Extending the Standard Third Person Controller

I love the new Third Person Controller and how easy it is to drag my own rigged model onto it and have my character walk, run, jump, and crouch convincingly just like that.

Obviously most games require a bit more functionality, and mine is no exception. My thought is that it would be easiest to just extend the controller with new animations and functionality, but I don't have a clue where to begin.

Anyone care to offer some guidance or resources for adding new animations/functionality to the standard controller?

 

I have looked over the standard controller and from what I saw, I think it mostly uses root motion. It adjusts the speeds of animations depending on the input. All you really need to do is get some animations, throw them into the animator, and hook up some transitions to move into and out of them depending on what you are trying to do. What are you looking to add anyway? Your post is very vague.

 

Fair point, @Zionmoose.

I'd like to add functionality including the following:

• Holster / Unholster / Aim / Fire a sidearm.
• Sit in / Stand up from chair
• Type while sitting in chair
• Holster / Unholster / Talk on phone
• Karate Chop
• Etc...

I rigged my model in Blender, but I was thinking of doing all animations inside Unity. Smart, or setting myself up for gnashing of teeth?

 

I would recommend you animate outside of Unity. And again, most of those things just require time. Create all the animations, drop them into the animator, setup the transitions and code when the transitions will happen. The other thing you have to think about are layers. Since some of the actions you are talking about can happen, for instance, while the player is walking, you will need to blend some of the animations together so he continues to walk correctly while also upholstering.

 

Thanks, @Zionmoose. @NewTimeBurnout gave me very similar advice elsewhere.

I've managed to get drawing/idle/firing/holstering integrated using a new layer and a separate script. I couldn't whether or not it was done "properly", but it certainly works, so I'm happy.

Next I'll be tackling getting the character to sit on a chair. Once I make some progress with that, I'll post back here on my approach for anyone else seeking to do something similar or for people to provide feedback on my methods.