. I focused primarily on functionality and design which is good, but eventually they stopped developing personality. So I needed to brand an identity to the project and its stuff.

Been talking to branding folks, and veterans online and they said that this helps you to focus your own thoughts on a project to stop thinking of cast with general terms as well as your game. So names do have power because apparently thinking of parts of you game in generalities can often stifle your creative momentum and leave you stopping at a general level on things relating to them instead of pushing further towards it taking on its own distinguishable identity.

Feeling great right now...just felt like posting the energy. I look forward to talking to QisTopTier after EVO now. We have a name and some stuff is coming along more steadily.

 

[Jintor]

What are you making, shao? Can you reveal anything yet?

 

[Ito]

American/Brittish GAF users:

Does "sparse essence" sound weird to you as a name for a recurrent collectible in a game?

Thanks in advance

 

[Jacksinthe]

I've tweaked it a bit further. The greater the horizontal force of the wind, the greater the updraft, the greater the lift on things that go places, the longer the suspension in air. Needs some tweaks to not get out of control but here's the updated look:
http://gfycat.com/AlertAromaticGroundhog

American/Brittish GAF users:

Does "sparse essence" sound weird to you as a name for a recurrent collectible in a game?

Thanks in advance

Say it quickly out loud several times. If it sounds weird, it probably is. I don't dig saying it out loud, tbh.

 

[electroflame]

American/Brittish GAF users:

Does "sparse essence" sound weird to you as a name for a recurrent collectible in a game?

Thanks in advance

It doesn't really roll off the tongue, partially due to the heavy emphasis on the "sss" sound in both words.

If you give a bit more background about what it is/how it's collected/etc. I'm sure we could throw some alternatives your way and see what sticks.

 

[timetokill]

American/Brittish GAF users:

Does "sparse essence" sound weird to you as a name for a recurrent collectible in a game?

Thanks in advance

Yeah, it sounds weird.

What is it an essence of?

 

[cbox]

awesomeness.

I love the look!

I'm actually kind of in the same boat regarding confusion over the new UI system.

I just started really using it (not just playing around doing tests) and it seems pretty powerful, but also a bit...over-engineered.

If I come across something regarding your question, I'll let you know! Otherwise, just know that there's at least one other person in here floundering a bit with UGUI.

EDIT: Actually, thinking about it a bit more, I'm not sure what you mean by "navigate back to a previous canvas". How are you navigating away from a canvas right now (or how are you planning to, if you haven't already got something working)?

Awesome! good to know and thanks! I'd like to avoid plugins where I can.

Currently, I have a bunch of buttons set up with funtions that disable/enable a canvas. I'm trying to figure out how to have a key like escape return to the previous menu. This is probably really trivial haha.

 

[Ito]

Thanks for the quick replies people!

Plot-wise, the "sparse essence" is what remains of spiritual energy inside some enemies.

Gameplay-wise, the sparse essence is used at certain points in the game to upgrade your weapons and certain spiritual powers.


Do you guys have any better suggestion?

I can't use "Spiritual Energy" because that's how I called my MPs.

Also I can't think of anything else that doesn't look like I'm ripping off dark souls.

 

[electroflame]

Currently, I have a bunch of buttons set up with funtions that disable/enable a canvas. I'm trying to figure out how to have a key like escape return to the previous menu. This is probably really trivial haha.

Depends on your implementation.

I would do something like this, using this menu flow for the example:
Main Menu -> Mode Select -> Lobby -> Start Game

If you're not using some kind of Menu Manager, then things can get a bit messy. If I was designing a Menu Manager I would have the manager keep a reference to the last active menu when going to a new one, but for the sake of this example I'm going to assume that you're just going menu object to menu object.

Each menu object would need to have a reference to both its next and previous menu (if applicable). So, for example, the Lobby menu would have a reference to both Start Game as its next menu and Mode Select as its previous menu.

