In previous post I described what in general idea Unity-Chan: Desktop Companion is.
This time I will show you all of the features that were implemented so far. Keep in mind that the game is still under development, so some of the features may be more polished in the future, and slightly changed.
Also this post may spoil a little, so if you'd like to be surprised about what things may happen during your play through please keep that in mind,
And sorry for lengthy post, but I wanted it to summarize everything, so future posts could focus on newest changes.
So let me start from the beginning:
1. AI chat - ChatGPT 💻
Project has started as a basic console application, where I was playing with OpenAI's API for ChatGPT text generation model. After some playing I found that I am able to make it interpret message emotions, and based on it rate the current mood of the character. That's how I created mood system. Later I added yet another metric that saves between sessions and changes at slower pace and named it relation.
Emotion, mood and relation influences the AI's context, so chat is more dynamic and feel more natural.
Later I added AI Horde support as a free alternative to ChatGPT. It is very slow and less precise compared to ChatGPT, but at least it is completely free.
And as the latest addition to this part I added support for image recognition, since newest GPT models has added it, so now you can share your favorite memes with your virtual friend! :D
2. Desktop mascot 🤎🧡
Next thing I added was adding a 3D character to chat with - Unity-chan herself! I wanted more interactivity around the Windows screen, so I made her have collisions with windows of other applications.
Then of course I needed to add ability to freely drag her around and rescale so she won't obstruct anything important.
Plus text-only chat felt not immersive enough, so I added optional feature to add text-to-speech with lip-sync, so she can speak to you her answers. Currently you can select between no voice, Google Cloud TTS, and ElevenLabs API.
And since I already added emotional reactions, it was natural to add some particles and animations based on her answer, jumping with joy or making angry gestures etc.. Sometimes she makes other idle animations, or start to chat with you on her own!
3. (New) UI 📱
Previously I created a very basic UI, mostly for development purposes, but recently I remade it into more immersive UI that resembles a smartphone. I hope it will be intuitive and convenient enough. I plan to upgrade it in the future to be a little prettier and more customizable, but the main idea will remain.
I also added option to minimize the view into a basic widget, so it won't distract when working/playing.
4. Tutorial and Wizard application 🧙♂️
I won't write what happens during the first time you open the game - I don't want to spoil your first impression! Just let me assure you that I prepared a little scenario that will introduce you into the application and it's basic features.
One of the struggles this game has is that in order to experience its main feature - chatting with AI, you have to configure it first. That's why I created additional in-game app called Wizard. With its help you can easily choose how you set up the APIs with helpful GIFs and each step explained without overwhelming you with controls and info.
5. Assistant modules: User memory, Reminders, Elevated mode 🤖
I added for Unity-chan the ability to remember any fact about yourself you tell to her. For example, if you mention to her that you have birthday on 14 of March she may add it to her memory registry. Of course this feature is optional and you decide if you want to share it during Wizard configuration.
Reminders is a very simple tool, you can add any future event, attach a date to it and set it as periodic. Then when time comes, Unity-chan will remind you about it incoming a set days before it. Who wouldn't want your cute anime assistant to remind you of paying taxes? :D
The last of these three is Elevated mode. This one I consider for the most advanced users. With this, you can ask Unity-chan to run a command on your system. You can ask her to open any site on your browser, rename a group of files is some directory, or even DELETE FILES. It is a very powerful and if someone isn't careful can damage the system, so the feature is disabled by default, and you can enable it in Privacy Settings or during Wizard configuration.
6. Settings and Customization 🔧
As every game, it has settings to configure your preferences like sound volume, UI scale etc. so nothing out of ordinary here. I tried to make the UI similar to settings in phone systems, and separated them into groups, so I hope it won't feel too overwhelming.
But what is more interesting is the customization part. As for now, there are 4 Unity-chan skins to select and 4 UI color themes. Additionally, you can choose the color of your and Unity-chan font in messages.
