In this tutorial we’ll set up schematics to animate special actions, e.g. death.

This tutorial continues the sub-series for animating battles.

Everything that happens in battle is considered an action, and we can animate them using schematics.

We’ll set up schematics for:

death of a player
death of an enemy
escaping
switching members (2 schematics: one for the leaving combatant, one for the joining combatant)

Player Death Schematic #

First, we’ll set up the schematic to animate the player’s death. It’s pretty simple.

Combatant Animation #

Add Node > Animation > Combatant > Combatant Animation

We’ll play the Death animation.

Object
Select Machine Object.
Animation Type
Select Death.
Wait
Enable this setting.

Calculate Action #

Add Node > Battle > Action Outcome > Calculate Action

Death doesn’t need to be calculated, but it sets some things that are used by other features, e.g. as the latest damaged combatant for the (optional) battle camera. It’s good practice to always do this for your schematics animating battle actions.

And that’s it for the schematic. Click on Save Schematic to save it, e.g. as DeathPlayer.

When animating your own model’s death, depending on your animation setup/system, you might also need to disable using auto animations and stop the idle animation.

Enemy Death Schematic #

Next, we’ll let the enemy die – beside playing the death animation, we’ll also fade it’s game object to black and let it sink into the ground.

Combatant Animation #

Add Node > Animation > Combatant > Combatant Animation

We’ll play the Death animation.

Object
Select Machine Object.
Animation Type
Select Death.
Wait
Enable this setting.

Enable Component #

Add Node > Game Object > Component > Enable Component

This node enables or disables a defined component.

We’ll use it to disable the NavMeshAgent component on our enemy, otherwise it’d block our movement into the ground.

Enable/Disable
Disable this setting.
Component Name
Set to NavMeshAgent.
Scope
Select In Children.
Object
Select Machine Object.

Change Color #

Add Node > Animation > Fade > Change Color

We’ll fade the color of the combatant’s game object.

Color Type
Select Renderer.
Fade
Select Fade.
Time
Select Value > Value.
Set the value to 1.
Fade Alpha/Red/Green/Blue
Enable these settings.
From Current
Enable this setting.
End Color
Select a black color with no alpha.
Though, the used renderer doesn’t really support transparency.
Object
Select Machine Object.
Scope
Select All In Children.

Move Into Direction #

Add Node > Movement > Movement > Move Into Direction

Now we’ll move the combatant down into the ground.

Object (Moving Object)
Select Machine Object.
Move Component
Select Transform.
This’ll prevent any physics from getting in the way.
Time
Select Value > Value.
Set the value to 1.
Wait
Enable this setting.
Speed Type
Select Value.
Speed
Select Value > Value.
Set the value to 1.
Vector3 Type (Direction)
Select Value > Direction.
Direction
Select Down.
Local Space
Disable this setting.

Calculate Action #

Add Node > Battle > Action Outcome > Calculate Action

Like with the player’s death, it still needs to be calculated.

And that’s it for the schematic. Click on Save Schematic to save it, e.g. as DeathEnemy.

Escape Schematic #

To animate our escape, we’ll just try to run away.

Settings #

We’ll add a User Base actor to reset our rotation to the battle spot’s rotation.

Actors #

Click on Add Actor.

Actor Type
Select User Base.

Change Rotation #

Add Node > Movement > Rotation > Change Rotation

We change the rotation of the user, adding 180 degree (i.e. turn around).

Object (Rotating Object)
Select Machine Object.
Vector3 Type
Select Value > Value.
Value
Set to X=0, Y=180, Z=0.

Wait #

Add Node > Base > Wait

We’ll wait for a short time to not cause the rotation change to interfere with the animation.

Time
Select Value > Value.
Set the value to 0.1.

Combatant Animation #

Add Node > Animation > Combatant > Combatant Animation

Let’s run.

Object
Select Machine Object.
Animation Type
Select Run.

Wait #

Add Node > Base > Wait

Wait for 2 seconds to run for a bit.

Time
Select Value > Value.
Set the value to 2.

Combatant Animation #

Add Node > Animation > Combatant > Combatant Animation

Now we stop running. Copy the previous Combtant Animation node and change the following setting.

Stop
Enable this setting.

Change Rotation #

Add Node > Movement > Rotation > Change Rotation

Reset the rotation to the battle spot’s rotation (User Base actor).

Object (Rotating Object)
Select Machine Object.
Set Rotation
Enable this setting.
We’ll set the rotation instead of adding it to the current rotation (like we did before).
Vector3 Type
Select Game Object > Game Object.
Object
Select Actor 0: User Base.
Value Origin
Select Rotation.

Calculate Action #

Add Node > Battle > Action Outcome > Calculate Action

This’ll calculate if the escape was successful.

In case you want to do different things based on success or failed escape, you can use a Miss next slot just like for attacks.

And that’s it for the schematic. Click on Save Schematic to save it, e.g. as Escape.

Switch Retreat Schematic #

This schematic is part of switching a battle member and is used by the combatant that’s getting switched out.

Similar to moving forward and back for attacks, we’ll move the switching out combatant back and the joining combatant forward – the new combatant is placed at the position of the leaving combatant, so that’ll work out fine.

So, for this schematic, we’ll move back and calculate the outcome, which’ll trigger the joining schematic.

Move Into Direction #

Add Node > Movement > Movement > Move Into Direction

Object (Moving Object)
Select Machine Object.
Move Component
Select Auto.
Time
Select Value > Value.
Set the value to 0.4.
Wait
Enable this setting.
Speed Type
Select Value.
Speed
Select Value > Value.
Set the value to 5.
Vector3 Type (Direction)
Select Value > Direction.
Direction
Select Back.
Local Space
Enable this setting.

Calculate Action #

Add Node > Battle > Action Outcome > Calculate Action

Calculating switching members will trigger the exchange, remove the old member and place the new member at the old member’s position.

And that’s it for the schematic. Click on Save Schematic to save it, e.g. as SwitchRetreat.

Switch Enter Schematic #

Here’s the next schematic for switching members – this’ll move the now joined new combatant forward. Like with the MoveBack schematic, we’ll also set the combatant to it’s battle spot for good measure.

In fact, let’s just use the MoveBack schematic and change it to our needs, using Save Schematic As to create a new one out of it.

Open the MoveBack schematic and change the following settings.

Move Into Direction #

Time
Select Value > Value.
Set the value to 0.4.
Direction
Select Forward.

And that’s it for the schematic. Click on Save Schematic As … to save it, e.g. as SwitchEnter.

Special Action Setup #

Now, we’ll use the schematics for our special actions to set up their battle animations.

Navigate to Combatants > Combatants > General Settings.

Battle Settings > Default Battle Animations #

Like the ability and item start/end animations, this is where we’ll set up our special action animations as well.