Developing an Adventure Game Inventory Menu - using tables - Video Example from Stormy Studio

StormyStudio

'DEVELOPING UNIVERSAL POINT AND CLICK ADVENTURE GAME INVENTORY USING TABLES'

Hello World...

WARNING… This is an unfinished UGLY development project… with nice rules underneath… I promise….

I thought I'd share what I've been tinkering with over the past few days, using any spare time available… which has amounted to not much at all.

I'm trying to recreate my old point and click adventure template (game mechanic) using Tables and with a Universal devices setup in mind. Last time I made it, it was for retina iphones (pre iphone 5), pre-tables and some slightly messier rules and logic than I can do today. Link to the old one.... http://www.stormystudio.com/game_templates/inventory.html

I've got the basic mechanics working, with items being easily added to a table for collectables, and have a working inventory table setup.

It still needs a lot more work to make it look cool, animate the inventory menu, animate items popping into the menu etc... make it universal, have save functions built in, extra tables for backups, blank tables to allow users to wipe the game and start again (that would probably be added once a game was fully made), … etc etc..

Anyway… hope its of interest… night….

Early Development Video Example...... sorry for the unenthusiastic voiceover, it's a little late.



I'm either going to use this to make a game or sell/give away with my other templates on the marketplace and my website
http://www.stormystudio.com

Cheers

Jon

beefy_clyro

Looking good dude and interested to see what you make with it

Braydon_SFX

Looking nice, Jon!

We did something like that for our Point and Click template over at GSHelper.com.
Makes it nice and easy for the user to edit. Looking forward to seeing the final product.

StormyStudio

Cheers guys.... still early days... but should be pretty fine tuned once its done... enjoying the problem solving of the rules... its been a while so its nice to be back to trying to solve little problems like "why the hell wont the box unhighlight when an item is used".... (it does now unhighlight :-)

StormyStudio

Here's a quick little video update to show where I am at with my new point and click adventure inventory menu…

its made with tables, some very tidy rules which should make it a doodle to create a game with. (It will just be images and ideas that hold a developer back :-)

Updates:
• Can now go back and forth between scenes, then inventory stays up to date, as does the scenes collectables and unlockables (doors).
• Inventory is collected before being used.
• Inventory can be hidden and unhidden.
• You can quickly change the number of inventory boxes (add a row in the inventory table, drag in another instance of an inventory box, name it the next number i.e. box number '8' and your done).
• Added text pop up boxes, currently making use of tables to display the text, which makes it very easy to add… I may change this to display images instead to allow for more aesthetic control. (including the ability to fade).
• Inventory logic all works smoothly (is fully labelled up with some 'notes').
• All tables are updated and saved as things are activated and collected.
• Simple scaling animation on the inventory box when an item is used (should work well once proper art work is added).

Check out video update 02 here… (Not all that interesting, no voiceover... but shows where we're at so far)



New visuals coming soon… to stop it looking quite so very simple...

Enjoying the process of solving a few little problems a day...

UtopianGames

If I was making one of these I think I would have limited slots but allow the user to place items in the scene once found to pick up later so its adds a "umm i know i found that item but where the hell did i leave it?" but I have played very few of this style of game so might be talking rubbish.

Looking good m8.

Darren.

LumpApps

It does indeed look good. What also is an option is to have a small inventory at first and have a bigger one later in the game. "You found a small bag" and " you found a big bag". You make me want to build a game like this, I played Indiana Jones and other Lucasarts games a lot.

StormyStudio

@DeepBlueApps.com Cheers Darren, I like the idea of being able to put things back on the screen, but would need to limit where people could put things in a scene, otherwise I'd end up with objects floating in the sky, trees etc... could add a floor that they drop on to I guess.. hmm food for thought.

@LudwigHeijden ... was thinking something similar myself... I'll tackle making it even simpler to change the number of inventory slots... I could have the inventory boxes spawn based on a number... which could then be increased and decreased in game.

StormyStudio

Quick update:

The number of inventory boxes can now be controlled in game. Allowing for more slots to be collected or removed.

The slots are spawned as required.allowing you to change from 1 to 10+ really easily. The tables continue to work without any changes.

The inventory always remains central to the screen. And repositions each box depending on the number and width of the boxes.

All going well I will share some updated visuals soon.

Then I need to decide if this is for my own game or a template. Hmmm

beefy_clyro

or both

StormyStudio

Yes Or both :-)

StormyStudio

Another update...

YES IT STILL LOOKS BAD.... YES I'M STILL TINKERING WITH THE LOGIC... slowly slowly catchy monkey

- Still refining the rules and testing the setup to make sure it works as you'd expect.

Video below shows:
- Changing between scenes
- Maintaining inventory items and state of locked/unlocked doors
- Text box pops up
- Ability to change the number of inventory boxes in game.. current refresh properly when you change scene, which centralises the inventory no matter how may boxes there are.

Once I'm happy with this setup, I'll eventually make it look all shiny with polished graphics. Still some tinkering to do under the hood... and might work on some more advanced ideas, like the option to combine found items to make something else... (e.g. pieces of a space rocket)



Still looks pretty basic, but hopefully as I slowly tinker with it... it will get pretty awesome and become for a very easy to use collectables menu for all sorts of games... on all sorts of sized devices...

Edit: (video being processed by YouTube... give it a few mins if its not working yet)

Braydon_SFX

Rock on, man! Looking awesome already!

POM

Wow very nice!!
I'm gonna make some popcorn and watch these ASAP! Very curious about it cause I tried to make inventory system myself but it came out clunky

Roy.

EireStudios

Wow, very nice work there mate, I'm just starting to mess around with tables myself and I'm really enjoying the experience! If you ever decide to sell this as a template you can count me as a customer

LumpApps

Looks good! The only thing I dislike is the hiding and unhiding of the inventory when you go leave and enter a scene/room.