From there it would be as easy as grabbing the next or previous menu before you transition.

In code that could look something like this:

//Declared variables that are set in the Inspector (which is why they're null here).
public GameObject NextMenu = null;
public GameObject PreviousMenu = null;

public void TransitionForward()
{
   //Deactivate our active menu object (which is this gameObject) and activate our NextMenu.
   this.gameObject.SetActive(false);
   this.NextMenu.SetActive(true);
}

public void TransitionBack()
{
   //Deactivate our active menu object (which is this gameObject) and activate our NextMenu.
   this.gameObject.SetActive(false);
   this.PreviousMenu.SetActive(true);
}

Something like that, but probably with an actual transition instead of just deactivating/activating GameObjects. Note that the use of "this" isn't needed, I just added it to make the code a bit more verbose and easier to understand/read.

 

[liliththepale]

Ito, I'd call it Rare Essence. Sparse holds a different connotation from rare, and that way you don't have three S sounds in a row, which turns into a mild tongue twister.

 

[Jintor]

Can't just call it essence?

 

[Ito]

I'd like to name it in a way that suggests these two concepts:

- Spiritual Energy

- Remains, left overs, remnant, residual.

That's why I used sparse (that and because I really like that word).

I know it's no easy task.

Thanks to everyone helping

 

[shaowebb]

What are you making, shao? Can you reveal anything yet?

Fighting game. Not revealing anything yet. I will list things I have though.

• engine
• first character fully modeled ready for weighting and maps with the 2nd and 3rd characters already partially modeled
• full design for movesets on multiple characters
• full game design bible on mechanics
• UI assets are coming along
• concept art completed on several cast
• unique mechanics and some fan favorites
• a really really good theme

I'm not gonna make the mistake a lot of do with fighters because things tend to wear out before they release these days with long dev times so I plan on having a major push near the completion of the game during the last half year to reveal the full game and its cast to build momentum similar to how NRS does it. Plus the more I have made the higher my odds at landing help from a publisher near the end to cover costs on things like sound design and voice actors.

I don't want to kickstarter for the actual development though. I'd only resort to it if I needed to acquire audio and sound design near the end and even then only after exhausting my resources to secure that on my own. I'll do it myself...I have the time and a career already to pay my bills and QisTopTier wont go hungry because this is just a fun thing for him that no one is betting farms on. This shouldn't be on the wallets of anyone else. This way...we can not compromise our goals and just push for what we wanted until its ready. No pressure on us to force something out that way and it just feels more open and honest for me taking that responsibility.

Anyhow that's all I can say besides dont expect anything major anytime soon. We might try to figure out something we can reveal just to show in dev blog stuff without giving away much though. The branding folks I talked with suggested this as a decent way to legitimize things without wearing out our presence so when there's more we'll look into it.

 

[liliththepale]

- Remains, left overs, remnant, residual.

That's why I used sparse (that and because I really like that word).

Sparse doesn't mean any of those. It can imply those things, but so can rare. Sparse essence is fine, but I think it could be better. For your consideration:

Spirit residue
Ancient essence
Rare essence
Sparse soul

 

[Ito]

Sparse doesn't mean any of those. It can imply those things, but so can rare. Sparse essence is fine, but I think it could be better. For your consideration:

Spirit residue
Ancient essence
Rare essence
Sparse soul

Thank you very much Lilith, I really like those (specially Spirit Residue). I'll keep working from your ideas.

Thanks to everyone else who helped!

~~~~~

Edit:

What about "Faint Essence"?

 

[liliththepale]

Thank you very much Lilith, I really like those (specially Spirit Residue). I'll keep working from your ideas.

Thanks to everyone else who helped!

~~~~~

Edit:

What about "Faint Essence"?

That could work, but it could also be misinterpreted as essence with faint strength or the essence of fainting. Naming stuff is hard!

