[RELEASED] RPG Creation Kit

If you are helping with the beyond Skyrim folks.... perhaps its time to release something

 

Respect ! The implementation of new functionality in the quest system will make them more fun. In this regard, Skyrim Tools is a certainly perfect example.

 

Development update:

So the new Quest System has been completed.

Quests are now created and configuried with an Editor Window built specifically to make the process fast and easy.


The Quest Script is configured by a Generic Menu that automatically finds all the QuestScripts in the project and add an option to select them.


The very news here are the Quest Conditions:
You can now create Conditions that have to match before adding or doing anything with the quest.
I've did the long explaination on conditions on this post.

For creating a new Quest Condition you only have to right-click in the Quest Condition's space and a pop-up menu will let you Create or Delete conditions.

While creating a condition, you will have to select a Function that does something and, generally, returns a number. In the case of 'GetStage' it returns the current stage of a quest.
GetStage takes only 1 parameter, but the system will show up any parameters the selected function has.

For creating a function that should be used in the Conditions you will have to write something like this:

Code (CSharp):

1. [IsCondition]
2. public static int GetStage(string _questID)
3. {
4.      return QuestManager.instance.GetStage(_questID);
5. }

The [IsCondition] attribute allows us to use this function in the Conditions.
So to create a new function:

Code (CSharp):

1. [IsCondition]
2. public static int TestCondition(string _questID, int testParameter)
3. {
4.        // Do stuff and return something.
5. }

As soon as the code compiles, you'll be able to use your new function in the Condition System.



Also Quest Stages are now managed in the Quest Window, and also them as well they can use Condition.



The whole new system has been tested heavily and I'm very satisfied with the results.
Some other functionalities (like reordering the Conditions) and some adjustments to the window in general are in progress.

 

Great news! With this functionality, can create complex and interesting quests AAA - class. Very expected for integrate into the current game project being developed.

 

Hello! Is any news on the current progress of development or release ?

 

Hello!
Yes, I was going to announce the release date, that's gonna be 25 August 2020 or thereabouts.

I'm currently working on the Cells System, Loading and streaming of the world. That's taking a lot of time, especially for testing, but I think I'll be able to show it off in the next week.
As always thank you for your interest, and patience.

 

It is very good that there is already an estimated release date. What will happen to the current Quests Creation Kit? it would be very nice if it were updated for dialog compatibility with the future RPG kit so that it would be possible to transfer the dialogs now created on it to the expanded game functionality of the future RPG kit.

 

That's another point I've thought of.
I'm considering adding some import/export features for both versions regarding the dialogues and quests. Anyway a lot of new stuff is present in the newest systems, and some has been replaced.
But I think it will be enough to have at least the quests and quest stages imported, and the dialogues with the lines (topic/responses) connected to each other.

 

That would be super !

 

Development update:

Cell System & World Streaming:



So that's been a crazy month!
Other than cleaning up a lot and fixing bugs, I've been working on this vital system to provide a good solution for what's concerning building an open world game. In the test above, the world is composed by 25 cells each one with the size of 16x16 and the player has a ridicously high speed.
That's obviously a very small size used just for testing, in future I will probably stay with a 64x64 cell size.

The world is loaded in a 3x3 matrix, that always has as the center cell the closest cell to the player.
The system automatically understands and chooses the neighboring cells in base of the coordinates of that cell (the one that you see as text in the SceneView), of course, at compile-time.

The Cell System is based on two type of data: the Worldspace and the Cell.

The Worldspace is simply a world, with its own landscape, skyes and weathers.
The Worldspaces can be of two types, Exterior Worldspace or Interior Worldspace, the most important note is that an Exterior Worldspace has linked cells that can be loaded together, while an Interior Worldspace does not.
Worldspaces has a variety of settings that allows you to customize your worlds.