DanielDoe

Great! Are you going to sell or share it?

pixelknights

Looks good! The only thing I dislike is the hiding and unhiding of the inventory when you go leave and enter a scene/room.

I think this is a good feature, by hiding the inventory it gives you extra space on screen to add actors or whatever.

LumpApps

It's more the constant moving of the inventory is what bothers me

StormyStudio

@LudwigHeijden I've got a rule in there that would stop it automatically coming up as you go to a new scene (it's currently turned off)..... This would mean when you change scene the menu stays down... Another option is to have a fade to black transition when changing scene, this would allow for the tiny amount of time for the menu to populate with its images.... and some parts of a game could be built into the same scene, so you would'nt always need a fade to black... hmm... ).


Video Update 04:

• Inventory box backgrounds - load up behind inventory boxes.
• Collect larger inventory item (need to have it automatically re-aligh the inventory without having to wait to change scene)
• Simplified some logic to quickly allow the created of lockable or always open doors.
• New temporary background images- Whilst playing around with Cinema 4D's modelling tools this afternoon I created some random background images to chuck in this for now. (I know 3DS Max really well, but trying to get used to Cinema 4D).



- Will continue to tinker, add a reset option and at some point make some actual proper visuals.

LumpApps

If you are looking for a new 3D app I recommend trying Blender 3D as well. I have been working with it for a while and like it. I have no experience with other 3D apps... Well, swivel back in the days

StormyStudio

Cheers Ludwig, but Im tackling the learning of cinema 4D as its becoming more and more integrated with adobe after effects which I use the majority of the time at work making animation and motion graphics. Blender has always sounded great though and can certainly produce work near enough equal to lots of the bigger expensive choices. Thanks mate. J

POM

Stormy!! any progress?

Roy.

StormyStudio

A little bit... a family heavy bank holiday weekend and a looooonnnngggg night with the baby on Saturday stumped development for a couple of days....

I'll post something a little later.

The inventory button now aligns to the left... I decided being centrally lined worked fine, but not necessary good for game design.

I've nearly got the inventory updating in size perfectly in when you collect a new one without having to leave the scene and go back... (just need to tidy the animation style...)

StormyStudio

Another quick text update... for anyone that might care.

I've managed to get all my rules working to a point that I'm happy with for today. After a couple of days of it being slightly broken as I tried to rework some logic.

I can now drop prototype actors into a scene, quickly change 1 or 2 self attributes, drop an image on and they function correctly.

This works for:
unlockable items, (i.e. padlock, computer, stone of wonder etc etc.)
collectables, (link to table row using self.name for controlling its description and state...)
inventory bags (or varying slot numbers, set by self attribute, and linked to a table)
unlocked doorways
locked doorway

All the items can display text in the text pop up box by changing a self attribute to the correct row number for the text table. So its very easy to tweak text and potentially change languages just by telling it to show text from a different column.

The inventory now pops up and down and resizes appropriately. Also simple little scaling animation in the inventory when an item is used and the other items move across the inventory.

I'll post a video soon, I'm keen to make some better looking visuals and short gameplay example to put it through its paces.

Watch this space.... Hmm.. space... maybe I'll make a point and click space game.

StormyStudio

One problem I am having which I've walked away from for the time being is that if I change the maximum inventory number to something smaller than the inventory currently is and tell the inventory boxes to destroy themselves if their name (number) is higher than the new maximum inventory number, they wont destroy themselves. . . They just sit there looking at me!

I've quadruple checked the logic and checked numbers change as they should but the little truckers just won't die. I'm sure it's probably me rather than gamesalad but it has beaten me for the time being. I've deleted the rules, going to leave it for a few days and try and implement it again from a fresh perspective another day.

StormyStudio

Video update 05:

- New clean simple graphics (probably for a template, or just as a smarter place holder)
- You can un-highlight an item in the inventory by clicking on it or by selecting another.
- No items require saving to a key using behaviours, all is done via tables (which don't require loading).
- Changed rule setup so you use a self.attribute instead of self.name when relating to a row no. in a table.
- Door states of open/shut are saved to tables, and load instantly in a new scene. (actually more instant than the time it takes for items already collected to destroy themselves… hmm.. interesting.)
- I need to sort out the rules so a text box wont disappear if it is due to appear as another one is just about to close.

- Lastly I've got a new game idea I've started doodling ideas on... this may evolve into it.
- I need to create a little 'how to use' video at some point.



Hope you like the progress... and feedback or BIG ideas are welcome.

One idea I'd like to implement is having the text boxes not always be along the top of the screen, but actually pop up near to where you click and have a line connecting the text box to the item concerned.... to be continued.

Braydon_SFX

Wow. Very, very nice, Stormy! It's come such a long way. Loving the fact that you can pick up larger satchels. I also like that the boxes will always be to the right of the satchel actor - nice touch! I'll most likely be your first customer on this one - really want to support your efforts. So much work and detail has been put into this! Keep it up!

POM

Like Like like!
I want this template!

Roy.

ChirpinGames

This is great! Any chance this one will go up for sale as well?

StormyStudio

Cheers guys glad the work gone in is worth while. There are quite a few rules in there now, all fully labelled up.

@ChirpinGames at some point Ill make it available Im sure. Just tinkering for now trying to create a perfect setup making the most of tables and making it quick to use. I'll add a couple more scenes soon as a test at how quickly new ones can be created with locked items and more collectibles.

Once that's done and working beautifully I'll put it up alongside my other templates and submit to the official marketplace.

Should get a few mins free tonight, otherwise it's another week of tinkering on the train on the way home from work.