7. Shop and Unlockables 🤑⭐
To add some progression to game, I decided to add a little shop to the game. Don't worry! Everything is done in in-game currency and I will never add any monetization to it. There are two currencies you can earn in game. One is very common, you can earn by just chatting, playing mini games (even losing them) and generally by spending time with Kohaku. The other one is more rare, you can gain it by achieving some one-time events, like increasing relation with Unity-chan to some threshold, or winning a game for the first time. Those events grant some of those rare points and probably will become Steam achievements in the future.
8. Unity-chan knowledge and lore 📚
While Unity-chan is just a game engine mascot, their creators took care of creating a base of her story, family, and personality. Thanks to their work I was able to create a consistent and canon knowledge base for our character in the game itself. I added a system, that triggers when mentioning specific words, so she can tell more about herself. For example, if you ask her about friends, she should consistently tell you about her high school friends Yuko and Misaki.
Additionally to this system, I added a 'daily conversation theme' system. It makes so Unity-chan each day has a chance of starting up a conversation on predetermined subject, so each day spent with her won't feel the same. Sometimes she may ask if you enjoy anime, sometimes she may lure you into a Rickroll link, you never know!
Here I asked about her friend Yuko, the canon high school friend of Unity-chan, and I added an official artwork of her (you can download more official assets on Unity-chan's official website, available here)
9. Alternative mode - streamer portrait 🎥
Sometimes we don't want Unity-chan to obstruct the view, or interact with other windows. For this I created another way to display her. I called it streamer portrait, because it resembles how streamers position themselves on screen, in one of the corners of screen. Vertical, horizontal position, scale and rotation are fully customizable. It still is in early stage, I have more plans expand on this idea, but I'll share them once I implement them completely.
10. Unity-chan's room, mini games 🎮
Now finally we go to another segment of the game, from our desktop to Kohaku's own apartament! Her dad Yuji Otori has bought it for her so she can learn to become more independent, living on her own. As for now it serves mainly as a hub for mini games. We can play with Unity-chan by the table two basic games: Tic-Tac-Toe and Match-3. While rules of Tic-Tac-Toe are self-explanatory, i added a rule for Match-3 so it becomes a game for two: you play in turns, and the one who earns most points by matching most gems / creates biggest combo wins!
11. Sofa & Game Station 🎮
I implemented a way to change a place you sit. As for now you can sit with her by the table and play games, or by the sofa in front of TV. And from the sofa we can access yet another feature - Game Station console on TV! This is the place where I'll be able to add any mini-game I want, not being limited to creating games that take place on the table. Plus it creates a fun inception: we just entered the room of our desktop mascot, then opened console in her room to go even deeper and run app inside the console! ;D
12. Virus Offense: Top-down survival shooter 🦠🔫
The first mini game I added to Game Station is named Virus Offense. In this game we are playing in cooperation with Unity-chan. We both are heroes that fight in cyberspace against the drones and mechs that got corrupted by viruses. There are several weapons to choose and enemy types. And we can use the shop I mentioned in point 7 to upgrade ourselves, like running speed, more damage, more healing items dropping etc.
13. *Candy Rock Star show 🎤
This one I added more for a placeholder until I add more interesting mini games to spend time with Unity-chan (or add yet another functionality to Game Station, foreshadowing next update ;) ). This is just a music video show of Unity-chan. It was her debut video, so I thought it would feel cool to place it here, maybe I could make Kohaku recall of that moment, as a subject to chat. Do you think I should add this sort of non-game stuff on this console too? Should this show stay in Game Console? Let me know! :>
14. I don't want to end on number 13, so I added this point just for that
That's all of the major features of the game implemented so far. There are some I purposely didn't mention as I consider them secrets that are available under specific conditions.
Thank you for reading and your time. I hope I explained the game features well enough and convinced you that this project is made with love and passion. From now on I'll post about most recent changes.
Until next time, byee~!
Jacopo