Tracking social statistics

Whatexists

Hi. The game I'm making has a number of social mechanics that require tracking a number of different factors and I'm not sure what the best way to do this is in ORK. I suspect that it's best to track these things with Status Values, but maybe it's best to do it with variables instead? So let me explain a few different social mechanics and what I'm wondering about.

1) NPC Approval Ratings

There are a number of player group characters and each NPC has an approval rating for each member of the player group. Choices that can be made as various player group characters can give approval for different NPCs. I'd like to be able to have a menu, kind of like a bestiary, for displaying information about each NPC where each NPC has an entry and the entry includes their approval for each player group character. I'd like to display this with a number of heart icons, where the number of icons increases as their approval rating gets higher.
My first thought is that I should have an Approval Rating Status value for each member of the player group, and that these status values should be Experience type status values with each heart earned basically being the number of levels you've earned. My questions about that are: is there a way to set a maximum number of levels you can earn? Can you subtract experience and/or levels from a level? Is there anything I should know on the UI front for displaying levels as a number of icons instead of a number?
Alternatively should I just use object variables or game variables? (Do object variables persist from one instance of the combatant to another?) Or is there another system in Ork that might be better for this?

2) Player Alignment system

The game does have an alignment system for player group characters where choices you make as them can push their alignment in one of three directions. This is something like paragon/renegade points in Mass Effect (or the personality choices in Dragon Age II) except that there are 3 options instead of 2, the options are not always mutually exclusive (although some choices will raise your points in one and reduce them in others and the game usually only cares about which you have highest), and finally I'd like to be able to give them different names and descriptions for the different characters.
I was again wondering about using status values for this. There may be select NPCs who also have alignments that player choices can push the NPC in one direction or another. However, most NPCs shouldn't have these so if they're status values I'd like to be able to selectively hide them to never be shown for some NPCs (which I should be able to do by setting up the right status, right?) I'd like to be able to show how far you are in a path by giving a meter with a minimum and a maximum. What Status Value Type would be best for that? Consumable? Experience?

3) Player reputation system

This isn't faction reputation. Choices you can make will make NPCs think that you are one kind of person or another, or both, and then NPCs will sometimes react to you in dialogues as though you are like that. Each player group character needs to have reputation tracked for 2 potential traits on this front, and all NPCs will react based those two traits. NPCs don't need these traits tracked.
I'd once again like to be able to display these as two meters that go from 0 to a maximum. I'm guessing they should be status' but the same questions come up as before of which type of status would be best for this kind of thing which has a minimum and a maximum, and changes slowly over the course of the game rather then changing as often as HP or Mana might change. Also, again, is there a way to set up certain status' to only apply to certain Combatants or to make sure certain status' will always display for NPCs but never for PCs when looking at combatant information huds?

gamingislove

That sounds like a job for object variables!

So, variables that are bound to game objects via the Object Variables component. The component uses an Object ID to save and load them with save games, and any component using the same object ID will share the variables. You can also use the object ID to check and change the variables without the game object.

This allows you to have the same variable keys for all those systems across all NPCs, which you'd access via their game object, i.e. variable origin Object and selecting the object you need (e.g. Machine Object when using an Interaction Machine on the NPC).

The rest is just changing and checking those variables as needed.

Whatexists

Okay! Thank you! And for the menus that display these, you can use object variables for a combatant in question in combatant/bestiary style HUDs and with meters and the like? And do you have any advice for how I'd do the hearts? I want to be able to have hundreds of approval points but a maximum of 5-10ish hearts, so it can't be a direct 1-1 thing.

gamingislove

If bestiary shows for the actual combatant, yes - otherwise it uses a dummy combatant that'll not have the same object variables as an individual combatant (unless you use an object ID for all combatants of the same type, i.e. they share the variables).

As for the hearts, HUD icon bars can show an icon for a defined value range, e.g. 0-5 one heart, 5-10 2 hearts, etc.

Whatexists

So, for example, regarding the dummy combatants: if each character is their own combatant and, under their combatant base settings, I click "Own Object Variables" "use object variables" "always initialize" and then set up the variables in question there, then every iteration of that combatant would have the same object variables, including the dummy combatant used for the bestiary? (Which I would presumably do for named important characters, while unnamed NPC enemies and monsters and the like would presumably have one combatant that was used repeatedly, and any object variables should be set up on instances of them, not on the combatant.)

gamingislove

If you enable Local Variables in those settings, each combatant instance would have their own variables. If you have this disabled and define an Object ID, each combatant instance will have the same variables and share any changes. Additionally, any other object variables (either via combatant or component) using the same object ID will share those variables as well.

So, for this to work, each of those combatants will have to use their own unique object ID.

Whatexists

Excellent! Thank you!

Whatexists

I'm finally getting around to implementing this and running into a couple questions. For the HUD UI object that lists the Object Variables for a given combatant (part of the HUD that will be used by the bestiary info box to display info on whatever NPC you've selected in the menu), Based on how it worked for displaying a list of attack modifiers, I've got the Rect Transform (of course), and a Vertical Layout Group set up the way I want it. I assume I will need a content provider component and a HUD List component that draws from the content provider component. For Attack modifiers those are the "HUD Attack Modifier (Content Provider)" and "HUD Attack Modifier Attribute List", but what would I use for displaying a combatants object variables?

