Looking for suggestions about a simple but solid "sequencer" from the asset store

Hi,

I'm developing a story-driven side view game, using CorgiEngine, DialogueSystem, Spine and other assets, and I'm looking for advice on a fundamental part of the game: scripted sequences, or cutscenes.

I already had a look in the store, but found very large frameworks and I fear the learning curve would be very steep - and I've got a deadline to respect.

So I was hoping that you, the Community, could provide some advice or suggestions about some asset you've used or found around the store-jungle, and that you feel comfortable with.

I basically need a system that:

• Offers different kind of triggers out of the box (timed, object or groups of objects in proximity, quest checking, variable/function checking.
• Offers a simple interface to chain each cutscene, possibly in the inspector as well, where I can define a named "sequence" as a form of timeline, so for example I can invoke some public methods on some actors, then stop to wait for a specific trigger/event/condition to happen, call more methods, and so on
• Being able to chain more sequences or store them in a single database would be great.
• The asset must have a good support and should be an "active" asset, possibly supporting Unity 5.4.2f2

I know Dialogue System already offers a good sequencing engine in LUA, but I'd prefer something that my level designer wouldn't get lost into, since he should be studying in depth how it works, or I should be encapsulating groups of DS functionalities spending a lot of time on that.
I also don't have the time to write my own system at the moment (it would also require reflection for the method, and building a decent UI to use it, and I'm still not experienced with it)


Do you have any advice or favored/suggested asset?

Thank you

 

Slate IMHO is the best in the asset store currently( I have the 3 top sequencer to compare).
It has the best UI and features by far. Only problem is that there are no examples bundled yet, so it may be slower than the other to start, but it's very easy once you get the hang of it.

 

Thanks for the suggestion

I actually already looked it and tagged as "too big for my needs" and I wanted to avoid it if possible because I suppose the learning curve is a bit steep.

Are there any simpler - less 3D cinematic oriented, smaller - assets out there to be considered, for a 2D game with simple cinematics/sequences?

 

If you don't need the advanced features it's pretty easy. Actually it is easy to use, just lacking of tutorials.
Most of them are 3d oriented since 3D can cope with 2D too, wouldn't make sense to do 2D only. I never paid attention to 2D so I have no idea. For 2D you could even use just Unity animation system if you need something basic.

 

I recommend SLATE, too, although the Dialogue System also works well with Cinema Director and uSequencer. The SLATE developer is also very helpful.

Check with your level designer. If he's doing a lot of writing, he may prefer the Dialogue System's text-based sequencer commands so he can stay in the flow of writing. That's why it's designed that way. It's quick and easy for basic camera changes, animations, and sounds. But, for complex sequences, he may prefer to use (or mix-and-match with text sequences) one of the scrubbing editors like SLATE -- or Cinema Director, which has a series of YouTube tutorials.

 

Pro Camera 2D - The definitive 2D & 2.5D Unity camera plugin
https://www.assetstore.unity3d.com/en/#!/content/42095

I'm a non-coder and think this is going to be my xmas present to myself.
Not sure if it meets the 'sequencer' requirement mentioned.

 

Yes, I was looking at SLATE already, but also at uSequencer.

And yes @theANMATOR2b , I'm already using ProCamera2D. Definitely a great purchase!

In the end I think I'll be using LUA from Dialogue System, as it has a flexibility in his sequencer that I wouldn't have imagined I'd have found in a dialogue system. I'd buy the LUA interpreter as a standalone! Now I just have to get the hang of it - LUA and custom UIs. You can basically do everything with DE! (without mentioning the enormous list of compatible assets!)

 

Thanks @NeatWolf! I won't claim that the text-based sequencer is ideal for every situation (I use products like SLATE for really complicated cutscenes myself), but 90%+ of my conversation cutscenes are simple camera movement, audio, and animation, so it's more convenient and compact to write them in the text-based sequencer as I'm writing the text. This way I don't break my writing flow. It's also easy to reference keywords like 'speaker' and 'listener' and let the Diaogue System automatically substitute the correct GameObjects at runtime.

BTW, the Dialogue System somewhat confusingly (but for good reasons) has two text-based command environments: Lua for more data-oriented things such as tracking variables and sequencer commands for more user-experience things like cutscenes. You can extend both very easily. The Dialogue System comes with a really simple template for custom sequencer commands. In fact, I use this template whenever I write my own custom sequencer commands such as ones that kick off SLATE, Cinema Director, and uSequencer sequences.