Creating Levels with REPOLib SDK

NOTICE

This page is currently Work in Progress!

NOTE

This guide assumes you have a REPOLib Unity project set up for REPOLib modding.
If not, follow Getting Started first.

• The patcher outputs vanilla levels to Assets/REPO/Game/ScriptableObjects/Level and their assets to Assets/REPO/Game/Resources/level.
• On the Level asset, make sure that the Valuable Presets list is empty.
  • This will make generic valuables spawn in your level. If you'd like specific valuables to also spawn, see Proxy Valuable Presets.

Creating a Level object

• Right click in your mod folder and choose Create > Level > Level Preset to create a Level object. The default name for this will be Level - _____. Replace the underscores in the Level object with your Resource name.
• Fill in the fields:
  • Resource Path: A unique name for your level that you'll name all your files after.
  • Narrative Name: The actual name that will show up in game and to the players in the loading screen.
    For this example level, we'll be using:
    • Resource Path: Example
    • Narrative Name: Example Level
  • Loading Graphics 01: The building sprite that the truck crashes in to on the level loading screen.
  • Loading Graphics 02: The background sprite for terrain like trees/mountains.
  • Loading Graphics 03: The far background sprite for further terrain and the horizon/moon/sun.
  • Valuable Presets: The valuables you want to appear in your level, see Proxy Valuable Presets.
  • Music Preset: The "music" that can play randomly during the level. For now, let's use a placeholder vanilla one. Level Music - Arctic (Level Music).
  • Ambience Presets: The ambient noises that play randomly during the level. For now, let's use a placeholder vanilla one. Level Ambience - Global (Level Ambience).

Creating a Level Content object

• Right click in your mod folder and choose Create > REPOLib > Level to create a Level Content asset. Rename this to your Narrative Name.
• Fill in the fields:
  • Level: Drag your Level asset into this entry. (Level - Example)
  • Connect Object: The door prefab that always spawns between connected modules (optional).
  • Block Object: The prefab that always spawns between unconnected modules (optional).

Modules

• There are 5 types of Modules (rooms):
  • Start Room: Module containing the truck that the players spawn in and the first extraction. These do not have a difficulty level and always spawn exactly 1.
  • Normal: Most common module that contains Module Prop Switches, and can connect to adjacent modules on all 4 sides. Has 3 difficulty levels.
  • Passage: Always has two entrances on opposite sides. Has 3 difficulty levels.
  • Dead End: Rarest module that has a chance to spawn connected to any of the other above modules. Has 3 difficulty levels.
  • Extraction: Required modules that contain the extraction points. Has 3 difficulty levels.
• Module Size:

  • The maximum size a vanilla module can be is 3x3 (15x15 units/meters), with the coordinates spanning -7.5 to 7.5 in both the X and Z axes.

  • Anything extending past the module bounds will have a chance to overlap with neighboring modules, except for Start Rooms that can expand as far back as you'd like.

  • Using this, we know the doorways will always spawn at these coordinates:

    Normal Modules	X	Y	Z
    Top	0	0	7.5
    Right	7.5	0	0
    Bottom	0	x	-7.5
    Left	-7.5	0	0

    Module Type	X	Y	Z
    Starter Room	0	0	0
    Dead End	0	0	-7.5
    Extraction	0	x	-7.5
    Passage TOP	0	0	7.5
    Passage BOT	0	0	-7.5

Module Prop Switches

• Module Prop Switches are only used in Normal modules and are required. These are what are used to change how a room looks depending on if that side is connected to another module or not.

• Typically, we have 4 parents for each side of a module. Each parent should have the Module Prop Switch component where you can drag in your Connected and Not Connected parents respectively, and set the connection side.

  

Level Path Points

• Level Points need to be on the navmesh and are used by enemies as wander points and general navigation.
• Level Points should not be in extraction modules.
• Connected path points need to be correctly connected and referenced to one another on both objects. For example, if TOP has a connected point Middle. The Middle path point should also have a connected point to TOP.
• To assign path points, click and drag the desired point in to the Connected Points field on a Level Point object.
• There are two kinds of Level Points which are used for enemy navigation. A straight line is drawn between all connected path points, and there should be no objects obstructing that path.

  • External: These are marked as Module Connect objects and are required on every module type, except for Extraction Modules. External path points should NOT be connected to each other, only to Internal path points. External path points should be placed near/on these coordinates:

    External Path Points	X	Y	Z
    Top	0	0	5
    Right	5	0	0
    Bottom	0	0	-5
    Left	-5	0	0

  • Internal: These are optional path points that are not marked as Module Connect objects and are used for adding extra navigation within a module, like going around a corner or up/downstairs.

DirtFinder

• DirtFinder is the object used to display the in-game minimap. There are 3 categories of meshes we use for maps:

  • Floor: The dark green shapes that display the floor.
  • Wall: The lighter green lines that outline the walls.
  • Door: The white lines that are attached to doors.

• Each DirtFinder mesh type has a subset of different shapes to properly display your physical level to the minimap.

  

• You can get a better visual aid by assigning your DirtFinder object with a Mesh Filter and Mesh Renderer with the appropriate mesh. Make sure to disable this afterwards, or else it will appear in-game.

Navmesh

• The Navmesh is used by Enemies to pathfind between modules.

• In the Editor, the NavMesh will show up as a blue highlight displaying where enemies are able to navigate.

• NavMeshModifiers are typically assigned to the parent of your floors/walls which applies the modification to all the colliders in the children.
  NavMeshModifiers have 3 different area types:

  • Walkable: Allows navigation on all nested colliders.
  • Not Walkable: Overwrites collider navigation and removes walkability.
  • Jump: Forces enemies to pathfind by jumping over selected colliders.

  

• Typically, we want to assign Walkable to all our floors, and Not Walkable to all our walls and any props (like tables, decorations, etc.).

Room Volume

• Room Volumes are used for ambient sound logic, as well as displaying the undiscovered rooms on the minimap.

• Room Volume objects should include a Box Collider and the RoomVolume script, and must be assigned to the RoomVolume layer at the top of the Inspector.

• Room Volumes can overlap each other and should cover the entire walkable area, but should not extend outside of the module boundaries.

  

Doors

• Doors are optional prefabs we can use to connect between modules.

• They should be centered on 0, 0 in their prefab.

• For our example, we can copy the Manor Door prefab and reference it to make our own doors.

• To make sure our door fits in our doorways, we want to make sure the PhysGrabObject Collider is slightly smaller around the edges than the actual door mesh.

• Make sure the collider also has the Phys Grab Object tag and is under the PhysGrabObjectHinge layer. Our collider should also have the PhysGrabObject material assigned.

  

Proxy Valuable Presets

To use vanilla Level Valuables presets in your levels, you should not simply reference them in the Level asset. This is because the bundle will then contain duplicates of all the vanilla valuables from that preset. Instead, you have to create a "proxy" preset:

• Create a Level Valuables asset anywhere in your project by right-clicking and choosing Create > Level > Level Valuable Preset.
• Name the asset exactly as the vanilla one you want to include (see Creating Valuables with REPOLib SDK).
• Add your newly created preset to Level Valuables in your Level asset.

At runtime, REPOLib will match the name and replace your proxy with the real preset.