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Title Screen Menu - Various questions
Hi,
I've followed the tutorial as best I could but I have some additional questions and extra stuff I'd like to add to it.
- I'd like to add a "Continue" option that is only visible after selecting (creating) the first save. What I've done is the following: I've created a "Continue" option, I've added an action list, and I tried enabling this option via a variable check in "OnStart", problem is that it either always appears or it never does; the variable doesn't seem to do anything.
This is my setup:https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZgtfsZcxAqjhzkj81PdkP5Rql1PwMKZU/view?usp=sharing
- The second issue I'm encountering has to do with "Option," "Load," and "Back" not returning to the main menu and also the main menu overlapping with the submenus.
I've attached a video. I'm sure I missed something in the turorial but for the life of me I don't know what.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZUti50vjwE3Omgp3lOrk-CbnhnX-dUtN/view?usp=sharing
- Menu sounds not playing after being added to the "Hover sound" and "Click Sound".
"Cannot play audio 'LightSwitchOff' since no Default Sound is defined in the scene - please assign one in the Scene Manager." <- this one is weird because all other sounds work fine, everything from SFX to Music.
I think this is enough for now. I had one more, but I think there's enough stuff in here. For any additional information just let me know.
As always, thank you in advance.
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I don't know when the variable is being set / checked relative to the Menu being turned on, but typically "initialisation" of a Menu should occur inside the Menu's "ActionList when turn on" asset.
You don't need to rely on a Variable, either - the Save: Check Action can be used to check if any save-game files exist.
For the ActionList that runs when clicked, avoid using the ActionList: Run in parallel Action, as the Save: Save or load Action may interrupt the other Actions once run. Have the other Actions run first, and then load the Autosave.
I don't know what keypresses / clicks you're making in the video, but - if you're following the tutorial's approach - make sure that your sub-Menus have the "Exit Sub Menu" asset run when they turn off, which should turn on the correct main menu as they do so.
I'd need to see the properties / ActionLists involved to offer more specific advice on this.
A slightly more involved approach to all this - though perhaps one with a more straightforward logic - is to rely on ActionLists for everything.
This would involve setting the Pause menu's Appear type to Manual, and then creating an Active Input to manually listen out for the "Menu" input being pressed, which then turns on the Pause menu / turns off sub-Menus explicitly.
For Menu Buttons that transition between Menus and Sub-Menus, their Click types would be set to Run Action List, and then have ActionLists assigned that handle both the turning on - and off - of the relevant Menus.
Menu sounds are played via the scene's "Default Sound" object - which can be generated at the top of the Scene Manager.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Sk7UgYl2dRTV4Duk4c_2wcpSlcUk_fW6/view?usp=sharing
Thank you for replying so quickly. This is my current set-up. Maybe I forgot to add something in the Starting scene (in the OnStart). I don't know to be honest. It works pretty good, except that Options/Load back button close the menu instead of crossfading to Pause (Main in this context).
I was able to implement "Continue" and add sound to the menu, so thank you for that.
I also had a separate question pertaining to Save/Autosave.
Firstly, where is the best place to add the first initial save? I'd like to have that first save occur the moment you click "Start New Game" - Each time you press "Start New Game" a new save slot is occupied. I removed manual "Save" from the game so that the player can only Save when he/she enters a room (autosave).
Secondly, I'd like to implement the following logic but I'm having some difficulty as it's the first time I'm working with this system.
Logic: Click "Start New Game" -> New save , if you go into save room it overrides the existing "New Save". If you quit and press "Start New Game" -> a second slot is occupied by New Save -> if you go into the save room it overrides this new Slot and keeps the other one as is. I'd like to be able to do this 5 times (5 slots).
Finally, if you quit an start the game and Select "Continue" it loads the last save.
As usual, thank you so much for your help.
To be clear: you've renamed the default Pause menu to Main?
Some of your Actions still reference "Pause" - they'll need updating to reflect the name change.
Check the Console when the issue occurs as well - AC should report a warning if you attempt to open a Menu that's currently locked.
Saving should always occur during gameplay - ideally, you'd save the game once the intro has played out, and you've given control over to the player for the first time.
If you really need to save into the slot beforehand, i.e. just after pressing the "Start New Game", have the game switch to an interim "Create new game" scene when the button is clicked.
In this scene, create an OnStart cutscene that saves the game using Save: Save or load, and then continue the game proper with the Scene: Switch Action.
If you load this specific save, it'll return you to this "Create new game" scene. To have doing so begin the game, create an OnLoad cutscene that just runs another Scene: Switch Action to again switch to the first proper scene of the game.
There's a couple of ways you can do this - either by saving in separate slots, or by using one slot but multiple profiles.
If using the first approach, you'd need to use a Global Integer variable to keep track of which slot to save in. You can calculate its then-fixed value in your "Create new game" scene, using a series of Save: Check Actions (or custom scripting) to determine which slot is available.
In subsequent Save: Save or load Actions, you can then copy the Variable to an ActionList parameter and use it to override which slot you save to.
If using the profile approach, you have the advantage of each save having their own options values, e.g. language, volume levels etc. Here, clicking "New Game" would create and switch to a new Profile using the Save: Manage profiles Action.
Apologies for the late reply. I've been scrambling to fix and add new gameplay. I was able to fix the menu issue (partially, there's an issue with freezing the pause menu, but that's being put on hold as it is not important). I'm still having some issues with the save system, at least with the way I'd like to set it up. Is there any tutorial explaining the two methods you described? I think I need to look at this step by step to understand it.
To reiterate:
I'd like to add a new save slot whenever "New Game" is selected. And when I go into a save room, I'd like that room to overwrite the current save. Then, if I go into Title Screen and select "New Game" a second time, a new slot is created, and if I go into that save room, it will overwrite that save file. Additionally, if I select "Continue" in the Title Screen, it should load the Last Save.
Sorry for being so dense, and thank you in advance.
Let's try the Profiles approach - it's generally easier to set up.
You can find details on this feature in the Manual's "Save profiles" Action, but you want to start by checking Enable save game profiles? in the Settings Manager.
Next, in the ActionList for your "New Game" button, insert the Save: Manage profiles Action at the top. Set the Method to Create Profile. This will create a new profile (and with it, its own options data / save files), and switch to it. Follow this Action with whatever scene-switch etc Actions are needed.
When entering a save-room, use the Save: Save or load Action's Overwrite Existing Save option to overwrite the Autosave. You can check the Console's output when this runs - it'll report save locations when created.
To have your Title Screen show a Continue button, use Menu's ActionList when turn on logic to run a Save: Check Action. Set the Check to make field to Is Slot Empty, and leave Save ID as zero. This condition will be met if an Autosave exists - so follow this up with a Menu: Change state Action that makes your Continue button either visible or invisible accordingly.
In your Continue button's ActionList, run the Save: Save or load Action - setting Method to Load Game and Save to load as Autosave to load the autosave when clicked.
thank you @ChrisIceBox. I will look at this in a few days. Finishing up the demo. Hopefully by Halloween.