Logic Gadgets: Blank Puppet

 

Icon
Name of gadget	Blank Puppet (Basic or Advanced)
Section	Gameplay Gear
Number of Tweak pages	9
Author	LadylexUK, QuietlyWrong
Last updated	2 April 2020 [v2.09]

Description

This “gadget” provides the basic mannequin (a humanoid figurine you can pose and sculpt on). It has nine packed pages in its tweak menu so it qualifies as the most complicated of gadgets in the toolbox. You can use the menus to change the way the character moves, looks and behaves. The various puppets do not differ at all in their tweak menus (beyond the default values of those tweaks); rather the advanced puppets (advanced and sliding platform puppets) contain extra microchips and keyframes to create run, jump and possession behaviours (you may have to scope in to the puppet to see the microchip, which contains one or several Puppet Interface gadgets). Therefore all of the tweak menu information below applies to all puppets.

The sheer variety of options available to you (combined with the ability to reproportion and reposition limbs, etc.) make the puppet an incredibly versatile controllable biped capable of representing a huge array of in-game characters. However this complexity does come at the cost of thermometer and performance, and your Scenes will suffer if you try to introduce large numbers of puppets.

Example Tutorial (adapted from Media Molecule)

1. Stamp a Blank Puppet
2. Go to test mode
3. Possess the puppet
4. Move around, jump etc.
5. Exit test mode
6. Hit start time and open up the tweak menu
7. The puppet will move and these movements will change as you move the sliders.
8. Try altering the sassiness slider and see what that does. (If you’ve never done so, try setting it all the way up to 100%!)

Tweak Menus

Click on arrows to reveal

Tweak Menu 1: Overall Movement

[screenshots from beta; v1.03 identical]

Tweak Menu page 1: Overall Movement Walk Speed 2a. Input 2b. Output Run Speed 3a. Input 3b. Output Turn Speed 4a. Input 4b. Output Face Camera Direction 5a. Input 5b. Output Acceleration Time 6a. Input 6b. Output Deceleration Time 7a. Input 7b. Output Jump Height 8a. Input 8b. Output Minimum Jump Height 9a. Input 9b. Output Double Jump Height 10a. Input 10b. Output Gravity 11a. Input 11b. Output Air Control 12a. Input 12b. Output Walkable Slope Angle 13a. Input 13b. Output Sliding Friction 14a. Input 14b. Output Quick Edit Power

1. Menu page indicator
2. Walk Speed
   Use this to set the puppet’s walking speed.
3. Run Speed
   Use this to set the puppet’s running speed.
4. Turn Speed
   Use this to set the puppet’s turning speed.
5. Face Camera Direction
   When activated, this forces the puppet to face in the same direction that the camera is facing – in other words away from you as a player.
6. Acceleration Time
   Use this to set the puppet’s rate of acceleration.
7. Deceleration Time
   Use this to set the puppet’s rate of deceleration.
8. Jump Height
   Specify the height to which the puppet jumps when a prolonged signal is sent to the puppet interface’s “Jump” input.
9. Minimum Jump Height
   Specify the minimum height that the puppet will jump to if the signal sent to the puppet interface’s “Jump” input is a mere pulse.
10. Double Jump Height
    Specify the height of a second jump if it is triggered while still in the air following an initial jump from a surface. Set this to zero to eliminate double-jumping altogether.
11. Gravity
    Use this to determine the degree to which in-game gravity affects the puppet. (See the Global Settings gadget for setting gravity levels across the scene.)
12. Air Control
    Determines how much control a player has over the puppet’s movement while it is airborne. At 0%, it realistically represents the fact that an average puppet cannot steer itself while in the air – but most platform games don’t work like that so increase the value to a level you like for intuitive control.
13. Walkable Slope Angle
    Use this to specify the maximum angle that the puppet can walk or run up or down without sliding.
14. Sliding Friction
    Use this to specify the degree of friction that the puppet experiences when sliding down a slope that exceeds the Walkable Slope Angle above.
15. Quick Edit
    Use this to quickly see how your various settings affect the built-in animations for the puppet:
    • Walk
    • Run
    • Jump Ascent
    • Jump Apex
    • Jump Descent
16. Power
    This is where you turn the gadget on/off.

