Campaign Comics

Comic/cutscene playback system for campaign narrative sequences. Displays Spine-animated comic panels with background audio between campaign scenarios.

Overview

Plays sequential comic panels with optional per-panel sound effects. Manages audio channel volumes during playback (muting gameplay audio, keeping GUI/Master/Other). Provides a callback mechanism for scenario flow integration.

Public API

Comic Data Structure

comicData = {
  path = "path/to/comics",
  backgroundSound = "sound_asset",
  order = {
    "panel1",                                    -- Simple: just folder name
    { comic = "panel2", sound = "sfx_asset" },   -- With per-panel sound
    "panel3"
  }
}

Playback Flow

1. playComic() is called with comic data and a callback
2. Audio channels are muted (except GUI, Master, Other)
3. AudioChannelGui starts playing
4. Panel list is assembled and sent to UI via ChangeState → 'comic'
5. UI plays Spine animations for each panel
6. When animation finishes, onSpineAnimationFinished() fires
7. Callback executes, audio volumes restore, GUI audio stops

Audio Management

-- During comic playback:
-- - All audio channels except GUI, Master, and Other are muted
-- - Original volumes are saved in lastVolumes table
-- - Volumes restore on comic finish or scenario change

forEachAudioChannel(function(name, audio)
  lastVolumes[name] = audio:getVolume()
  if name ~= 'AudioChannelGui' and name ~= 'AudioChannelMaster' and name ~= 'AudioChannelOther' then
    audio:setVolume(0)
  end
end)

Integration with Campaign

Comics are triggered via scenario onEvent data:

-- In campaign_campaigns.processScenarioOnEvent():
if onEventData.comic then
  campaign_comics.playComic(onEventData.comic, comicFinishedCallback)
end

-- The callback decrements displayEndUIRefs/displayStartUIRefs counters
-- to synchronize with other async UI elements

Notes

• Uses Spine runtime for panel animations (not standard image slideshow)
• The onSpineAnimationFinished callback is a one-shot (set to false after firing)
• nop is used as default callback if none provided
• Audio restore happens both on comic finish and on scenario pre-start reset
• The reset() function is idempotent (safe to call multiple times)

See Also

• Campaign System - Triggers comics during scenario events
• Campaign Exploration - Free-roam between comic sequences