Can I use just the backend?

[AoF]

Hello!

I'm making an open world game that has visual novel scenes. I don't really need the visuals that Quest Machine provides, I want to use Fungus for this. I guess the reason why is I want to have shops and stuff and dialog that isn't part of a quest, and Fungus seems good for that, so it seems like it'd be easier for dialogs to come from a single library instead of multiple.

Anyway, is there a way I can use Quest Machine without the frontend? I'm looking for a way to store, structure, trigger, complete quests, but I don't really need the UI.

Thanks!

[Tony Li]

Hi,

Sure, that's fine. It's split out like that anyway to allow devs to replace the UIs with their own implementations if they want. In fact, you may even decide to implement the UI interface(s) using Fungus if that fits your needs.

But as far as the backend goes, as long as you don't call any UI methods (such as QuestJournal.ToggleJournalUI) it will only use the backend stuff.

If you have specific questions about how to access any backend part, just ask.

[AoF]

Great, thank you for the quick response! I'll keep researching your product to figure out how to do that.

[Tony Li]

Sounds good. I'm here if you have any questions. (Well, I'm finishing work for the day, but I'll check back in the morning.)

I recommend following along with some of the tutorials first. After you have an idea of how Quest Machine works in general, you can just ignore the UI part from then on.

[AoF]

you may even decide to implement the UI interface(s) using Fungus if that fits your needs.

Ooh, I'd like to know more about that. Have any articles or tutorials on how to use Fungus w/ Quest Machine?

[Tony Li]

Have any articles or tutorials on how to use Fungus w/ Quest Machine?

Not specifically for Fungus.

Quest Machine's backend talks to 4 C# interfaces:

• IQuestDialogueUI: Shows quest dialogue (e.g., offer quests, turn in quests, etc.)
• IQuestJournalUI: Shows the player's quest journal
• IQuestHUD: Typically used for onscreen progress tracking during play
• IQuestAlertUI: Shows alert messages, such as "Grimoire retrieved. Now return to the wizard."

In Quest Machine's Demo scene, you can see an implementation of those 4 C# interfaces, and an example UI skin applied to them. The backend technically doesn't directly know anything about these implementations, though, since it works indirectly through the 4 C# interfaces. You can write your own implementation of any of them, assign them to the Quest Machine GameObject, and Quest Machine will happily use it. Or you can ignore them entirely and just use the backend methods to get, set, and update data.

In addition, you can write your own UI content types. Quest Machine comes with types to define heading text, body text, images, audio, etc. The Dialogue System integration, for example, adds a new UI content type that plays a branching conversation tree through the Dialogue System. You can find a starter template script in Plugins / Pixel Crushers / Quest Machine / Templates.

The Templates folder also contains starter templates for custom actions and conditions. For example, you can define a new quest condition type that checks a Fungus value.

[AoF]

Great, thanks a lot. And I assume that Quest Machine and Dialogue System for Unity integrate together pretty naturally? Maybe I'll use both of these instead of fungus.

[Tony Li]

Yes, and they use the same save system, too, so they mesh well together. Feel free to try out the evaluation versions on the website before buying. But remember that the May Madness Sale ends on May 15; they're both 50% off in the sale.

[AoF]

Eh, already bought them. Thanks

[Tony Li]

Thanks for your purchases!