A cell is a part of a Worldspace, if inserted in an 'Exterior Worldspace', the cell becomes an 'Exterior Cell', if inserted in an Interior Worldspace, the cell becomes an 'Interior Cell'.
Again, the main difference between them is that the Exterior Cell is part of a set of cell, while an Interior Cell is a single space.

Here's a common structure for an Exterior and an Interior world.
- Worldspace (Exterior World)

-WorldCell 0,0
-WorldCell 0,1
-WorldCell 0,-1
// and so on​

- Worldspace (Interior World)

-UrielsHouse
-KingsCastle
-AbandonedMine
// etc
​

Here's a Worldspace File in the inspector (with some omitted world data)



Here's a Cell File in the inspector: (with some omitted world data)

(World Coordinates & Neighboring cells are automatically calculated in base of the 'Cell Coordinates')


Of course you're able to switch Worldspace at runtime.
The worldspaces and cells are managed by a scene named "_WorldLoader_" that has the job of loading worldspaces, switching them and of loading and switching cells.
There's also the possibility of 'Teleport' (also known as Fast Travel) that's already implemented and fully working.

To manage huge worldspaces (composed of a lot of cells), I've created the 'CellView' Window.



That's a super-handy small window that allows you to browse worldspaces, view cells and load them in the Editor when you double-click on them (in Single or Additive mode). Still in WIP is the possibility to create cells by simply Right-Clicking in this window and clicking 'Create New Cell' or 'Duplicate Selected Cell', and also an option to edit/delete them.


While the Exterior has cells connected and loaded automatically by the system, to enter in an Interior Cell we obviously need a Door (of some kind).


The Data of the door is pretty much self-explaining, what's good to understand is the 'Door Teleports' and 'Door Link' sections.
The boolean 'Teleports?' indicates if this door leads to an Interior or not, if this bool is enabled you'll have to declare where it leads, and must importantly which one is the connected door in the Interior scene.

When you set the value of 'ToCell', a list of doors present in that cell is created and you're able to select the Linked Door. There's also a refresh button on the right to refresh the list anytime.

The super-handy buttons "View Linked Door" and "View Linked Teleport Marker" does exactly what they say, they load the Cell where that door leads and automatically select and focus on the door/teleport marker.

The the big white box is the Teleport Marker that determines where the player will be teleported and which direction he will face (the blue arrow) when he will use the opposite door.

See the View Linked Door in action:

And of course the player is able to enter/exit an interior.
More things to come in this system are:

• (If enabled) Streaming of the World also in the Editor, in base of the Scenew View position.
  
• LOD
• Wheater
• Skyes
• Water

So that was pretty much everything! There are also a lot of small features that I don't list to not make this post more long that it already is. I've also worked on the NavMeshes and to the links that must be made in the cells, but that's for the future.
Thank you for reading, as always if you have any suggestions/requests just reply!

 

Great functionality! This means one step closer to release. But such questions are very interesting:

1) Are there restrictions on the content of the world cell (that is, if the cell is part of a large Unity Terrain and there are the necessary scripts, shaders, vegetation on it (Unity vegetation or vegetation displayed using Vegetation Studio?)

2) If I have a third-party Emerald AI of an animal (for example, a wolf) and I put it on one of the cells, will it work correctly in the context of finding the path when a player is detected or do need additional corrections of it?

3) How will patrolling be technically carried out if the waypoints for the unit are on different cells and the unit logically needs to go to the one that is not yet loaded?

 

Hello LVelior, thank you.

1) There are no restrictions on the content you may want to add for your cells/worlds, if not the hardware limitations of your target platforms. I'm doing my best to write scripts that have a very low impact on the editor/runtime performances.

2) Integrating third-party assets with the RPG Creation Kit is a thing that will not come, at least on release. If Emerald AI uses the Unity's NavMesh system, having an animal wandering around and that follows the player should be easy to enough. For what's concerning damaging/killing him, yes, you may need additional corrections.
Anyway with the AI system of the RPG Creation Kit I aim to give you all the elements you may need for a RPG game.

