Use multiple interaction controllers to interact with different things at different ranges.

Want to pick up items all around you but only speak to NPCs or interact with other things when they are right in front of you? This can be done by using a multi interaction controller setup.

In this tutorial we’ll create such a setup:

• 1 interaction controller with a larger range around the player to interact with items
• 1 interaction controller in front of the player to interact with everything

This tutorial is based on the 3D RPG Playground series, but you can use this for any kind of project – just keep the size of your player in mind when creating the interaction controller prefab.

Adding a Machine Type #

First, we’ll add a machine type for our item interactions.

Machine types can be assigned to interactions (and other machine components). Interaction Controllers and Interaction HUDs can be limited to only use defined machine types. E.g. we’ll add an Item machine type and have the larger interaction controller for items only interact with the Item machine type.

Open the editor, navigate to Base/Control > Machine Types and add a new type.

Save Changes #

And that’s it for the editor setup for now.

Don’t forget to save your changes by clicking on Save Settings at the bottom of the editor.

You can close the editor now.

Prefab Setup #

Create an empty game object in your scene. We’ll add our 2 interaction controllers as child objects of this game object (and make a prefab out of it).

Item Interactions #

Add an interaction controller as a child object to the empty game object using the scene hierarchy context menu: Makinom > Interaction Controller (3D)

Rename the created game object to Item Interactions.

For interacting with items, we’ll use a Sphere Collider to just pick up anything around the player.

Interaction Controller #

We want to limit this interaction controller to only use the Item machine type, i.e. it can only interact with interactions that use the defined machine type.

Box Collider #

We’ll use a Sphere Collider instead, so remove the Box Collider component.

Sphere Collider #

Add a Sphere Collider component using the component menu.

Other Interactions #

Again, add a new interaction controller as a child object of the empty game object using the scene hierarchy context menu: Makinom > Interaction Controller (3D)

Rename the created game object to Other Interactions.

For other interactions, we want to interact with what’s right in front of the player, so we’ll stick with the default Box Collider.

Transform #

To have the box in front of the player, we need to move it forward on the Z axis.

The position is based on the 3D RPG Playground’s player, which has a radius of 0.7.

Interaction Controller #

This interaction controller should be able to interact with anything, so we don’t limit it.

Box Collider #

We’ll adjust the hight to match the player’s height of 3.

The finished interaction controller will look like this.

Create Prefab #

Create a prefab out of the root game object, e.g. name it Multi Interaction Controller.

You can remove the game object from the scene now.

Interaction Settings #

Next, we use the prefab we created in the interaction settings to automatically add it to the player.

Open the editor and navigate to Base/Control > Game Controls.

Interaction Settings #

I’ll also list the general setup for using an interaction controller.

Inventory Settings (Optional) #

Let’s also change how items are collected – instead of showing a dialogue, we’ll just collect them immediately and use a notification to show what we collected.

Navigate to Inventory > Inventory Settings.

Item Collection #

If you’re also basing this on the 3D RPG Playground tutorials, you’ll have set up using an animation and audio clip after collection – we’ll at least remove the animation.

After Collection (Ok) #

Collection Dialogue #

Notification Settings #

If you haven’t set up notifications in your project yet, check out this tutorial from the 3D RPG Playground series (you only need to follow the Notification UI Box and Notifications setup).

We’ll only use Add notifications for adding items to the player’s inventory and sitck with the default notification setup from the tutorial. So, we only have to enable showing the notifications and can even keep the default texts (I’ll list them anyway).

Item Added #

Equipment Added #

Currency Added #

If you use AI behaviours or AI rulesets in your project, you can also set up the AI Behaviour Added and AI Ruleset Added notifications.

For crafting recipes, you can find the notifications in Inventory > Crafting Settings & Types > General Settings.

Save Changes #

And that’s it for the editor setup.

Don’t forget to save your changes by clicking on Save Settings at the bottom of the editor.

Item Collectors #

To get Item Collectors recognized by the larger interaction controller, we need to use the Item machine type we set up.

This is done in the Start Settings of an Item Collector component.

If you’re looking for a tutorial on adding item collectors, check out this tutorial from the 3D RPG Playground series.

Start Settings #

Object Turn Settings #

Since we simply collect the items without any dialogue or animation, we also don’t want the player to turn to the item.

Testing #

Test your interaction controllers on regular interactions and item collectors (using the Item machine type).

Having the regular interaction right in front of the player works as usual (the interaction being in the Other Interactions controller).

Not facing it will not allow us to interact with it (it’s still in the Item Interactions controller). So far, this is the usual behaviour when using a single interaction controller.

However, the item collector (with Item machine type) is also available when not facing it and being a bit away from it.

Interacting with it now will immediately collect it and show the item notification.

Here’s the whole thing in action:

Tip: Unwanted Notifications #

When setting up Item Added and similar notifications you might get spammed with these notifications at certain times, e.g. from a combatant’s start inventory or your project’s start game schematic.

Nodes like the Add To Inventory node have an option for showing or not showing notifications.

However, you can also completely block notifications using a Block Notifications node – e.g. use one at the start of your start game schematic to block notifications and one at the end to allow notifications again to prevent any notifications from your initial game and inventory setup to show notifications.