Tweak Menu 2: Lower Body Movement

Tweak Menu Page 2: Lower Body Movement Slideyness 2a. Input 2b. Output Skateyness 3a. Input 3b. Output Match Floor Angle 4a. Input 4b. Output Lean Into Strength 5a. Input 5b. Output Foot Separation 6a. Input 6b. Output Bicycle Feet 7a. Input 7b. Output Stompiness 8a. Input 8b. Output T-Rex Tread 9a. Input 9b. Output Strideyness 10a. Input 10b. Output Centre of Gravity 11a. Input 11b. Output Bounciness 12a. Input 12b. Output Quick Edit Power

1. Menu page indicator
2. Slideyness
   Change the amount of sliding in the puppet’s movement as it changes the speed of its run/walk.
3. Skateyness
   Change the animation of the puppet’s legs – with high skateyness, the animation slows down as the character gets faster.
4. Match Floor Angle
   Select the amount of lean the puppet undergoes when traversing a sloped floor. When choosing this, it may help to experiment with walking your puppet over the range of slopes that the character can negotiate in your scene.
5. Lean Into Strength
   Choose the degree to which the puppet leans into corners when running.
6. Foot Separation
   Choose whether the puppet makes tiny little steps or great strides or anything in between.
7. Bicycle Feet
   Changes the movement of the ankles when the character is running – the higher this is, the more horizontal the feet remain throughout the running motion.
8. Stompiness
   Choose the heaviness with which the puppet brings down its feet while running about.
9. T-Rex Tread
   You can switch this on to give the puppet a more of a “giant monster” vibe – it’s more noticeable when applied to very large puppets.
10. Strideyness
    Choose the amount of swing in the puppets legs when moving.
11. Centre of Gravity
    Choose whether the movement animations convey a lower or higher centre of gravity for the puppet – it doesn’t actually change the density of the physical object.
12. Bounciness
    Put a spring in your puppet’s joints or make it stiff and lifeless by choosing the amount of bounciness in its lower body movement.
13. Quick Edit
    Use this to quickly see how your various settings affect the built-in animations for the puppet:
    • Walk
    • Run
    • Jump Ascent
    • Jump Apex
    • Jump Descent
14. Power
    This is where you turn the gadget on/off.

Tweak Menu 3: Upper Body Movement

[screenshot from beta; v1.03 identical]

Tweak Menu page 3: Upper Body Movement Motion Sensor Movement 2a. Input 2b. Output Lean Lag 3a. Input 3b. Output Sassiness 4a. Input 4b. Output Sway 5a. Input 5b. Output Lumberingness 6a. Input 6b. Output Stiffness 7a. Input 7b. Output Arm Vigour 8a. Input 8b. Output Arm Flail 9a. Input 9b.Output Springiness 10a. Input 10b. Output Breathyness 11a. Input 11b. Output Quick Edit Power

1. Menu page indicator
2. Motion Sensor Movement
   Use this to specify the amount by which the puppet leans (head, neck, torso) in the direction that the DualShock controller is being tilted.
3. Lean Lag
   Use this to specify how much the head moves in advance of the rest of the body when moving and changing direction.
4. Sassiness
   Choose how much sway to give the pelvis when walking and running – turn it up to increase the wiggle in those hips!
5. Sway
   Choose how much the upper body moves from side to side as it runs along.
6. Lumberingness
   Choose the heaviness of the puppet’s upper-body movements.
7. Stiffness
   Choose how stiffly the body articulates when in motion.
8. Arm Vigour
   Choose the extent to which the arms swing back and forth when running or walking.
9. Arm Flail
   Choose how much the arms move away from the body when walking or running along – along with Arm Vigour it ccan make some pretty eccentric behaviour!
10. Springiness
    Use this to increase the bounce in the puppet’s joints or reduce it to make the puppet more lifeless or machinelike.
11. Breathyness
    Use this to specify how much the chest and belly animate to represent the puppet breathing in and out. The effect is fairly subtle, but if you want to create non-breathing characters – robots and heavily armoured characters, for example – it’s a cinch to drop this to 0% and the breathing animation is eliminated.
12. Quick Edit
    Use this to quickly see how your various settings affect the built-in animations for the puppet:
    • Walk
    • Run
    • Jump Ascent
    • Jump Apex
    • Jump Descent
13. Power
    This is where you turn the gadget on/off.