3) That's a good question. I've been studying the big games and the answer is simple, if they're not loaded, they will not do anything if not faking. And that's makes quite sense. If an NPC is roaming and he reaches the end of a loaded cell he will stop, or roam to the currently loaded cells. Keep in mind that the minimum distance where this will happen is the size of the cell (64, the player is on the edge of the center cell and the NPC is on the edge of a neighboring cell) while the max can be 64x64. So that will only happen if, for example, the player is on the cell 0,0 and the NPC is on the cell 1,1, therefore, the player will not be able to notice it if the cells are big enough (64x64 looks perfect).
While if the player follows the NPC that's roaming, the world will be loaded and the NPC will be able to roam for the entire world.

A different thing can be having the NPC to follow a path, alone, without the player around (like going to a place for a quest), in that case you'll be able to do three things.

1. Stop the NPC if he reaches the end of the loaded world, he will resume only when the Player will get closer to him (same thing as above).
2. Switch to a pre-defined waypoint path, this will only work for persistent references and requires you to manually place waypoints, the NPC (partially unloaded) will follow the path at a fixed speed, without caring about the sorroudings. When the Player will get close enough to load the cell where the NPC is, he will return using the NavMesh system.
3. Most simple, yet effective, when the NPC reaches the end of the cell he will be teleported to its target (will also require persistent references).

 

Hello silvematt . The introduction of the ability to create a large world using a system of cells this is super .
The question: it will be possible to use the cell system as an option for individual game levels, or should any game level now have to be divided into cells - for the NPC logic to work ?

 

Oh yeah, absolutely.
In the post I've written about 'Interior Worldspace' that is actually a worldspace composed of individual cells (levels) that can be connected with a door of some kind. So Interiors are by definition a single level.
Nevertheless, you could avoid using Cells also in an Exterior Worldspace and just build your big world into a single level.The AI System, but also everything else, will work regardless, it is an extra the possibility of being able to move from cell to cell.

But it depends on what you want to achieve, the RPG Creation Kit will give you the possibility to choose both ways and especially a mix of the two things, but realistically you can't have a big open world in just one scene.

 

Greetings. Is there any development news?

 

Hello!
The development was at stall since this morning I had to do the final exam.

But things goes as planned, from today until when the update will be released, I'll work super-hard .

 

We wish you to pass all the exams successfully!

 

Yes. And please make flying dragon AIs like Skyrim minus the Navmesh

 

Thanks!

I'll think about that. With the way I've designed the AI it allows you to expand the functionalities and as I've mentioned you can switch the NavMesh System to a custom one based on waypoints. So technically it should be possible for the AI to move also in air with predefined paths and do things such as landing.

 

Development update:

The Cells System & WorldStreaming is almost completed, I'm trying to make easier the job of the designers as much as I can.
The only thing that really misses is LOD support, that will come shortly since I'm working on the 3D Models from a while.

- Editor World Streaming:

As said previously you're now able to stream the world while in the Editor by moving the viewport. Otherwise you had to load every cell by hand, after finding them in the Cell View.
The Editor World Streaming is enabled/disabled by a toggle in the RPG Creation Kit Editor Window, so you can easily switch it on/off in base of the needings, there will also be an hotkey to do that.
You can also edit and save the scenes while the world is streaming.

- Automated generation of NavMeshes and NavhMeshLinks:





Once you've setup the Cells of a Worldspace, by pressing on Generate all NavMeshes the system will build (or re-build) every NavMesh of that Worldspace. While Generate NavMeshLinks will generate every possible link whitin the tiles of the World, without making duplicates.

I'm very happy to have those functionalities in the RPG Creation Kit, since otherwise it would have been a pain for the Level Designers to work with it.

 

Very cool to see such opportunities !

 

Quick update:

Sorry if I'm not updating the topic, the development is prooceding very good anyway.
I'm currently working on fixing/enhancing features, improvements that will surely come handy while you're using the tools.

