Getting Started

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Use this page to explore the State Designer Samples Hub, open a working sample, and create the first states in your own graph. By the end, you will be able to follow the active state in Play Mode.

Before you begin

Confirm that your project meets the State Designer requirements before importing sample content or creating a graph.

If state machines are new to you, read What is a Finite State Machine? for a short explanation of states and transitions.

Explore the Samples Hub

Open Tools > Opsive > State Designer > Samples. The Samples Hub lists 15 sample-scene cards even before the project-local sample content has been imported. The screenshot shows the post-import state, with the import notice hidden and the available Open Scene actions enabled.

The State Designer Samples Hub lists imported sample cards with preview images, dependency status, and enabled Open Scene buttons.

Each card includes:

  • A preview image and a description of the behavior demonstrated by the scene.
  • A Beginner, Intermediate, or Advanced difficulty badge and topic badges such as Events, UI, Subgraphs, Physics, or DOTS.
  • Dependency indicators. A check mark means the package is installed; an exclamation mark identifies a required package that is missing.
  • Open Documentation when that sample has a related guide. This opens the guide in the web browser.
  • Open Scene when Unity can resolve the sample scene in the project.

Import or update the samples

  1. Select Import Samples when the sample content has not been imported. State Designer creates a project-local copy through Unity’s Package Manager sample workflow.
  2. If content from an earlier State Designer version is present, select Update Samples to import the current package’s sample content. The older versioned folder may remain in the project, but it is no longer the current copy.
  3. Check the dependency indicators on the card you want to use and install any required packages that are marked with an exclamation point.
  4. Select Open Documentation first when the card provides it, then select Open Scene. If the current scene has unsaved changes, Unity asks whether to save them before opening the sample.
  5. Enter Play Mode and watch the active state change as the sample’s transition Conditions become valid.

After the current sample content is installed, the import notice is hidden. Reopen Tools > Opsive > State Designer > Samples whenever you want to compare the cards or open another available scene.

Create your first graph

  1. Open Tools > Opsive > State Designer > Editor.
  2. In the graph area, right-click and select Add State Machine, or use the add button in the operations toolbar.
  3. Press the Space bar or right-click the graph and select Create State. Adding the first state also adds the Start event.
  4. Add another state, then drag from the first state’s connection slot to the second state.
  5. Select the transition and choose the Condition that should move execution to the next state.
  6. Enter Play Mode to test the graph.

New transitions use State Finished by default, which waits for the current state to finish. Choose a different Condition when the transition should respond to a timer, input, or another gameplay rule.

For exact state names, Action values, transition settings, screenshots, and a result you can reproduce, continue with Your First State Machine.

How it runs

The Start event activates the first connected state. The editor highlights the active state in Play Mode; when a transition Condition becomes valid, the state machine leaves that state and activates the next one. If the highlighting follows the order you connected, the graph is running correctly.

The Tools > Opsive > State Designer menu also opens Welcome for product links, State Palette for the dockable State browser, Error Window for graph validation, Atlas for assisted authoring, and Integrations for optional packages. Settings opens the product preferences described in the Overview. Upgrade Project Serialization is a project-data migration command; back up or commit the project before using it.