Tweak Menu 4: Body Structure

[screenshot from beta; v1.03 identical]

Tweak Menu page 4: Body Structure Connectors: head neck R. upper arm, chest, L. upper arm R. forearm, belly, L. forearm R. hand, pelvis, L. hand R. thigh, L. thigh R. calf, L. calf R. heel, L. heel R. toes, L. toes Power

1. Menu page indicator
2. Connectors
   This tweak menu is a little different from most. OK, a lot different. As you might guess, each one of these widgets represents one of the puppet’s body parts. To reassign any one sculpture in the puppet to be one of these body parts, simply click on the widget here and then click on the sculpture in the scene (scope in if necessary). A dotted line from the gizmo to the imp shows that you are in selection mode.
   Once a body part is reassigned, this has a knock-on effect on all of the puppet’s built-in and procedural animations, so use this with caution!
3. Power
   This is where you turn the gadget on/off.

Tweak Menu 5: Behaviour

Tweak Menu page 5: Behaviour Auto Jump 2a. Input 2b. Output Auto Look 3a. Input 3b. Output Follow Me / Tag to follow 4a. Input 4b. Output Inner Radius (follow) 5a. Input 5b. Output Outer Radius (follow) 6a. Input 6b. Output Turn Towards / Tag to turn to 7a. Input 7b. Output Outer Radius (turn to) 8a. Input 8b. Output Look at / Tag to look at 9a. Input 9b. Output Outer Radius (look at) 10a. Input 10b. Output Procedural Animation 11a. Input 11b. Output Procedural Walk 12a. Input 12b. Output Power

1. Menu page indicator
2. Auto Jump
   Activate this to enable automatic jumping behaviour in a puppet that is set to follow a player-controlled character.
3. Auto Look
   Activate this to cause the puppet to automatically look at imps, tags and labels in its vicinity.
4. Follow Me
   Toggle for the character to follow a named tag.
   Tag to follow
   Name of the tag you want the character to follow is typed in here or selected from the list of all tag names by hovering the tip over the field and pressing up or down on the d-pad.
5. Inner Radius (follow)
   When the puppet is following a tag, the Inner Radius specifies a minimum distance, below which the puppet doesn’t bother following.
6. Outer Radius (follow)
   When the puppet is following a tag, the Outer Radius specifies a maximum distance beyond which the puppet will stop following (until the tag comes back into range).
7. Turn Towards
   Toggle whether the player will turn towards a named tag.
   Tag to Turn To
   Name of the tag you want the character to turn towards is typed here or selected using the d-pad.
8. Outer Radius (turn to)
   When the puppet is turning towards a tag, the Outer Radius specifies a maximum distance beyond which the puppet will stop tracking it (until the tag comes back into range).
9. Look At
   Toggle for the character to look at a named tag.
   Tag to Look At
   Name of the tag you want the character to turn look at is typed here or selected using the d-pad.
10. Outer Radius (look at)
    When the puppet is looking at tag, the Outer Radius specifies a maximum distance beyond which the puppet will stop tracking it (until the tag comes back into range).
11. Procedural Animation
    Switch this to toggle “procedural animation” that adds a layer of extra calculation to try to make the puppet’s animation fit better into its environment.
12. Procedural Walk
    Switch this to toggle “procedural walk” that adds a layer of extra calculation to try to make the puppet’s walk and run look more natural.
13. Power
    This is where you turn the gadget on/off.