Here I list some (but leave out the majority since they need a bit of context to be explained):

• EffectOnEntity (such as potions/food) are completed, you can buff/debuff an Entity statistics (health, stamina, etc.) or attributes (Strength, Agility, etc.), eventually I'll add more default EffectTypes.
• EffectOnEntity are now displayed on the top-right corner of the screen (you can turn off this setting for certain Effects, like the permanents ones)

• Conditions now accepts as value a Global variable instead of a single value number, so you can now create conditions like [CheckNPCReputation] [FactionA] [>=] [Player.ReputationWithFactionA].
• FPSController has been enhanced, plus it now uses the newest Input System.
• Built a 'Character' tab in the Inventory that shows player info with those tabs:
  • General Info (Player's name & stats)
  • Active Effects (Lists all the effect on the player)
  • Attributes (Lists all attributes and show if they've been buffed or debuffed)
    
  • Factions (Lists all known factions and the reputation with them
  • Player's Statistics (Lists all general player statistics, such as how many creatures killed, how many quests completed, etc.)
• Faster creation of new Cells by a Window Wizard.
• Various Editor Shortcuts.

The upcoming system is the new Dialogue System, so stay tuned!

 

Quick update!

A lot it's going on, and it's going very well!
I've done countless fixes and enanchments, but the most exciting news is the RCK Dialogue System.

The RCK Dialogue System Editor is powered by xNode, an awesome framework.


What it is, what it gives and what I've aimed to obtain:

• A fast, easy to use and reliable solution
• The possibility to branch a conversation, with countless outcomes, using the Conditions system (that lets you branch anything).
• The possibility to build a single DialogueFile that can cover any possible situation (for a quest or even the entire game).
• The possibility to split your NPC dialogues (for a quest or the entire game) in different DialogueFiles and switch files any time (even while you're speaking with the same NPC you want to change the dialogue, he'll just pick up the entry line).
  
• A solution that allowed the user to do whatever he wishes while the dialogue is running, running custom scripts, conditions, quest dealers, quest updaters, consequences, and everything you can do in Unity in base of the player's choices.
  
• The possibility to lead to other states (Trade, Enter interior, etc.)
• The possibility to branch the conversation in base of some attributes, skills etc., allowing users to create skills checks, faction checks, and any other thing of that kind.
• The possibility to trigger any animations for the NPC(s) which whom we're speaking to (or they're speaking to each other).
• Lip Syncing.
  
• The possibility for the NPCs to make use of it and of all above and below functionalities.
• The possibility for the user to expand the system as he wants.
  
• *More.

In the image above there's a common situation in RPG games, still there are a lot of more nodes and tools you can use to develop your conversations.

This is already implemented in the RPG Creation Kit and works as expected. The same system will be applied to NPC(s) to NPC(s) conversations.

 

Here are 2 of the 8 Armor sets made by @Gelo29 for the RPG Creation Kit. Each set is composed of indiviudal wearable pieces (Head, Chest, Hands, Legs, Feet).
All the models will be used in the demo and included in the final package for you to use.

 

Great model! I really liked

 

I'm very sorry to announce that the release of the RPG Creation Kit needs to be delayed of at least 2 months because the scope of the project has been expanded even more, whitin the tools, the demo, the documentation and the tutorials and also because some unexpected.

I apologize, I truely believe this is the best for the project.

 

Make it the greatest tool set ever!

 

I believe in you, I've been watching the progress for a longtime, and I can't wait for it!!!

 

​

Hello.
Sorry if I'm not updating the thread, lot of things are in development, lot of things has been completed and lots of things polished. I'm working very closely to the 3D Artist doing things that drains time, but so far so good, I'm very happy with the results and confident you'll be too.

Everything regarding the models of the humans, equipment and weapons has been completed, and I take the opportunity to say that you'll also have:

• Built-in tools in the editor to create different faces for the NPCs races, using the blendshapes provided with the mesh.
• Built-in tools in the editor to create facial animations and poses, such as surprise, fear, anger.
• Character Creation for the player when he starts the game (can be triggered anytime), he'll be able to use a runtime version of the tools provided in the editor, he'll be able to select the name, race, gender and appearance of his character.
• First Person arms and hands that mirrors what you are wearing.

