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Listing objective states

Hey there,

I'm just getting started with the Objectives feature, and I have a question.

The Objectives UI seems set up now to be a bit like a quest log in a game like Skyrim, where there is a list of quests and you can click them for more information. What I'm hoping to build is more like an objectives overlay from a game like The Witcher 3 or Deus Ex, where active objectives are shown on the screen at all times with a list of their sub states visible, and this list can expand or shrink dynamically when objectives are revealed or completed/failed. It seems the InventoryBox menu element is currently only setup to reveal one state at a time on click - is there a way to show them all in labels, like this?

Quest 1

  • Objective 1
  • Objective 2 completed
  • Objective 3

Quest 2

  • Objective 1 completed
  • Objective 2 failed

Comments

  • The level of customisation to get e.g. strikethroughs through completed objectives etc would be too granular for them to be offered in a simple Label element's properties, but all the data can be accessed through AC's API for you to use in i.e. a custom Unity UI canvas.

    You can get all the current Objectives with:

    KickStarter.runtimeObjectives.GetObjectives ();
    

    See the Scripting Guide entry for more options and details, though I appreciate this is something of a rabbit hole.

    On categorising multiple "Objectives" into "Quests" - this could feasibly be done at the same time, whereby a Quest is just another Objective, that's hard coded to be dependent on other Objectives, referenced by their ID values. The RuntimeObjectives class also has functions to get / set Objective states.

    However, I shall look into this further to see if I can provide something more specific - even if it's in the form of an example script. Please leave with me for the moment.

  • OK, try this:

    https://adventure-creator.fandom.com/wiki/Quest_Objectives_and_sub-Objectives

    This allows you to classify "Quests" and their sub-Objectives by naming convention: an Objective named "MyQuest" will be the main Quest, while Objectives named "MyQuest/SubObjectiveA" and "MyQuest/SubObjectiveB" will automatically be its sub-objectives.

    Quest objectives will then be automatically completed/failed based on the state of its sub-objectives.

    The script will also output all active Quests into a formatted string, similar to the one in your example above. This string is used to update a String Variable, which can then be used how you choose.

    It's really intended more as a basis for further tweaking, though - and this is really the core of the matter when it comes to Objectives: how exactly you want them to depend on one another will vary from game to game, or even within a game. One scenario may need all sub-objectives to be completed, while another may only need a selection of them. By relying on custom logic like this, you can define the rules for this without having to rely on a limited set of options in an AC Manager.

    One thing I did notice about this though is that inserting forward-slashes into the name does mess up display in the various Objectives Actions - but this can be amended by opening InventoryManager.cs and replacing the instance of:

    labelList[i] = KickStarter.inventoryManager.objectives[i].ID.ToString () + ": " + KickStarter.inventoryManager.objectives[i].Title;
    

    (Around line 1194) with:

    labelList[i] = KickStarter.inventoryManager.objectives[i].Title;
    

    That will make them display hierarchically in Action selector popups. I'll make the same change in the next update.

  • edited April 2020

    Wow @ChrisIceBox, this is amazing. It's exactly what I needed; Thanks so much!

    I'll battle-test this thing in my current project, the first test looks very promising.

  • No problem!

    I've also updated the wiki script to simplify the process. Quest IDs no longer have to be manually assigned - Quests are now assumed to be any Objective that has no forward slash in it's name.

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