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Sequences

Story Sequence Scripts (Sequences) are the main Data object that compose a “cutscene”. They store references to the Actors, Sets, and Dialog that should appear in each Frame and where each element should be placed, moved to, and so on.

What’s in a Sequence

A Sequence contains an array of Frames.

Frames

Each Frame represents a period of Actor animation or movement, Camera movement, and/or Dialog.

Frames are played in order and will advance to the next Frame unless there is Dialog or the Sequence Author toggles on ‘Ensure Pause’ on that Frame.

Within each Frame you will find:

  • Set: The location where this Frame occurs

  • Camera Angle Data: Where the Story Sequence Camera is positioned and pointed in that Set and how Zoomed in it should be.

  • Camera Animation Data: If desired, where the Camera will move to during this Frame.

  • Blocking: An Array of Actors, where they are positioned in the Set, and details about their behaviour. More on Blocking below…

  • Dialog: What is being said and who is saying it, additionally the Text Style for how it should be presented and any customization particular to that Text Style.

Blocking

Blocking is an Array that is present within each Frame in a Sequence. The Blocking array details how many and which Actors are present, where they are, and what they are doing.

Within each Blocking you will find:

  • Actor: The Actor

  • Facing: Which way the Actor is looking (this is a feature primarily for 2D Projects)

  • Slot: The Actor Slot in the Set the Actor should be placed at.

  • Raw Animation Array: An Array of the Animation names that should be played by the Actor during this Frame.

  • Animation End Behaviour: What the Actor should do when they finish playing their Animation. How this option is handled is based on the particular Actor Class involved.

Additionally, some more properties may be visible depending on the setup of the Editor Config.

If ‘Enable Actor Motion’ is turned on you will also find:

  • End Slot: The Slot this Actor should move to. They will start at their Slot and move to their End Slot over the provided duration.

If you have set up Animation Groupers in the Editor Config, and your selected Actor has Animations that fit the criteria of those Groupers, then you will also see Animation Groups displayed for selecting grouped Animations.

These selections simply populate the Animation Array and you can always add additional Animations to the Animation Array in addition to your grouped Animations.

Creating a New Sequence

To Create a new Sequence, do one of the following:

  • Create Menu

    • Go to the Project Window

    • Click the ‘+’ Create Button

    • Navigate to Story Sequence

    • Select ‘Sequence’

A new Sequence will be created in the currently selected Folder

  • In the Tool Suite

    • Go to the Timeline Editor Window

    • Click the ‘New’ Button

    • Complete the Save File Dialog

A new Sequence will be created at the chosen path and loaded into the Tool Suite for immediate editing

Editing a Sequence

To begin Editing a Sequence, do one of the following:

  • Launch from the Inspector

  • Go to the Project Window

  • Find the Sequence Asset you want to Edit and Select it

  • In the Inspector, click the large green ‘Edit’ Button

  • Launch the Tool Suite Layout

    • From the top File Menu in Unity…

    • Navigate to Story Sequence > Layout…

    • And click ‘Show Story Sequence Layout’

    • Next, follow the steps outlined below…

  • Load/Create a Sequence in the Tool Suite

    • Go to the Timeline Editor Window

    • Decide if you want to Create a new Sequence or Load an existing one…

    • To Create; click the ‘New’ Button

    • Complete the Save File Dialog

    • To Load; click the ‘Load’ Button

    • Use the Object Picker to select a Sequence

Now your Sequence is loaded into the Tool Suite and ready to edit. Any changes you make are automatically saved as you work. You can move between Frames and Play them at Edit time, or Enter Play Mode to Play the Sequence back at Runtime.