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Version 1.60 - 2.5D background changes, performance improvements

A fair number of bugs are squashed in this release, but some nice features have still made it in:

UI 2.5D backgrounds
Unity are preparing to remove their Legacy UI system soon, with Unity 2017.2/3 giving warnings whenever GUILayer / GUITexture components are used.  The 2.5D camera system has traditionally relied on the GUITexture component, but this release brings an optional Unity UI-based approach.  The workflow is identical: choose the method in the BackgroundImage component, and assign a texture.  Note that with the upcoming Unity 2017.3 release onwards, this will be the only method available.  Therefore, if you're looking to upgrade an existing 2.5D project to the latest Unity release then you should make the change before changing Unity version.

Editor improvements
The About / New Game Wizard windows have been smartened up, and there's now a "Check for updates" button in the top toolbar.  Links to create AC objects can now be accessed by right-clicking in the Hierarchy, and new tools allow you to export inventory and variable data.  It's also now possible to convert Local variables to Global and vice-versa.

Ambience tracks
Similar to the way the Music system works, the new Sound: Play ambience Action lets you queue up and loop ambience (SFX) tracks that can survive scene changes and get saved automatically.  The regular sound system still exists, but this'll make it easier to play background sounds when you also have music.

Random parameters
The ActionList: Set parameter Action can now be used to set random values when affecting Booleans, Integers and Floats.  By calling this at the start of an ActionList, and have such parameters used in your Actions (e.g. a float to control Engine: Wait), it becomes much easier to incorporate randomisation into sequences.
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Comments

  • edited October 2017
    And the changelog:

    Upgrade notes
    • The "Require double-click to move?" toggle has been replaced with a "Double-click movement" popup field to allow for more options
    • The OnInventoryCombine custom event is now called if an item is combined with itself
    2.5D
    • Added: Unity UI can be used to handle 2.5D backgrounds instead of GUITextures to handle 2.5D backgrounds - in Unity 2017.3 and later, this is the only option
    Editor
    • Added: "Check for updates" button to the About window and top toolbar
    • Added: AC object links to Unity's GameObject and Hierarchy menus
    • Added: "Cut", "Paste after" and "Insert after" options to Action cog menus in the ActionList Editor window
    • Added: The "List active ActionLists" debug window now lists the active Player, and can be dragged
    • Added: Newly-created ActionList assets now have their own Project view icon (Unity 2017+)
    • Added: Minor cosmetic improvements to New Game Wizard
    • Added: The scene's default PlayerStart now says so in its Inspector
    • Added: Auto-create button for Default NavMesh in 2D scenes
    • Fixed: Game Editor error if the Cursor or Inventory Managers are viewed with no Settings Manager assigned
    Audio
    • Added: "Sound: Play ambience" Action - use to play, loop and queue ambient sounds independently from scenes
    • Fixed: "Sound: Play" Action occasionally being skipped when resuming the game in Unity 2017
    • Fixed: Sounds set to survive scene changes not removing themselves afterwards
    Cameras
    • Added: Ability to override game's camera perspective setting on a per-scene basis when creating new scenes
    • Added: OnCameraShake custom event - called whenever the "Camera: Shake" Action is run
    Menus
    • Added: InventoryBox menu elements that display the selected item can now be limited by category
    • Changed: The direct-navigation Menu options at the top of the Menu Manager now show for Mouse And Keyboard input, but only affect Unity UI-based Menus
    • Fixed: Minor display issue with animated Interaction icons when editing
    • Fixed: Performance issue with Unity UI-based Menus
    • Fixed: Hover sounds not always playing for Menus that pause the game
    • Fixed: Various issues with Unity UI and directly-controlled Menus
    Variables
    • Added: Ability to convert Variables from Global to Local (and vice versa) in the Variables Manager
    • Added: Ability to export variable data as CSV files
    • Added: Ability to add internal descriptions to Variables, and filter by them in the Variables Manager
    Inventory
    • Added: Ability to add internal descriptions to Inventory properties
    • Added: Ability to import and export inventory item data as CSV files
    • Added: The "Inventory: Check selected" Action can now query the last-selected item
    • Added: The "Inventory: Check" Action can now query the number of carried items in a specific category
    • Changed: The OnInventoryCombine custom event is now called if an item is combined with itself
    Players
    • Added: If a game has multiple players, and audio files are assigned automatically, then players can optionally share the same speech lines with separate audio
    • Fixed: Not all save data not restoring when switching Player prefab
    • Fixed: Player sometimes not spawning at runtime if a Player prefab is selected in the Project window
    Characters
    • Added: Ability to set the Layers used when Raycasting to determine if characters are grounded or not
    • Added: Performance boost to Legacy-animated characters (credit to ilmari)
    • Added: The "Vertical movement factor" field's affect on 2D character rotations is now optional (but enabled by default)
    Input
    • Added: Option to override first-person touch-screen movement with custom inputs
    • Changed: The "Require double-click to move?" toggle has been replaced with a "Double-click movement" popup field to allow for more options
    Misc
    • Added: The "ActionList: Set parameter" Action can be used to give Integer and Float parameters random values
    • Added: When using the New Game Wizard on Android or iOS, "Touch Screen" is suggested as the Input Method
    • Added: Link to community wiki under "Online resources" toolbar menu
    • Added: Performance boost to off-NavMesh clicking
    • Fixed: Running an ActionList asset set to "Run In Background" causing the game to unpause the game if gameplay-blocking Cutscenes are also running
    • Fixed: Issues with "Save: Save or load" Action's "Selective loading" option
  • Hello , I have a question : This means that Cursors and interaction menus can be made visible in VR ?
  • Great update. Thanks!
  • edited October 2017
    @mariuz: This particular update doesn't relate to VR, but the provided World Space Cursor Example script allows for a 3D, VR-compatible cursor.  More on this can be found in the "Working with VR" chapter of the Manual.

