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Hello folks!
This is a game I've been working on for the past few years. Originally I was attempting to create the entire thing with Playmaker but the more complex the game became the more of a headache managing everything got. It wasn't until I sat down and really studied Ork where I was able to start making progress. Mastering Ork has enabled me to create exactly the type of game I was dreaming about all those years ago.

This game is a Daughter raising simulator/role playing game, similar to the game Princess Maker. You set parameters on a week by week basis while letting your daughter gain work experience. You also explore the world with her, allowing her to interact with people and grow as a person. The game takes place over 7 years, so she grows from 11 to 18 in that time span.

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This game is VERY gui heavy. As we all know, Ork Framework is not the easiest tool to use when it comes to setting up gui. This alone was the main reason I originally didn't want to tackle mastering Ork. But I knew if I mastered Ork I would gain access to features I could only dream of before. Long story short, I figured out an efficient method to easily produce 1 to 1 gui screens from Unity to Ork. I studied Ork, and managed to produce exactly the type of game I wanted.

All of the back end of the game (data, stats, events, dialogue) is managed by Ork. Most of the Gui, except for a few windows I had set up before switching to Ork, is powered by Ork. That's about 80% of all the gui in the game. The rest of the game is managed by Playmaker. (connecting the non Ork stuff together)





This video shows the Home screen in action. The top buttons and the window with all the data are gui created outside of Ork. (but could have easily been done with Ork) All the top buttons link to Ork windows. (will show them at a later date) Both "Upcoming Events" and "Residential Interaction" are Ork menus. I used the item menu to display "Upcoming Events' and I used the button menu to display "Residential Interaction". All the data is managed with Ork variables or stats.

The real MVP of Ork is it's data/menu management. The screenshot below was created in weeks (my first attempt at working with Ork) with what took me months to do on my own with playmaker. (it didn't even fully function well before I switched to Ork)

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(this image is a work in progress, this is pretty much the only place I've shown this image off)

After creating the Equip menu, all the other menus became easier to do and I got faster at creating them. Now, about half a year later, making menus is easy as pie. My biggest concerns now are the battles and exploration. The difficulties aren't with Ork but simply how to make it all look good.

I will be using this post to show case my progress of this game and to offer insight of how I do everything in Ork. If you have any Ork questions about what you see here or any questions about the game please ask.
  • I love Princess Maker 2. How many skills are you going to have?
  • edited March 2021
    JMR said: I love Princess Maker 2. How many skills are you going to have?
    The skills in this game correlate to the battle system. I don't have a definite number of skills yet as they will be shared amongst all the party members and enemies. There will be personality attributes that build up as she grows. There are 22 in total. There are 12 different jobs to choose from that you can think of as life skills. Since this game is also an RPG I tried to mix the daughter raising element more with the RPG element. I also approached the concept from a fresh perspective. So this game isn't a 1 to 1 re-creation of princess maker.


    Post edited by Dre788 on
  • Very cool! Wound up play PM2 once on emulator just out of curiosity and wound up addicted to it.
    Can't wait to see more :D
    Miuratale : coming 2024
    Miuratale
  • Looks awesome :)
    Please consider rating/reviewing my products on the Asset Store (hopefully positively), as that helps tremendously with getting found.
    If you're enjoying my products, updates and support, please consider supporting me on patreon.com!
  • edited October 2021
    *bump*!
    Hows the game going @Dre788 ?
    Did you ever try the LOVE and Hate (name???) asset for ur game? I think it works with ork2??
    RF
    Post edited by RifleFire on
  • edited November 2021
    @RifleFire
    It's going great, thanks for asking. I'm just creating some animations at the moment. I plan to do an update post and video once Ork 3 comes out of beta explaining all I changes I made going from Ork 2 to 3.

    Edit: I never tried Love and Hate. It looks interesting though, it reminds me of Behavior Designer.
    Post edited by Dre788 on
  • @Dre788

    Speaking of LOVE and Hate system, its a free gift in the publishers sale in the asset store till 11/8/2021 i think. Good time to give it a try with Ork?

    https://assetstore.unity.com/publisher-sale

    @gamingislove , Does the Love Hate system really work with Ork? I thought i heard it did???

    RF
  • @RifleFire
    Pixel Crusher has an integration for ORK available for it, so I assume it's working together :)
    Though, at the core, it'd be the same as just using (object) variables in ORK on NPCs/combatants to store such values.
    Please consider rating/reviewing my products on the Asset Store (hopefully positively), as that helps tremendously with getting found.
    If you're enjoying my products, updates and support, please consider supporting me on patreon.com!
  • edited February 2022
    Since Ork 3 is officially released, it's time to give an update on all the changes I've made since I've moved from Ork 2 to 3.





