OMC Python Mini Map - Low Cost Mini Map Solution

Welcome to the Python Mini Map.

This is a low cost mini map solution for those who don't want to break the bank, but want a well organized asset to do the job you need done. This asset was born from the fact that I purchased many mini map assets that ultimately didn't do what I wanted, so I was forced to create my own. In looking at why those assets didn't work for me, I tried to make sure that this one didn't fall into those pitfalls. However, it still leaves a lot of room for you (the developer/creator) to make it look like you want with functionality that doesn't get in the way of your own code.

The goal was to avoid getting in your way and just let it do it's thing while you're doing your own thing. If you need to access it for something, you can. If you don't, then you don't have to worry about it. However, this does mean that you'll need to make it pretty, we leave that part in your hands. We use this same mini map in our own game so it's been tested on that level.

I admit that this may not be for everyone, and that's fine. However, for those who are like me and want more control over their game and feel like assets shouldn't get in the way of that, then this is something you may want to look into.

What's included:
-Prefab for main controller
-Prefabs for entity markers (just drag them into your scene and change graphic to whatever you like)
-Example scenes
-Instructions on how to get started
-Support for UGUI and NGUI

You can check out our store page here.

Python Mini Map can be purchased for $9.99.


The Future

As to what's to come, the goal is to add in a log system for all markers in a scene. This way they can be easily manipulated via code. Markers currently can be updated only if you have the reference to the marker somewhere. The update coming next week will have the main mini map controller keep a log of all active markers and allow them to be updated any time you want.

I haven't tested Python MM with 2D games yet, so that'll be something I do this weekend and I'll make any adjustments I need to the prefabs to make sure that's as simple as it is to use in 3D.

Also, in the coming weeks, I'll be adding a Fog of War system. I started one before the asset was released, but I was unhappy with it and it was scrapped. I have a better idea of how I want to do it and that's going to take some adjustment to make it easy to understand and easy to drop into your project and use.

I will be adding Doxygen pages as well. I've never used it, so it's taken some time to get them working.

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I'd like to thank everyone who has given us encouragement and helped me along with advice and suggestions. This is still the early days of the product and I hope that in end we can provide a good experience to those who are just looking for something fairly simple for their game.

If you have any questions or want to propose new features, feel free to leave them here. I look forward to meeting and chatting with everyone in the future!

EDIT:
We have a new Discord server. If you're having troubles or have questions, feel free to drop by. https://discord.gg/NufNScGy4K

 

Update 1.1.0 of the Python Mini Map has been uploaded to the Unity Asset Store. Just waiting for confirmation of the package going live before I go into detail about what's been added. A couple of highlights:

-2D game support
-Customizable Marker Types
-Better control over markers in a scene

I'll update this thread when it's up.

 

Was expecting the review to take longer, but it went a lot smoother than I expected. Update 1.1.0 is now live.

Get it here: https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/3d/gui/python-mini-map-177481

A little bit of info about this update:

Markers are those things you put in your game world to show the player where things are. Whether it's a door, shop, enemy, etc. I felt like handling markers in the original release wasn't very robust and didn't allow for markers to be handled in a more direct way. On top of that, each marker was just floating out there in the scene with no direct way to access them. Let's say you wanted to change all shop markers to a new graphic. In the old system, you'd have to have them in some array or list and then manipulate that list. It's not all that hard to do, but I think it's something the Python MM system should handle. Now, you can assign a group to a marker and then make adjustments that way.

The system will now keep a list of all markers in the scene and if you want to hide a specific type of marker, you can do so easily. You can hide and change individual markers as well. More functionality will be added in the future as well.

The other addition is the ability to use the system in 2D games. If you're making a 2D game and could use a mini map, then we have you covered. There are specific prefabs for 2D so just drag them into your project and they should work fine. Probably not many people who use mini maps in 2D games, but the option is there for those who want to go that way. All features are available in 2D as well.

Not a huge update, but I feel like it's a significant one.

Next up will be the Fog of War system. I've toyed with a few solutions, but finally settled on one that I going to use. The trick is going to be making sure it's "easy" to use out of the box. The next update should be in a couple of weeks. I'll need to implement the Fog of War system, then do some testing to make sure it's ready before release.

Have a great day!

 

Update:

I had planned on getting the new Fog of War system out this week, but the game we're working on is gonna be shown at the Steam Fall Festival and we're working overtime in order to make sure we can put on a decent showing. So it'll probably be next week before the Fog of War stuff gets added. I think it's good to be transparent about these sorts of things, but I don't want anyone thinking that we're not working on this still.

Remember to post any questions if you have them or if you're having any problems getting things working. I'm assuming that everyone who's purchased this so far haven't had any issues. If that's the case, then I'm happy.

Take care, folks.

 

We have a new Discord server. If you're having troubles or have questions, feel free to drop by. https://discord.gg/NufNScGy4K

The link was added to the first post as well.