gurayg

Hello GiL and all!
I was reading through ORK read me and wanted to know better about ORK's architecture and inner workings.

-ORKFrameworkEditor.dll -responsible for editorial functions + saving event and ORK Project asset files. It doesn't get into a build.
-ORKFrameworkCore.dll - Not sure what is this responsible for.
-ORKFramework.dll - we get the sourcecode for this .dll and it is responsible for gameplay using ORK.

Is there anyway to setup an ORK project in which we don't use "ORKFramework.dll" but use its source code?

I thought, I would benefit from faster compile + evade some possible platform problems with dll files + ability to add custom steps with ease. But; this is just a thought. I'm not entirely sure if it performs better in anyway. Although I like projects neat (Dll way) I'd like to know if we can get any benefits by setting a project without dll's.

And also there is a setting called "plugins" in the editor and plugin template with ORK source code.
By making a plugin; what benefits do I get? use the ORK editor interface for editing? and by using the editor all settings of that plugin goes to ork project asset files?

So GiL is it possible to shed some light on those parts?
I hope I'm not asking too much.
Thanks!

gamingislove

The ORKFrameworkCore.dll provides the data serialization used to save and load your project and save games.

Theoretically, you can just remove the ORKFramework.dll and put all the source files in there, but I wouldn't recommend it (and haven't tested it). Beside having to exchange all component references on all game objects and prefabs, you'll have long compilation times in Unity every time you change a script file (even when not related to ORK).

Plugins can be used to add additional functionality to ORK without changing the source code. The settings will be displayed in the ORK editor, saved with the project and it can be called from the event system. There's an example plugin project included in the source code package (separate folder).

gurayg

I see!
So you're saying even it takes a some time to compile using the dll's, it might also take long times if one uses the source code and even more with each time a script changes + component references being problem. So it's a no-go.

So what about an easier way of adding step nodes? Can we make any nodes without touching sourcecode. Like just adding script into a special folder and the editor sees that as a step node.

gamingislove

Compiling the dll and importing it into Unity will most likely always be quicker than having Unity compile all scripts. And usually this will only happen when you import a new ORK version :)

New event steps can be added without changing ORK's code - a simple script file in your Unity project is enough, but you probably need to put them into a Resources folder, or they wont be added to a built game. All you have to do is have them in the correct namespace (see this post).
Formula and AI nodes currently require adding them to ORK's code, which will change in tomorrows update (forgot to add that for them :D).

When using a plugin to add new steps, you don't need to place them in the Resources folder, since the plugin will be references by ORK and added to the built game.

gurayg

Thanks for all the answers GiL !
and happy to hear about tomorrows update :)