    Any Menu can be linked to Unity UI, either as a prefab, or as a scene object.  If you choose the latter (by setting its Source to Unity UI In Scene) you can connect it to a Canvas that renders in World Space, which is good for VR.  You'll have to ensure that said scene object exists in every scene, though.  More on Unity UI integration can be found in the "Unity UI menus" chapter.
  • Is it normal to loose all my managers and settings in every scene after updating?  I have backed up first so can revert and try something different if need be.

    I am at the beginning of a very large project, do you recommend keeping AC and Unity updated or not?  At the moment I only have 3 scenes, but will have 100's as I progress.  I am happy to discuss this via email if it is easier.
  • edited November 2017
    @Rickious It'll tend to happen, I think AC tries to default to the demo managers whenever you update so the ones in use may be deselected (but never deleted). All you have to do is look for the manager's package asset you get when you create a new Game in the wizard, then just click it and in the inspector hit "set all managers". Best advice I can give you is: never start a game using the demo managers. Because, they will be overwritten when AC updates if you forget to untick them (I think the manual also warns about this), you should always use the wizard to create a new game (which creates all the required managers).

    Anyway, about updating, that depends. If changes between Unity versions are large you may have to fix your own scripts and/or outdated plugins you may have. AC usually keeps up to date with the current public Unity versions (not betas).Only times I've ever had issues updating AC is when you are updating from a very old version, or if you've put scripts on any AC prefab (cause obviously the objects will get overwritten and you'll have to put the scripts all over again). But all in all, always make a backup before updating Unity or AC (or any plugin), then once the update is complete, assess the problems, if any. If it seems like the problems will take too long to fix, and you don't have that time to waste, you may want to consider just reverting to the backup.
  • @Rickious: Which scene settings are you referring to?  Things to do with your Managers, e.g. references to variables?

    If you use the New Game Wizard (or just not the default/demo), then Managers won't be overwritten - but the Demo ones will be assigned in your Game Window upon a full import of the update.