We're currently working on the environment for the Demo. Just few words on that, it'll be approximately an hour long and it will cover the most of situations you'd like to encounter when creating an RPG, so that you'll have already solved problems in the toolset.

As mentioned before everything regarding the models of the humans, equipment and weapons has been completed, it's already here:

• A Male Human model.
• A Female Human model
• 8 Character Sets for the Male Human.
• 8 Character Sets for the Female Human.
• 15 types of weapons and 3 types of ammo.

Optimizations on models has been kept in mind, the human models are divided in sections that if they should be covered with equipment, will be not rendered.

Game-side I'm currently working on a new version of the combat system that I hope to show-off with the hand-to-hand combat by the end of the week.
Oh, and there will be controller support.

As always thank you for your patience, I'm working very hard to bring this dream of mine to life.

​

 

Super! really looking forward to the release.

 

MAN!!! I should have bought this when it was just $40

 

Still, Cant wait and sure it'll be worth every penny

 

Any news on a release? It might be exactly what I'm looking for.

 

Hello Tom and thank you for your interest.

The RPG Creation Kit at this moment lacks of two main, big functionalities, AI and Save/Load system, which are the parts that will take more time to develop. What is already done (and it's much, much more than I've posted here) is pratically ready and there are just few parts that I still have to polish.

What was unexpected is the amount of time required to polish the artistic side of the project, I still have to clean a lot of 3D Models & Animations and for the latter a lot still needs to be created (and I'm currently making them).
Plus I've had to look for another 3D Artist.

I've thought about releasing the asset with the functionalities alone and then land the demo, but in my opinion it wouldn't be effective. When you're developing a real game, quests, dialogues etc. a lot of situations may pop-up that you didn't thought of while you were making the tools.

Since I have the time, I want to get the very best out of me without rushing anything, and yes this means delaying the release but I'm very confident that it will lead to the best product I can make at the moment.
The project is huge and I'm the only person behind it, but soon or later it'll reach the stage where it can be released and what I'll be mostly happy about is that you'll have what I wanted you to have.

I've an idea for the release date but I prefer to not announce it. I want to wait when I reach the stage where only programming needs to be done, avoiding the trap I've already fallen in.

Sorry for the monologue but I took the chance to update also everyone else.

 

Hello everyone.
I just want to let you know at which point I am with the models that will be included with the RPG Creation Kit.

Just a preface, every major model is made in a modular way, that means you can construct different types of stuff by arranging pieces as you'd like, this is the same technique applied in The Elder Scrolls and Fallout games.

City Interior:



City Exterior (and some extra, like the built house)



Modular House Pieces:




Another type of a modular house:



Modular sidewalks:



Modular House Interior:



Modular Castle Interior:



Some interior objects:



A lot more is ready (and I don't post it to avoid a wall of images), but we still miss a small portion that will hopefully be completed for the next week.
Those models will be used in the RPG Creation Kit demo and will be available to every one who purchase the package, to be used in games/prototypes.

Right after the models I'll take care of the animations, still a lot needs to be made but hopefully after that only the missing coding, the demo and the documentation/tutorials are left to be developed before release.

I'm super excited about what's happening and what will happen, and I hope you'll also be.

 

This asset is great! I can't wait until the next update comes out. Coming from the several Bethesda Creation Kits, I was really worried about going into Unity for a while. But I'm really glad to see you take the time to develop this tool! It'll certainly be very useful for me!

 

@silvematt - how's it going? Keep those updates a'coming! Even brief updates are great...

 

It's going well.
The graphics part is almost completed, I only need to polish 5-6 things. I've resumed the programming from a while and will update you on the new combat system within the next week, which should be also the day where the graphics will be completed.

