It’s time to give our battle a proper intro – we can do this using Battle Start Events.

You can set up the battle start events for each battle system type individually – and each battle can override those default events as well. This way you can have special intros to things like boss battles, etc.

Camera positions

This time we’ll be using camera positions to get some action into our events. You can read more about them in this how-to.

Open the ORK Framework editor and navigate to World > Camera Positions. We’ll need two camera positions, so change the following settings.

Camera position 0: Battle Start Zoom

This camera position is used to create a cool zoom-in effect at the start of a battle.

  • Name
    Set to Battle Start Zoom.
  • Position Offset
    Set to X=0Y=0, Z=0.
  • Rotation
    Set to X=0Y=0Z=90.
  • Look At
    Enable this setting.
  • Ignore X/Y Rotation
    Enable this settings.
  • Ignore Z Rotation
    Disable this setting.
  • Set Field of View
    Enable this setting.
  • Field of View
    Set to 150.

That’s it for this camera position.

Camera position 1: Battle View

This camera position is used to have a nice view of our battle while fighting.

  • Name
    Set to Battle View.
  • Position Offset
    Set to X=-8Y=13Z=9.
  • Rotation
    Set to X=0Y=0Z=0.
  • Look At
    Enable this setting.
  • Ignore X/Y/Z Rotation
    Disable this settings.
  • Set Field of View
    Enable this setting.
  • Field of View
    Set to 40.

That’s it for the camera positions,  click on Save Settings.

Battle start event

The battle start event is in charge of playing a battle music clip and spawning/moving combatant’s to their battle spots. Although the battle system will also spawn any combatants that haven’t been spawned yet (but participate in the battle) at the start of the battle, it looks better when doing it in a battle start event – e.g. when the camera is looking somewhere else or the screen has been faded out.

Navigate to Events and Click on New Battle Start Event to create a new battle start event. We’ll create a small animation that plays the battle music, zooms in on the fight, fades out the screen in a white flash, places the combatants, set’s up our camera for the battle and fades back in.

Event Settings

  • Block Player Control
    Enable this setting.
  • Block Camera Control
    Enable this setting.

Click on Add Audio Clip to add an audio clip.

  • Audio Clip
    Select NearExplosionB.

Store Music

Add > Animation + Audio > Music > Store Music

This step will store our currently playing music clip and the track’s position – we’ll play the stored music after the battle ends. No further setting.

Change Music

Add > Animation + Audio > Music > Change Music

Now we’ll play the battle music we set up earlier.

  • Play Type
    Select Fade To.
  • Music Clip
    Select Battle Theme.
  • Fade Time (s)
    Set to 1.

Show Dialogue

Add > UI >Dialogue > Show Dialogue

We’ll display a simple message to state that we’re fighting now.

  • Dialogue Type
    Select AutoClose.
  • GUI Box
    Select Area Notification.
  • Message
    Set to #text.center#text.bold#text.italic#text.color3##text.size40#Fight!.
    This displays the text Fight! in the center of the GUI box, in bold italic text of size 40 and red text color.
  • Block Accept Button
    Enable this setting.
  • Close After (s)
    Set to 3.
  • Wait
    Disable this setting.

Play Sound

Add > Animation + Audio > Audio > Play Sound

  • Object
    Select Waypoint.
  • Waypoint
    Select Arena.
  • Audio Clip
    Select Audio Clip 0.
  • Play One Shot
    Enable this setting.

Change Camera Position

Add > Game Object > Camera > Change Camera Position

Now it’s time to use our new camera positions – we want to zoom in on the battle (arena).

  • Camera Position
    Select Battle Start Zoom.
  • Object
    Select Waypoint.
  • Waypoint
    Select Arena.
  • Fade Position
    Enable this setting.
    We don’t want to just set the position, we’ll fade to it, creating a cool effect.
  • Time (s)
    Set Value Type to Value.
    Set Value to 1.
  • Wait
    Disable this setting.
  • Interpolation
    Select Ease In Quad.

Wait

Add > Base > Wait

  • Time (s)
    Set to 0.5.

Fade Screen

Add > UI > Fade Screen

Now we’re fading out the screen in a white flash.

  • Wait
    Enable this setting.
  • Time (s)
    Set to 0.5.
  • Fade Alpha/Red/Green/Blue
    Enable this settings.
  • Start Color
    Select a white color with no alpha (R=1, B=1, G=1, A=0).
  • End Color
    Select a white color with full alpha (R=1, B=1, G=1, A=1).

Place At Spots

Add > Battle > Combatant > Place At Spots

This will place all already spawned combatants (i.e. mainly our player) at their battle spots.

  • Place All
    Enable this setting.

Spawn Battle Combatants

Add > Battle > Combatant > Spawn Battle Combatants

This will spawn all not yet spawned combatants at their battle spots.

  • Spawn All
    Enable this setting.

Look At Enemies

Add > Battle > Combatant > Look At Enemies

This simply let’s every combatant group look at the center of their enemies. No further settings.

Wait

Add > Base > Wait

We need another small wait step to make sure fading to the new camera position has finished by now. Otherwise our next camera position change can get interrupted by the previous.

  • Time (s)
    Set to 0.1.

Change Camera Position

Add > Game Object > Camera > Change Camera Position

Now we set the camera to use our Battle View position.

  • Camera Position
    Select Battle View.
  • Object
    Select Waypoint.
  • Waypoint
    Select Arena.
  • Fade Position
    Disable this setting.

Fade Screen

Add > UI > Fade Screen

And now, fade in the screen again.

  • Wait
    Enable this setting.
  • Time (s)
    Set to 0.5.
  • Fade Alpha/Red/Green/Blue
    Enable this settings.
  • From Current
    Enable this setting.
    We can simply start from the last color we used here.
  • End Color
    Select a white color with no alpha (R=1, B=1, G=1, A=0).

And that’s it for the battle start event – click on Save Event and save it as simpleStart in Assets/Events/Battle Start/.

Using the battle start event

We have to set up the battle start (and battle end) events for each battle system type individually. We’re currently only using the Turn Based Battles, so navigate to Battle System > Turn Based Battles and change the following settings.

Default Start/End Events

  • Start Event
    Select simpleStart.

That’s it – click on Save Settings and close the ORK Framework editor.

Let’s test it!

As always, open the main menu scene (0 Main Menu) and hit Play. Walk outside of the town and into the battle – and be amazed by the cool start event we just created!

gametutorial_23_battle_start2

That still leaves us to do the battle end events though …

And that’s it for now – the next lesson will cover battle end events.