I also assume that the HUD xx List component will want a prefab for each item on the list, and that that prefab should be built using the HUD Icon Bar component?

gamingislove

For the object variables, you can e.g. use a ORK HUD Status Text Content component displaying Combatant Information type. Use Local variable origin and the text codes for the variables you add to the text will use the combatant's variables.

There is no list component to list variables like that.

Whatexists

So, I'd need to call out each variable specifically and so, if I wanted the hud to display information for different combatants based on who you click on in the bestiary, I'd need all the combatants to have the same variables? (e.g. Combatants A, B, and C each have their own object variable ID, and each have a "OpinionOfMC" float variable.) I wouldn't be able to have those variables keys change from one character to the next? (There is one subset of characters that have a different set of metrics to be measured and shown in this place on the menu than everyone else.)

gamingislove

Well, you can also handle this variable by variable, just that you need to do it manually instead of a list component.
E.g. one child object per variable, each with the text component and a HUD Condition checking if the variable is actually there (exists).
Just copy/paste (or use a prefab) for the setup and adjust the used variables in text and condition and you'll only list those that are available.

Variables are just a variable key and a value, so you will need to handle how to display that anyway, e.g. you most likely don't want to have OpinionOfMC as a text presented to the player.

Whatexists

Okay, so, just making sure I got this all right. So, for example, I could set up the HUD prefab so it's got all it's different items, portrait, etc. And one of those items is a "Relationship Status List" item.

Relationship Status List parent item has a Vertical Layout Group component and transform and nothing else.

Then it's got a set of child objects, one for each relationship, that are all basically the same. Each one has a ORK HUD Status Text Content component displaying Combatant Information with Local variable origin, and each one is using text codes for a single object variable. Then each one of this child objects also has a HUD Condition component checking if that single object variable exists (also using local variable origin, I'm assuming? should I have everything set to local variable origin for the bestiary menu rather then object variable origin?) Using the same kind of format as a "Attack Modifier Attribute prefab" where it has a "name" child object and a "value" child object, I can have the "value" child object have the ORK HUD Status Text Content to show the value of the object variable, and then since I'm doing one of these for each object variable, I can have the "name" child object just say something like "Opinion of (MCs Name)" instead of OpinionOfMC to tidy it up for player presentation.

All sound right?

gamingislove

Whatexists All sound right?

Yeah, sound correct - you can either use Local variable origin (which are variables of the HUD user/content, e.g. a combatant's variables if that's the HUD's content) or Object variable origin and using the User object (which is basically the same as Local origin in HUDs).

1) The HUD Condition can be placed wherever you want - but keep in mind that this will disable it's game object (and all child objects with it) if the condition isn't valid.

2) Any HUD content component needs a content provider - otherwise it doesn't get any content to display.
Basically any HUD component (except a few content provider components) needs a content provider.

Whatexists

I've got the above described setup set up, but it's always displaying the object variables as non-existent and am trying to figure out why.

Does the HUD Condition use local variable origin? does it need to be on the same object as the ORK HUD Status Text Content? (It is currently on the parent object, as my setup has a parent object with two children, one for the name I want the player to see and one for the value, for each variable)
Do the ORK HUD Status Text Content components need a content provider? If so what kind of content provider would be appropriate?

Whatexists

2) What content provider would be appropriate? I still haven't gotten it to display correctly yet (or at all. They always display as if the variables don't exist.)

3) Do object variables need to be initialized? I currently have "always initialize" checked under the object variables objects for the combatants I'm trying to show and assume that should work. I'm just looking for other reasons why they wouldn't be showing up at all.

4) Regarding the display setup for the bestiary itself and not the info window, I have 8 different combatant types and each one has 6 combatants in it. I'd like each type to be exactly one row of portraits, with a vertical scroll through the rows. My content window includes a horizontal layout group, but how do you get it to do rows?

gamingislove

2) Can you show your current setup?
Regarding the content provider - if this is a HUD displaying a combatant and you want to display the variables of the combatant, you'd simply use the content provider all the others use, i.e. the base HUD component.

3) Your combatant's object variables setup will be initialized in any case - Always Initialize only means that it will initialize again even if the variable handler already exists on the combatant, e.g. to make sure that the variables are set to a certain value when spawning again.

4) Put child objects with Vertical Layout Group into the horizontal layout.
If there are always 6 combatants (e.g. even if not yet encountered) you can also use a grid layout group instead of horizontal+vertical.

Whatexists

Sorry for the delay. Haven't had a chance to look at this. Thank you so much for your help!
2) I can show my current set up. Would you rather a test project with instructions, screenshots with descriptions, or just descriptions?

3) Aaah, thank you!

4) Grid layout group sounds like exactly what I'm going for, thank you! There will always be 6 combatants, even if not yet encountered. They should display differently (e.g. with the ones you haven't encountered showing silhouettes with just question marks for the names, vs. showing a portrait with names.) But they should always be there. I'll work on setting it up with a grid layout group!