    This is because AC's record of which Managers are assigned are stored in the AdventureCreator/Resources/References file.  I have looked into having this file omitted from the official AC package, and instead have it auto-generate in a project, but results have been unreliable and as it's essential to AC working I'm not happy with making such a change.

    As @Alverik correctly points out, you can easily revert back to your own Managers afterwards by double-clicking the "Manager Package" file the NGW creates for you.  An alternative method is to simply omit the References file when updating.

    These are covered in Section 1.7 of the Manual if you'd like to know more.

    But if you've instead been using the Demo game's Managers for your own game, these'll get overwritten when you update.  In this case, just copy each of these Manager asset files, rename them, and use the duplicates instead (by assigning them in each Game Window tab manually).  That way, only the original Demo assets will be affected - and not your own.
  • @ChrisIceBox and @Alverik, thanks for the advice, I have tried loading my ManagerPackage.asset but from a quick test, my player is still broken at least, so I am retrieving a pre-update backup and will update without the demo assets (I did mean to do this as I did not add the demo assets to the initial version), and try my current managers from there and get back to you.
  • I used a pre-update backup and updated again omitting the 'Demo', '2D Demo' and 'References' files and all is fine.  Loaded my 'Manager Package'. 

    The only thing that was omitted was my character ,just had to drap my prefab back into the manager and it was good to go.

    Thanks
  • @ChrisIceBox New update already? You work fast man! I assume it's just some fixes?
  • edited November 2017
    Version 1.60.1:
    • Added: The "Character: Change rendering" Action's "New order" and "New layer" fields now support parameters
    • Added: When the inventory is modified through script, InventoryBox menu elements are now updated automatically, with no need to call ResetInventoryBoxes()
    • Fixed: Game Editor window not opening upon first install due to a bug with Unity 2017.1
    • Fixed: Inventory item label showing inappropriately if "Selected item’s display" is set to "Hide From Menu"
    • Fixed: Errors in Speech Manager in rare circumstances
    @Deckard_89: Indeed, a critical bug forced my hand.  Basically the Game Editor window would fail to open until you restart Unity after importing AC.  Really bizarre, but so far as I could tell it's an issue with Unity 2017.1 itself.
  • Apologies - a couple of unfortunate bug introduced in v1.60 has warranted another quick update:

    Version 1.60.2:
    • Added: New Menu "Appear type" setting - "Except When Paused"
    • Added: RemoveAll and RemoveAllInCategory functions to RuntimeInventory script
    • Added: Option for animated cursors to skip first frame when looping their animation
    • Fixed: Issues with mouse-over Menus drawn with Unity UI, at the cost of re-introducing associated performance hit
    • Fixed: Changing inventory cursors through runtime scripts affecting their original settings in the Inventory Manager
    • Fixed: Issues when using the "EndConversation" input with ActionLists that override a Conversation's options
    • Fixed: Ambient and music tracks momentarily starting with incorrect volume levels
    • Fixed: Fields to manually assign speech audio clips no longer appearing in Speech Manager unless multiple translations exist
    • Fixed: Cameras not being correctly updated when using the "Auto-add save components to GameObjects" feature
    • Fixed: Display issue with the "Object: Check visibility" Action
    • Fixed: Menu Manager assets created with the New Game Wizard having an expandable hierarchy
  • edited November 2017
    Heya Chris - 

    Just updated to 1.60.2 from 1.59a and it looks like QTE -> Hold Key interaction has a bug.  I can't update the "Required Duration" field any more.  I can type in a number and it'll immediately change back to 0.  If I load up an existing interaction, it'll show my previous value but if I modify it, it'll freak out.  For example, I had one set to "4" and when I tried to change it, it converted to "2" and wouldn't let me change from there.

