Producer Letter #20: New UI “Tsukuru Mode”
Hello everyone, this is Producer Morino.
Thank you for always using ACTION GAME MAKER. In this 20th Producer Letter, I will introduce the new UI announced during our 1st anniversary in June, showing actual development screens along the way.
◆ About the New UI “Tsukuru Mode”
The new UI aims to be as user-friendly as the classic Tsukuru series, which is why we have named it “Tsukuru Mode.”
First, I want to mention the most important point: This mode is optional. If you find the new UI strange or if you were using editor plugins for Godot, you can switch back to the original Godot UI and continue using it as before.
◆ Features and Design Intentions of “Tsukuru Mode”
The mode is designed with the goal of “ease of creation like classic Tsukuru.”
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It is specialized for visual scripting. We have created dedicated screens for map creation and object creation from scratch.
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It has been rebuilt into a single-tab modal UI, similar to classic Tsukuru. While this means you can no longer open and switch between multiple tabs, it prevents unintended operational errors, such as accidentally opening the visual script for a different object.
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Both side-view and top-view creation have been made easier.
Additionally, we have added numerous new setting windows to maximize usability.
Now, let’s introduce the features with actual (in-development) screenshots.
◆ “Map” Screen
The screens shown are from the development version and may differ from the release version. The same applies to all subsequent images.
We have largely redesigned the screen.
- The “File System” has been split into separate views for Scenes and Objects to prevent confusion.
- Map Layers now display only the necessary nodes, allowing you to easily add the required nodes for each layer. Furthermore, everything is fully translated into each language.
- The “Inspector” now hides less frequently used items. You can freely adjust which items to hide in your personal settings.
And so on, but the biggest change is the “Tile” system.
◯ Refresh of the Tile System
- It has been revamped into a palette type like RPG Tsukuru. Auto-tiles (terrain) are organized in an Auto-Tile List Palette, while other tiles are organized into individual palettes.
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A common palette feature has been added. Tiles loaded in one scene are now automatically loaded when creating a TileMap layer in another scene.
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A new Tile Palette Settings window has been added. You can handle everything from import to tile settings like collisions within a single window.
- We have added RPG Tsukuru format as a newly loadable auto-tile type. It can be used as game assets for top-view games.
◆ “Object” Screen
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Like the Map screen, this has been built from scratch to display only the necessary items overall.
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A new Switch/Variable Settings window has been added. Project variables and switches can also be changed here.
- You can now search to see where switches/variables are being used.
- A new feature has been added that compares the collisions of two objects and provides an automatic explanation.
- “Groups” can now be set in the Inspector.
The biggest change in object creation is the animation creation feature.
◯ Sprite Animation Feature
- Animations can now be created in the AnimatedSprite2D format. Sheets loaded here are always automatically synchronized and reflected in the AnimationPlayer.
- A Hitbox Animation feature has been added. Here, instead of a timeline, you select “frames” and create animations by adjusting attack hitboxes and collision boxes to match those frames.
- If you set the Hitbox Animation feature to Detail Mode, you can also configure it in a timeline format.
- Similar to auto-tiles, if you prepare sprite sheets in a specified format, we have created a Template Animation feature that handles frame loading, hitbox adjustment, and registration into animation sets with a single button click.
Top-View Template:
RPG Tsukuru sprite sheets can be used directly. Although there is no diagonal movement, it automatically generates attacks in all directions, including diagonals. Additionally, we have added functions to swing or thrust specified weapon PNG images, allowing you to immediately start making games like Zelda or Sword of Mana.
Side-View Template:
This is a newly specified template feature where you list one movement per line in a specified order. It loads them in that order. As long as the order of movements is correct, the number of frames is free, and it intelligently skips blank spaces when loading. Hitboxes and collision boxes are adjusted manually on this screen.
◆ “Visual Script” Screen
The appearance hasn’t changed much, but you now navigate to this screen from the game objects on each screen via the “Edit Visual Script” button. This eliminates errors in selecting the wrong object and removes unnecessary windows, resulting in a cleaner interface.
◆ “Details” Screen
With the explanations so far, you might be worried that Godot’s features are no longer usable… but Godot-specific features can be used in this “Details” screen. Additionally, since the new features like “TileMap” and “Sprite Animation” we created use Godot’s existing nodes directly, you can edit them as before using nodes like “TileMapLayer” or “AnimationPlayer.”
This screen is almost identical to Godot’s 2D view, but with a few differences:
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It is also modal, so you cannot open many tabs.
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There is no feature equivalent to the “Script” view, so creating GDScript will open in a separate floating window.
Therefore, for those who write GDScript extensively or want to work by opening and switching between many tabs, it may be better to switch to the traditional Godot mode.
◆ “Scene Transition” Screen
Like the Visual Script screen, this hasn’t changed much visually, but it is cleaner because the File System only displays “Scenes” and unnecessary displays have been removed.
◆ “Asset Management” Screen
As mentioned earlier, the File Systems on each screen only display “necessary items.” While this has improved clarity, importing assets has become inconvenient. Therefore, we have added an “Asset Management” screen. Previous Tsukuru users may find this familiar.
With the addition of Asset Management, each asset is now handled in “designated recommended folders.” Therefore, projects imported before this update likely have their own folder structures, so you will need to adjust the structure or handle them via the File System in the “Details” screen.
We have also added significant features to Asset Management: the Official Assets and Official System Import features.
◯ Official Asset Import Feature
ACTION GAME MAKER already had a considerable number of official assets… but the only way to add them was the inconvenient method of creating a sample project and copying it. So, we have prepared a system to import them all at once.
◯ Official System Management
This is a system for distributing larger-scale plugin systems using GDScript, rather than just assets. As the first release, we have prepared a Menu System. It can be installed/uninstalled with one button.
Menu System:
This is a system that consolidates save, load, volume settings, key binding changes, resolution changes, and language changes. You can use it simply by calling the relevant scene via “Show Menu.”
We aim to distribute systems that are difficult to create with visual scripting but are in high demand as Official Systems.
◆ Other Implementation Details
Input actions are provided as presets. Additionally, we have added new custom nodes for creating movable platforms, execution actions for setting knockback, a preview system for portal placement, preview functions for displaying text and images, auto-save functionality, quick restart, returning to the last touched platform, and more. We cannot cover everything here, but we have prepared many features worthy of version 2.0.
◆ Points to Note for Tsukuru Mode
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Existing projects can generally be carried over, but some systems rely on newly created preset folders, input actions, collision settings, etc. In some cases, you may need to adjust your project to fit these requirements for full functionality.
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Some behaviors have been corrected as part of the Tsukuru Mode implementation. These changes generally fix previously non-functional behaviors, but as a result, some operations may differ from before the implementation.
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If you are using editor plugins or add-ons for Godot, they may not function correctly in Tsukuru Mode.
◆ Closing
That concludes the introduction of “Tsukuru Mode.” It may have been difficult to convey the ease of use through text and images alone, but all the UI introduced here has been built from scratch specifically for Tsukuru Mode. We are diligently developing it so that those who felt frustrated thinking it wasn’t Tsukuru-like or was harder than the previous Tsukuru MV can give it another try. Thank you for your support.
As for the development status, it is slightly behind even the beta version. We are currently testing internally and with a very small number of stakeholders. The implementation is still some time away, likely around autumn. Once the situation stabilizes to a certain degree, we hope to conduct closed or open beta tests, and we would appreciate your cooperation at that time.
This concludes this Producer Letter. Thank you for your continued support of ACTION GAME MAKER.