Tweak Menu 6: Physical Properties

[screenshot from beta; v1.03 identical]

Tweak Menu page 6: Physical Properties Visible 2a. Input 2b. Output Moveable 3a. Input 3b. Output Collidable 4a. Input 4b. Output Collision Shape: Vertical Position 5a. Input 5b. Output Collision Shape: Height 6a. Input 6b. Output Collision Shape: Width 7a. Input 7b. Output Density 8a. Input 8b. Output Power

1. Menu page indicator
2. Visible
   Toggle to make the character visible or not. Default is visible.
3. Moveable
   Toggle to make the puppet moveable or fixed in position. “Moveable” refers to the Dreams physics simulation and doesn’t mean the puppet must remain absolutely static – the option for unmoveable characters may be useful for NPCs, for example.
4. Collidable
   Toggle to determine whether the puppet will collide with other collidable sculpts or pass through them. Also see the next tab of tweaks for the labels of objects that will collide with the puppet.
5. Collision Shape: Vertical Position
   Only relevant when the puppet is collidable, this tweak and the two below it define the volume of space that the puppet’s body effectively occupies (for the purpose of in-game physics and touching damage modifiers). This one specifically determines its vertical position relative to the puppet.
6. Collision Shape: Height
   Use this slider to determine the height of the puppet’s collision shape.
7. Collision Shape: Width
   Use this slider to determine the width of the puppet’s collision shape.
8. Density
   Only meaningful if the puppet is set to “Moveable”, this slider allows you to alter the overall weight of your puppet for the purpose of physics simulation. A helpful numeric readout below tells you what the current weight would be.
9. Power
   This is where you turn the gadget on/off.

Tweak Menu 7: Collision Labels

Tweak Menu page 7: Collision labels Collides with 2a. Inputs Power

1. Menu page indicator
2. Collides with
   As a default all these label types are active. You can toggle them on/off so that the character can pass through or collide with different objects depending on their label name.
3. Power
   This is where you turn the gadget on/off.

Tweak Menu 8: Labels

Tweak Menu page 8: Labels Labels 2a. Inputs Detected 3b. Output Player Ownership 4a. Input 4b. Output Power

1. Menu page indicator
2. Labels
   You can designate one or more labels to the character here.
3. Detected
   This outputs a signal while the puppet is being “sensed” by one of the sensor gadgets that detects objects by label type – for example the laser scope.
4. Player Ownership
   Use this to manage or determine which player is controlling the puppet.
5. Power
   This is where you turn the gadget on/off.

Tweak Menu 9: Audio

[screenshot from beta; v1.03 identical]

Tweak Menu page 9: Audio Volume 2a. Input 2b. Output Sound Channel Power

1. Menu page indicator
2. Volume
   Change the volume. Note that this is a special audio slider with two handles – it is possible to stretch this out to add random variation or “spice” to the audio output. For more information on those options, see a tutorial on the sound gadgets (TBA). In short, you can drag each half of the slider with L1 & X to stretch out the variation range, or L2 & X to alter the spice range.
3. Sound Channel
   Select to choose the audio channel associated with this puppet’s sounds:
   • General A
   • Music A
   • Voice A
   • Character A [this option is advised for player characters]
   • Background A
   • Gameplay A
   • Unset
4. Power
   This is where you turn the gadget on/off.

Lex Tips

If you are going to create a series of characters with similar movement settings and animation (such as a selection of villagers or soldiers) it is a good idea to tweak the menus and add keyframes when the mannequin is in its untouched form and save it as a base model. Then you can design your characters by remixing your base model. Your characters will look different but will animate and behave the same.

Useful Tutorials

 

Version Updates

v1.03 – cosmetic changes to a few menu tabs only

v2.03 – new tweak options [currently work in progress on this document]

v2.07 – new ‘Sliding Platformer’ puppet type

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