 

[timetokill]

I'd like to name it in a way that suggests these two concepts:

- Spiritual Energy

- Remains, left overs, remnant, residual.

That's why I used sparse (that and because I really like that word).

I know it's no easy task.

Thanks to everyone helping

Some suggestions:

- Vital Essence
- Soul Remnant
- Spirit Remnant
- Life Essence
- Spirit Shard
- Spirit Fragment
- Inner Spark

 

[bkw]

Currently, I have a bunch of buttons set up with funtions that disable/enable a canvas. I'm trying to figure out how to have a key like escape return to the previous menu. This is probably really trivial haha.

My setup is similar to what electroflame explained with the menu manager. I'm using NGUI, but uGUI is probably similar.

I have my menu manager load screens from the Resources folder, but you could have them pre-existing if you want. Screens are managed with a stack. Basically each screen tells the menu manger what to screen to show, and the menu manager will deactivate the current screen, put it on the stack, then load the next screen and activate it. If a screen wants to go backwards, it just needs to tell the manager to "go back", which will deactivate the current screen, pop it off the stack, and activate the previous screen.

This way, screens only really need to know what the next screens are, and not what the previous one is. It gets a little messy though, when you need to jump back multiple screens, or change what's in the middle of the stack.

The manager also handles transitions, and blocking inputs while screens are transitioning. You can also build a modal popup system into it as well, and have input to the screens blocked, while a popup has focus.

For a simple menu system, this works alright. I'm interested to hear what other setups people have. Like I said, the stack layout can get a little messy, so for my next project, I might want to try something else.

 

[Ito]

Some suggestions:

- Vital Essence
- Soul Remnant
- Spirit Remnant
- Life Essence
- Spirit Shard
- Spirit Fragment
- Inner Spark

Those are fantastic too. I hadn't considered "shard" before, and now I want to use it as well

 

[Jacksinthe]

Spirit Echoes
Soul Husk
Spirit Coil
Soul Coil

To add to everyone else's suggestions.

 

[Jobbs]

How far along are you on this project? Do you have a target launch in mind, and what platforms are you going to support? The visuals are awesome, love the idea behind some of these mechanics too.

Trying hard to get it out this winter but it's not solid. It's also really up in the air as to when and if I can support any consoles. Thanks

 

[Ito]

Spirit Echoes
Soul Husk
Spirit Coil
Soul Coil

To add to everyone else's suggestions.

:O I think we have a winner here! Spirit Echoes sounds very good to me, and it's much less generic than "faint essence".

EDIT: Nevermind, I like how it sounds in plural form. It's "Spirit Echoes" then!

Thanks a lot, Absinthe, and everyone else.

 

[Jobbs]

:O I think we have a winner here! Spirit Echoes sounds very good to me, and it's much less generic than "faint essence".

EDIT: Nevermind, I like how it sounds in plural form. It's "Spirit Echoes" then!

Thanks a lot, Absinthe, and everyone else.

Bloodborne already has Blood Echos as currency/stuff you get by killing badguys.

 

[Ito]

Bloodborne already has Blood Echos as currency/stuff you get by killing badguys.

Back to page 1 then

 

[Jobbs]

Back to page 1 then

Call it Essentia. It's Latin for something.

 

[spazchicken]

Glad to see you back!

How's the transition to UE4 been so far, any specific issues? I've really started to develop a love/hate relationship with it lately, mostly due to some really annoying issues and the feeling of pressure, but I'll be meeting with some guys from epic at GDC EU to give some more of our feedback and ask about some of the issues we've been facing. Their support has still been pretty awesome, just sucks that writing some of the issues on to answerhub feels like such a chore for all of us.

We had a few issues. The two biggest ones were every time the engine was updated it broke our game and more recently the player characters just disappeared from the game permanently, with no way to add them back in. We had to rebuild everything from an older build.

Another issue is with Flip Book and the fact that it's so new, we felt like we were pioneering it because there is nobody that has any answers we need.

