The popular Unity asset “TopDown Engine” comes equipped with features that make it easy to create RPGs and action games. Among these, scene transitions are frequently used.
For example, you can easily create transitions like “moving from town to dungeon” or “entering another room from the current room.” This time, we’ll explain how to do this step by step.
Using the demo scene is the easiest approach, so we’ll proceed using stages created based on the demo scene.
Preparing the scene
From File > Build Profiles, prepare the scenes for before and after the transition, as well as the loading screen scene, and be sure to add them to the Scene List. If you don’t do this, they won’t be included in the build and you’ll get an error.
If you’re using the demo scene, the loading screen scene is already prepared and doesn’t need to be added.
Set up triggers for scene transitions
To move between scenes, place a “trigger” that activates when the player touches it.
However, copying a prefab from within the scene is the easiest method.
It can be found in TopDownEngine > Demos > Minimal2D > Prefabs > Props.
If you need to create a trigger from scratch
To create a trigger from scratch, first create an empty object via GameObject > Create Empty. Name it something like SceneTrigger.
Box Collider 2D, Add Go to Level Entry Point
Add a Box Collider 2D and check the “Is Trigger” box. Entering this collider will trigger a scene transition.
Next, add the “Go to Level Entry Point” script for scene transitions. In the Inspector, look for the “Level Name” field near the bottom and enter the name of the target scene.
Check the Auto Activation box to enable automatic scene transitions when the trigger is activated.
Also, since triggers are currently invisible during gameplay, set an image in the Sprite Renderer to make them visible. If they’re obscured by the stage image, increasing the Order in Layer value should make them visible.
Scene Transition Load Screen Settings
The settings for the loading screen when moving between scenes can be configured using a GameObject called LevelManager.
Enter the name of the loading screen scene in the “Loading Scene Name” field. For the TopDown Engine demo scene, the loading screen scene is already prepared and entered.
If you want to create your own, place your created scene here.
You can also set the duration for the fade effect (the process of gradually darkening or brightening) when transitioning to the loading screen.
When you run it, you can transition scenes like this. It’s great that fading is so easy too.
Summary
This time, we explained how to move scenes in the TopDown Engine.
- The easiest method is to copy and use the scene transition prefab provided in the demo scene.
- If building from scratch, combine a Box Collider 2D with a Go To Level Entry Point to set up the trigger.
- Specify the target scene in Level Name and enable Auto Activation. This automatically switches scenes when the trigger is entered.
- For visibility, you can configure a Sprite Renderer to make the trigger visible.
- Load screen display and fade duration adjustments can be configured from the LevelManager.
TopDown Engine provides a built-in system that makes creating these “RPG-style scene transitions” easy from the start. You can try it out immediately using the demo prefab, and with detailed customization, you can achieve original effects.
As a next step, combining effects like adding display text and illustrations to the loading screen will help you create a more polished game.