    My main reason for migrating my project to Ork 3 was the easier UI set up process. After the beta first released it took me a few days to get use to the new process but once I got the hang of it I was able to recreate ALL my UI in a few weeks.

    I mentioned above that about 80% of my games UI was done in Ork. Now it's closer to 99%. (the UI for Rewired keybinding menu is custom made by Rewired)

    Here is how my home screen looks now.
    image
    You can see more screen shot comparisons on my website.
    You may not see much of a difference at a quick glance from the UI and data, but it is an entirely difference beast under the hood. I've also redone and re-created a lot of the art/icons. Not to mention the game now supports full keyboard/controller input.

    The real MVP is still Ork's data management. Makinom 2/Ork 3 allows me to manage variables with much more flexibility. There is so much more possibilities now that it will take me months to realize the limits of how much I can get away with.

    Back on the topic UI and data management, I managed to recreated my equip screen not in months, not in weeks but days! [not all at once of course :)]
    image
    (Again, this is the only place I've shown this.)

    I still use Playmaker for some things like connecting/controlling 3rd party assets. But truth be told, I don't really have to use Playmaker at all anymore. Ork 3 now has most of the needed flexibility I used to use Playmaker for during Ork 2.

    My hope is to get the game playable from start to finish by the end of the year. The next time I post here I hope to have the exploration and battle system ready to show.
    Post edited by Dre788 on
  • edited February 2022
    THIS. LOOKS. SO. AWESOME.

    The UI work on this is *so* good. Could you do a little vlog/guide on how you arranged the UI in Ork 3 cause KUDOS.
    Post edited by Solkyoshiro on
    Currently making: Real-Time Diablo-like ARPG
  • @Solkyoshiro
    Sure thing.

    90% of the UI I use are these two images.
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    The first being the back ground while the boxes, titles and buttons are all the second smaller image.

    Before I even started using Ork for this game I decided on a color scheme for all the menus. Blue and gold. They are complementary colors so the gold sticks out well over the blue. I also wanted transparency so the background images aren't hidden. It really helps to simplify designing when you have a consistent color rule to follow.

    Since I wanted all of my UI windows to look similar, I use a template prefab to make the process less repetitive.
    image
    There is a nifty tool I use to decorate my UI. It called UIEffects. You can find it here. I mainly use UIGradient and UIShadow. I use a subtle horizontal gradient for buttons and titles. I then use UIShadow to add an outline to make the button or title stand out better.

    As for the overall arrangement, I first think of what information I want to display to the user. It is stats? It it items? Or is it dialogue? This decision will decided the approach I will take with the UI.
    Once I have that, I decided which information should have the most prominent. This information is usually placed first in a menu list or places in the top left of the menu screen. (such the as daughters face in this game)
    With all that information in mind, I make a rough sketch of how I want the UI to be arranged. Then I use the template to start building the ground work. I also have templates for the buttons as well.

    That's pretty much it for the process. Is there anything specific you were curious about?
  • Dre788 said: That's pretty much it for the process. Is there anything specific you were curious about?

    Nope, you basically explained what I was wondering about! I was wondering if it was one box just used in different ways. Gives it a great uniformed look I really dig it!

    I've been trying to wrap my mind around the UI boxes in Ork 3 and that helps out alot.

    Currently making: Real-Time Diablo-like ARPG
  • Already saw the video yesterday - phantastic work :)
    I hope it wasn't too much of a drag porting everything over to ORK 3.
    Please consider rating/reviewing my products on the Asset Store (hopefully positively), as that helps tremendously with getting found.
    If you're enjoying my products, updates and support, please consider supporting me on patreon.com!
  • Solkyoshiro said: I've been trying to wrap my mind around the UI boxes in Ork 3 and that helps out alot.
    As long as you have all the necessary components for the Ork menu to work, you can add as much additional UI decoration as you want. This is much more easy to do in Ork 3 than 2, especially with the text.

    @gamingislove
    Thanks! The port wasn't too bad. Once I became familiar with the UI process all of the pieces fell into place.
  • Alright, I've finally gotten around to releasing a new video showing off the battle and exploration. You can see the video below or check out the post at this link: https://allugic.com/guardians-guide-dev-blog-7-battle-exploration/



    Most of the exploration movement and grid arrangement was done by me using playmaker and a 3rd party tool that helps with managing grids. All the stats and variables are managed by Ork. The entire battle system is managed by Ork.

    I am still blown away with just how much I can accomplish if I simply take the time and figure out the best way to approach a problem.

    If any of you have a question about how I set up this game, I will answer as best I can.
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