 

[Popstar]

Time to break out the thesaurus.

http://www.thesaurus.com/browse/remains
http://www.thesaurus.com/browse/remnant

http://www.thesaurus.com/browse/spirit
http://www.thesaurus.com/browse/soul

 

[tamaster92]

My prototype in UE4 is coming along nicely (more soonish) but man. There is still so much to learn. I went to add a mute button and volume slider and it seems so convoluted and annoying.

Finally starting to my head around color grading and LUTs though, got a nice daytime tint and working on the night time one, it's a little too orange currently.

Making a Xbox 360 controller work with UMG menus is also annoyingly difficult but thankfully it isn't really urgent for a prototype

 

[Ito]

Essentia, hm? The thing is I'd like to make an english, composite name made out of words anyone can understand. It's not a bad idea anyway, so thanks


Popstar, I do like the words "vestige" and "remnant".

Perhaps "Spirit remnants" could work.

 

[spazchicken]

Back to page 1 then

This may be a little straight forward but, "Soul Essence"?

I kind of like the simplicity of just ,"Entity" as well.

"Spirit Entity"?

"White Esper"? (or any single syllable color in place of "white")

I think that's all I got.

 

[Ito]

This may be a little straight forward but, "Soul Essence"?

I kind of like the simplicity of just ,"Entity" as well.

"Spirit Entity"?

"White Esper"? (or any single syllable color in place of "white")

I think that's all I got.

Thanks for your suggestions. The issue is, I need the name to have these two connotations: 1st.- it's some sort of spiritual energy, and 2nd.- It's a small, thin, disperse mass of energy, a residual amount of it.

What does Esper mean? I remember that word from Final Fantasy 6.

 

[Jobbs]

Essentia, hm? The thing is I'd like to make an english, composite name made out of words anyone can understand. It's not a bad idea anyway, so thanks


Popstar, I do like the words "vestige" and "remnant".

Perhaps "Spirit remnants" could work.

Latin words are often mixed with our shit here. You should prioritize wordfeel over this other stuff. "Spirit remnant" isn't good; Too many syllables. You crash against the words just thinking them, let alone saying them.

Soul Core
Soul Mote
Life Dreg

What does Esper mean? I remember that word from Final Fantasy 6.

Esper is a fictional/unofficial word for someone who uses magic. I think it's derived from "ESP" -- Extra Sensory Perception. Incidentally, I use this word in one of the area names in my game. "Esper Drop".

 

[tamaster92]

How about soul whisper?

 

[spazchicken]

Thanks for your suggestions. The issue is, I need the name to have these two connotations: 1st.- it's some sort of spiritual energy, and 2nd.- It's a small, thin, disperse mass of energy, a residual amount of it.

What does Esper mean? I remember that word from Final Fantasy 6.

lol Yeah I just remembered it from FF6. It's probably made up from that game, I'm not sure. Good luck to you. Coming up with the perfect name can be the most hair pulling process.

 

[Ito]

How about soul whisper?

It's quite good, but I want to avoid the "Soul" word for obvious reasons


Jobbs gave me an idea... there's the word "Anima" in latin which means spirit/soul as well.

So,

... Anima Shades?

... Anima Shards?

... Anima was a mistake?

 

[Jintor]

Soul Core sounds awesome.

but it sounds more like a fighting game thing

 

[Jobbs]

Soul Core sounds awesome.

but it sounds more like a fighting game thing

I ONLY produce good ideas, but no one listens. XD

I suggest letting it sit and see what grows on you rather than spend the next few indie dev pages on suggestions for the name of a pickup.

 

[electroflame]

Jobbs gave me an idea... there's the word "Anima" in latin which means spirit/soul as well.

Anima Fragment?

Or if you're going for a Latin theme: Anima Reliquiae. Anima being Life/Soul and Reliquiae being Remains/Remnants.

Anima Residue also doesn't sound too bad, I think.