Hello dear game creators. This is your host Shiguren again bringing you Dev Log #9! This time, we would like to talk a bit more about characters again. [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//41957561/f97fc7a11fd8e458119497e435ff2e528be9ed42.jpg[/img] In RPG Maker Unite, the setting of character sprites (both map walkers and side-view battlers) have been changed, and we will discuss a bit more in depth on this today. Most importantly, given that the number of frames usable per action is now variable, thus naturally the number of settings available to the user has increased, which we will discuss today. In [url=https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1650950/view/3181242290510188241]Dev Log #3 Character Anime and Graphical Asset Standards![/url] , we mentioned how the graphical asset spec has changed, and today we will be looking at the actual default editor UI of Unite for character animation. As a recap from Dev Log #3, in addition to the 4 direction walking sprite of traditional RPG Maker series, there is now a new animation, tentatively called “walking damage”, added into the default setup, making a total of 5. For side battlers, there are a total of 18 animation types. Although the specs are different, this remains unchanged from previous titles that RM users are familiar with. Animation types are fixed in the editor’s default state. So let's take the setting of map walker sprites for example. We will skip the Side-View Battlers as the operations are exactly the same, other than the animation types. The setting of walking animation can be accessed from Resource Manager > Characters. [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//41957561/2852f62eff6813c2b7a41f8f2f34a8294b83d45f.png[/img] The number of animation types by default, is fixed - up, down, left, right, and falling damage (which looks like tripping) [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//41957561/2f8f36b7f957b5ddce805ec59c5c90a5056706ae.png[/img] The animations can be confirmed via clicking the pull down list tab (inside the red circle) This allows users to see how their animation will be presented given the current settings. The sprite pictures are now independent of each other, meaning that for each animation type, a different file is used. Next we can set animation speed, via the parameters found on the right side. The default template game uses a playback speed of 30, but when using custom made animations, users are free to set any playback speed as needed. Usually for consistency, walking animation types should have uniform play speed (again, 30 for the default template game). The below screenshot is a zoom in of the right side UI for downward and leftward. [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//41957561/7f02679cfe327b73d73424eb158a397f85e7c4a0.png[/img] [h3][b]Assigning Animation to Actors and NPCs [/b][/h3] Once we have finished setting the animation pictures, we would need to assign this to the Actors (i.e. playable characters) and NPCs. The way this is done is fairly simple, and in addition… [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//41957561/767c492baba7995f8dc45d9dfc2f0938a9c17281.png[/img] Hmm! I bet that those who are familiar with previous RMs would be quick to tell that something new has been added? Yes! By default, it is now possible to assign and confirm pictures for actors and NPCs! In previous RMs, displaying the added character pictures on the menu was not available by default and required plugins. On paper this might not sound much, but there were no uniform UI standards across plugin authors, which might be confusing. But with Unite having this by default, the setting would be more uniform. I think it can be expected that more character portrait / picture related addons (recap: Plugins are called Addons in Unite) would be released while keeping a uniformity with the default UI! Assigning animation / pictures to Actors and NPCs are largely the same, with the exception that Actors can also have their starting equipment, job, and Side-View Battler animation assigned too. We will skip this as the settings are largely the same and very self-explanatory. [h3][b]Character-Related Event Commands and Misc.[/b][/h3] Due to the above changes to character anime, the Event Commands also look slightly different from previous RMs. Previously, the Event Command for changing Playable Character and NPC event appearances were a part of the settings under Movement Routes, but in Unite they has been separated and are now independent. Below is the UI to assign this, where we can select the character patterns already defined. [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//41957561/4ad667bed1c5a5908b231af8ce1ffd6083f3d9f6.png[/img] On the other hand there are no changes to setting Picture Changes. Simply associate it to something else. [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//41957561/f23d163ef0307262f519d7003c19af18c020c9d8.png[/img] From “Resource Manager > For SV Battle” on the left hand tree, we can find the settings for Side View-Battler. While there are many things we can change due to more varied anime types, the idea is exactly the same as setting walking sprites. Let us take a quick glance of the UI for this: [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//41957561/092b9a4c5430b94cf86b6cd68b4797ae5bd62ab8.png[/img] As aforementioned, the settings are largely the same as the UI for walking sprites. [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//41957561/bb31676f354b354b9068c6848dfd03c2623ef0c6.png[/img] Weapons can now also have their animation independently defined, as well as adding new weapons types. It maybe a little difficult to see but #0026 Undefined on the bottom left was what I added during testing and is one such example. If users can prepare the necessary graphical assets, it is possible to set different appearances for different weapons! [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//41957561/1e115412066c45a11e9b9663e883041487770dec.png[/img] The same applies for the overlay-effects of status ailments! [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//41957561/8d8c99e0e2884bff72552a51d42651019a3a81ca.png[/img] The setting and assigning of the overlay effect for SV-Battles can be done under the “Edit State” setting. This concludes our Dev Log #9! I hope you have been able to take away what information you need! See you all in Dev Log #10! [h2][b]9th RPG Maker Unite Q＆A[/b][/h2] [h3][b]Q1: Is it possible to add more animation types to walking and SV-battler sprites? [/b][/h3]A1: By default with the editor this is not possible. It may be possible to do so via Addons or direct modification through the Unity Editor. Edit: By animation type, this is referring to adding a 19th animation type for SV-Battler (such as completely new attack), and a 6th animation type for map-walkers (such as diagonal movement), via the default editor. [h3][b]Q2: What is the difference between using RPG Maker Unite’s Addon VS running custom scripts on Unity Editor directly? [/b][/h3]A2: Addons and modifications via Unity are a rather complicated technical question and we hope we can dedicate an entire Dev Log on this in the future. But in general, with Unity custom scripts users will need a deeper understanding of how Unity and RMU communicate and coordinate. In addition, whenever we update RPG Maker Unite, the Unity script would highly likely need to be modified to be usable again. Addons on the other hand, due to their nature of not changing RPG Maker Unite’s source code, are less likely to be affected by updates.