RPG MAKER UNITE Producer Letter #2

Thank you very much for your continued support of RPG MAKER UNITE.

As producer, I would like to start today by thanking you all very much for the large number of comments and opinions we received through the survey "Status of [RPG MAKER UNITE] Usage", which ended on June 30th. We have read them each and every one and are in active discussions on how to respond to them on the development side. It really inspires us to see the passion pouring in from the community!

In this second Producer Letter, I would like to share with you the details of RPG MAKER UNITE’s first major update, which will be released at the end of July.

This is the first post-release update to include new features as well as a variety of improvements, so it really is a large step forward.

This update is loosely divided into 2 parts.

【Major Update New Features】

1. Enhanced linkage with Unity's Scene system

It will now be possible to go to and from any Scene created by the user in Unity just using Events in UNITE. *Some conditions apply.

Free input variables are also now allowed as the return value from Scenes.

The intended use scenario is to create a mini-game in standard Unity and connect that to UNITE. This will enable the transition from UNITE to the mini-game and then back to UNITE, with the needed results from the mini-game fully available to UNITE.

2.Implementation of Hierarchy History window, enabling easy access to frequently used items

When the Hierarchy History window is open, items selected from the UNITE hierarchy list are added to the history list.

This enables a quick select for the listed items.

For those interested in efficiency and ease of use, leaving this window open should improve your workflow greatly!

The history stores the most recent 50 entries.

However, you can mark some entries as important frequently used items, and those will always be displayed at the top of the list.

3.Implementation of Automatic Shadows function

With the new "Auto Shadow" Tile Group setting, a shadow-like shading effect will be applied automatically when a tile in the configured tile group is placed.

Note that the tile must be assigned as a wall in the AutoTile configuration for this to work correctly.

【Functional Improvements】

1.Improved Stability (Material selection screen)

The UI/UX of UNITE's image selection screen has been improved.

Specifically, it is now possible to display a list of images and preview the selected image.

More than 80 areas of this UI have been modified.

Below is an example of the modifications.

• [Initial Settings] - [Title] - [Select Background Image]
• [Edit Skills] - [Basic Skills] - [Icon]
• [Event Command] - [Show Text] - [Image]
• [Event Command] - [Show Picture] - [Image]

【Before】

【After】

Additionally, support for zoom in/out has also been added.

2. Separation of the Map and Event editors into a separate windows for improved workflow

By separating the Map List and Event List from the RPG Data list and placing them into a dedicated hierarchy, it is now possible to change the appearance of a map or the content of an event while retaining access to other RPG Data items. 

[Before] Maps and events are all displayed within the same hierarchy as other items.

[After] A dedicated hierarchy and events displayed on a per-map basis.

In addition, use of the Event editor has been improved.

Specifically, the following changes have been made:

• Clicking on an Event in the Event editor displays the Event’s contents and also allows changes to be made immediately.
• “Delete" has been added to the right-click menu.
• and more!

3. Tiles allowed as Event images

In addition to actors and objects, tiles will now be available for selection as event images.

Note that this only applies to Normal and Large Tiles.

Tiles can also be set as the target image in the [Character Image Settings] Event.

And that's all for this letter!

More information on the major update will be made available on Wednesday, July 24, 2024.

Please look forward to it!

We are doing our best to incorporate as much feedback as we can in this major update, so we hope you all will continue to support "RPG MAKER UNITE".

Wednesday, July 17, 2024