A daunting task...

Greetings. I'm relatively new at game dev, and I can understand why so many folks give up. I can't for the life of me find a working prefab of a WoW type controller/camera setup that actually works my way. I purchased several 'controller' assets, none of which will satisfactorily work under varying circumstances. I watch their vids, and read the documentation, and they refuse to work on characters other than their own, or types I'm not interested in using. I tried a popular MMO controller ($75) and it failed to attach a camera to my character (with their cs script attached). The 'instant' camera looks randomly off into space unless I edit it in Play but after that, the scene stops working, and cannot be edited out of Play mode since it vanishes. My player moved around just like it's supposed to, but with no camera following it, and the 'created' camera just watches the skybox from somewhere else in time.

Edit to add: I can place another camera in that scene and I can watch THAT camera follow the player, but the invisible camera is off in LalaLand.

Another asset Kit looked promising, so I paid $100 for it, and it won't cooperate either. The few vids are vague and undetailed, as well as the docs. It is very detailed in what it can do, but in perspective lt is 'beginner hostile'. My sent email is now over a week old and waiting...
Those demos scenes work fine, but don't apply well when implementing a preferred char (a Nocturnis prefab)
The 3rd person prefab in Standard Assets is very dissappointing for 3rd person RPG.
That $175 would have bought me a personalized player/camera controller package I'd imagine...

I even tried replicating code from tutorials on YouTube, and most of them are out of date (v2.6, 3.2, 4, etc) with obsolete APIs, and show errors even when my code exactly matches theirs. I had no trouble dropping in an FPS setup and walking the scene, but that's not the perspective I want at all.

What I'm trying to accomplish at this point in time is to have an actual prefab bundle to drop on a Humanoid character (which already has it's own animations) and do something monumental, like walk around in a scene I already built, and have the camera follow it. I'm not skilled enough presently to produce bulk code and this dilemma has had me stumped from developing on and off a few times.

 

Well if you don't get too picky about the behavior you want, it's easy:

1. Drag the camera into your player character object in the Hierarchy tab.
2. Position/rotate the camera so that it's looking over the character's head/shoulder.
3. Play.

Now, the pickier you get, the less likely you'll find something off-the-shelf that does exactly what you're looking for (especially if you're not experienced enough to follow the documentation or configure it).

Keep in mind that if somebody has submitted a package to the Asset Store, it worked for them; and if somebody else has written a good review of it, then it worked for that reviewer too. That means it can work, and if it doesn't work for you, you probably shouldn't just give up on it; you should figure out why.

Most assets have one or more forum threads where users discuss it. See if you can find that for each of the packages you're using, and then post there, patiently explaining in detail what you did, what happened, and how this differs from what you expected.

 

Thanks for the reply. I'm not trying to be picky, but I'd like to have the char/camera controller of my preference since that is a huge part of the player experience/interface. I'm used to the WoW, Perfect World type movement mechanics and I'd like that to be my interface basic. I'm also a fan of click-to-move mechanics like in Diablo 3.
I've gotten my somewhat preferred character to walk and run and the camera follows, but I'd still like to have the orbital camera for movement direction (also being able to pan around and view the area, including the sky). I'm not a fan of the A/D movement mechanic, but I know there are those that are.
I make it a point to read reviews and touch in the forum there before I further pursue an asset. I try the web demo, and think it over for a while. But as far as I can tell, the demos are tweaked. Far be it from me to decide whether an asset is viable. I would like to trust that I'm buying what I demo, and not paying for cinematics when the gameplay is inferior.
I try not to be overwhelmed at all the variations in code folks create that all serve the same purpose, but it's adding to the learning curve as to what paths of approach to take.

 

Yes, but the player experience isn't what you should be worrying about at this point. You're not going to create the next WoW this year no matter what you do. What you might be able to do, though, is level up your game-developer skills, and that is what you should be focusing on.

So, with that in mind, your goal at every point should be to learn as much as possible, and not let anything stop you. Your main character looks like he was drawn by a third-grader? Who cares? Make him jump! Camera is stiff and pokes through walls? So what! Make a cube that follows you around like a puppy dog.

I mean, sure, at some point you could take your stiff camera as a learning opportunity of its own... but then you shouldn't be looking at assets to do it for you; you should be writing all the code yourself. And you should do it only as long as you're having fun and learning from it; as soon as that's no longer the case, you declare it good enough and go learn something else.

To craft an overly-elaborate analogy... you are a Level 1 adventurer, barely sticking your head in the first level of the dungeon. You have it on good authority that if you can just reach the very bottom of the dungeon, riches and fame await you, along with love and a cool castle too. So you've now spent a fair amount of money on a fancy bit of armor, and you're complaining that it doesn't fit or look quite the way you want it to.

I'm a passing high-level adventurer (I haven't quite beaten the bottom level of the dungeon yet, but I'd say I've made excursions into it!), and I hear your complaints. And I'm telling you, forget about the fancy armor. You need to learn to fight. A lot. You are going to face many, many monsters on your way, and no amount of purchased weapons and armor will enable you to slay them all — you need to level up your skills. And you do that by wading in there and fighting. You can hire a teacher, read books about it, go through tutorials, and these are all good things to do... but in the end, you need to seek out and slay your own demons.

It's a very long road, and most adventurers never make it to the end — but the great thing is, for most of us, it doesn't really matter. The adventure itself is the point. So get in there and start fighting!

 

You should contact the asset developer of the package or packages you have purchased. They will walk you through setting them up and give you some good tips on using them. Did you watch the video tutorials and read the manuals?

Assets are not always drop and play. You have to work with them and set them up. We have a 3rd person character controller and it took some time to get it right. The developers we work with are fabulous at helping out so don't be afraid to ask them. At the very least, post in their forum threads and let others there help you.

Creating a vague description of your problem here isn't going to help you.

 

Yep, most asset developers want you to succeed so they (typically) want to help you. Before you give up on an asset, post in their forum and/or message them. It is possible that the asset publisher isn't aware of your scenario or simply hasn't tested it. But this doesn't mean it won't work with a patch or a bit of extra configuration.

 

That's a brilliant analogy and should have its own sticky thread called "Welcome Adventurer!" imho.

 

I second the "sticky this" motion. This is probably the best and most appropriate analogy for gamedev - actually for any long term goal requiring skill development - that I've seen.