After that everything should go much faster since I've full control on what needs to be done.

 

@silvematt ... great, thanks for the update.

 

Here is a video that shows off the new Combat System, Equipment System, Characters models and a bit of persistent references for the NPCs.

​

The third person animations are temporary, the graphics is a bit bland because there has been no work yet on rendering and lighting.

 

Here's a super-quick video that shows off the implementation of shields in the new combat system.
Creating and customizing gear, weapons and shields is extremely easy and fast!

​

With that I can say that the Combat System has been completed, the next thing to expect is the creation and customization of NPCs within the Editor:

• Built-in tools in the editor to create different faces for the NPCs races, using the blendshapes provided with the mesh.
• Built-in tools in the editor to create facial animations and poses, such as surprise, fear, anger.
• Possibility to import custom faces that match with the current body.

 

Wow !! it looks very cool! A whole new level! On such a basis, you can really try to create full-fledged RPG games like Skyrim.

There are several questions:
1) If a player blocks an attack with a sword, will the animation recoil from the blow?
2) Bow, magic?

 

Thank you!

1) Yes. In the last video I've posted at 1:16 it does that.
2) Ranged weapons are ready too, I didn't included them in the show-off because FPS animations are not, but they will shortly, I will post a video for the Bow and Crossbow too. Actually I'll finish them up before moving on.

The magic system will not be present at launch as a stand-alone system, as I mentioned earlier it is possible to integrate the weapon system to support magic (like a bow with different animations that shots fireballs, each shot instead of consuming ammo drains a custom variable), but I understand that it's not great in this way.
In most of RPGs magic is an essential thing, therefore one of my top priorities when it'll come to updates.

 

Ranged Combat System has been completed!

​

There have been more additions while I was developing the ranged combat, including a prototype of the ragdoll system for NPCs, Weapon UI that shows which weapon we've currently equipped and, if it supports ammo, how many ammunition we have left of the equipped type and Locational Damage with more precise hitboxes.

 

Super ! I wonder what features are left to implement before release?

 

Hello there!

There's still a lot of work to do, but I'm going fluent.
The biggest features that misses are

• New AI (and everything it includes)
• Save & Load system
• 3rd Person Animations
  
• Documentation and tutorials

The project is growing and getting better everyday and the release date isn't too far away.

 

Here is a video to show you the work-flow to create a new weapon in the current stage of the RPG Creation Kit:

 

Update:

I've been working on the Race Editor.
This is a tool to quickly create new races in the game, it comprehend:

• General settings for the races (like default attributes for that race)
  
• Base character male model
  
• Base character female model
  
• Hair Types utilizable by this race
  
• Eyes Types utilizable by this race
  
• Facial Customization (if needed)
• Factions: How other races/factions sees/likes the race you're creating.
• Text Data: A description of the race.

In this window you'll also be able to customize the face of your base models if there are any Blendshapes in the Head mesh. The system will automatically scan which Blendshapes the head has and display it on the window, allowing you to modify it.
This will be also used with the creation of NPCs, you'll have a similar window that displays the new NPC you're creating and it (by default) will inherit from the race you've selected.




And you'll also able to create facial expressions in the same way to then use them in the game.

On the same line a runtime version of this will be created to allow the player, once the game started, to customize his character. If you wish to have in your game as the player a predefined hero (or heroine) you can totally do that. Indeed there will be a setting wherever you want to allow character customization or not, if the latter is selected you'll simply reference which race the player will be when a new game starts.

It is also not mandatory to have to include blend-shapes in your characters models, as you will anyhow be able to benefit of the power of the Race system. As shown here, the female model has no blendshapes yet, the face cannot be customized but the Race can be used in the game:

Spoiler

And here's a spam of the 'Random Face' button, that often creates monsters but sometimes it gives you bases to work on.

Spoiler

 

@silvematt , God, I hope you finish and publish the first release! So much in this!

 

Man, the new blendshapes feature is really interesting. The project looks like it's coming along pretty nicely!