    Here's a screengrab of me adding a new one and not being able to adjust from "0":

  • @themightyzq: Odd.  Thanks for posting, I'll look into it and let you know if I need more info.
  • Thank you thank you thank you for this: 

    • Added: The "Vertical movement factor" field's affect on 2D character rotations is now optional (but enabled by default)
    I feel like you did it just for me after my post.  Maybe not, but that's how it feels.  Awesome!
  • edited November 2017
    A bumper bugfix update is here with v1.60.3:

    Upgrade notes
    • Due to bug-fixing, the "Ground-check layer" field in Player and NPC components has been reverted to "Default", and may need amending
    • If a Hotspot interaction's "Place action" is "Walk To", and "Face after moving" is checked, the player will face the Hotspot's "Centre-point override" if one exists


    • Added: When animating cursors and portrait graphics, the relative speed of each frame can now be set
    • Added: Ability to define an "Is grounded" boolean parameter for Mecanim-based characters
    • Added: Node icons to Hotspot Interaction panels to more easily access ActionList Editor window for assigned Interactions
    • Added: The "ActionList: Set parameter" Action can now be used to copy one parameter value onto another
    • Added: The text fields in Menu and Scene Actions now support tokens
    • Added: Ability to control the size and position of arrow prompts
    • Added: Minor cosmetic improvements to Active Inputs and Character Wizard windows
    • Added: The Speech Manager's "Game text" panel now lists the total number of text lines that have been gathered
    • Added: Ability to set an "Alternative input button" for InventoryBox menu elements with the type "Hotspot Based" and only one slot
    • Added: 2D characters created using the Character Wizard are now placed on the "Ignore Raycast" layer
    • Added: Chapter to the Manual on integrating AC with Cinemachine
    • Added: The [Var:x] text token is now allowed as an alternative to [var:x]
    • Added: The "Object: Transform" Action now allows a choice between local and world-space
    • Changed: The "Skip first when looping?" animated cursor option has been changed to "Skip first frame when animating?"
    • Changed: Upon completing the New Game Wizard, a dialog will ask the user if it should convert the current scene
    • Changed: If a Hotspot interaction’s "Place action" is "Walk To", and "Face after moving" is checked, the player will face the Hotspot's "Centre-point override" if one exists
    • Fixed: "ActionList on start game" not running if the game is restarted using the "Engine: End game" Action
    • Fixed: Menu "ActionList when turn off" assets not running if a Menu is fading in when turned off
    • Fixed: Custom label option not always showing when appropriate in the “Save: Save or load” Action
    • Fixed: ActionList Editor window displaying incorrectly in Unity 2017 when using Linear colour space
    • Fixed: Issue with the "Character: Switch portrait" Action when using animated portraits in a Unity UI-based Menu
    • Fixed: Remember Animator components incorrectly saving the state of non-looping animations
    • Fixed: Issue with RuntimeInventory's RemoveAllInCategory() function
    • Fixed: Playing ambience tracks stopping other SFX audio mid-play
    • Fixed: Vertical arrow prompts responding to inverted Vertical input
    • Fixed: Character "Ground-check layer" fields not allowing multiple layers to be selected
    • Fixed: Footstep sounds and first-person head-bobbing not playing
    • Fixed: Direct player movement not responding to input keys if the mouse is outside of the Game window
    • Fixed: Issues when re-ordering categorised inventory items
    • Fixed: Issue with off-NavMesh clicking in 2D games made with Unity 2017
    • Fixed: Issue with "Input: QTE" Action’s UI when creating "Hold Key" QTE types
    • Fixed: Interaction element labels not showing in Unity UI-based Menus
    • Fixed: Runtime issues if the MainCamera’s "Look-at child" is not present
    • Fixed: 2D Demo’s Bird NPC not having its sprite child in the correct position
  • Thanks a lot Chris.Great as usual.Nice job!! 
  • "Fixed: Issue with "Input: QTE" Action’s UI when creating "Hold Key" QTE types"

    Yay!  Thank you so much, @ChrisIceBox!
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