(39) Rama's Extra Blueprint Nodes for You as a Plugin, No C++ Required!

[majieric]

I am unable to repro your issue on 4.11.1 but I'd love to figure out why you are having the experience that you are.
Rama

It's definitely the custom build because the vanilla build works just fine. When I created a project folder in the vanilla build with a template project, the Victory plugin registers as installed. However, when I'm running the custom build it fails.

I've actually downloaded the latest in the Unreal Engine repository and did a clean build of that and then tried using your plugin in a Template project and it fails. So it appears your library might only work with vanilla builds of UE.

[Rama]

It's definitely the custom build because the vanilla build works just fine. When I created a project folder in the vanilla build with a template project, the Victory plugin registers as installed. However, when I'm running the custom build it fails.

I've actually downloaded the latest in the Unreal Engine repository and did a clean build of that and then tried using your plugin in a Template project and it fails. So it appears your library might only work with vanilla builds of UE.

If you are using a custom engine build, you can just stick my plugin some project that uses the custom build, compile it, and then stick it back in Engine/Plugins

If you get any errors compiling for project using custom build let me know

You can't expect me to provide compiled binaries for your custom engine build, and custom UE4 will definitely feel that the plugin needs rebuilding as it wont recognize the launcher version as being its own cause its not

But if you're compiling custom engine builds you should be able to recompile my plugin just fine!

Rama

[JX53mb]

hi Rama! I just noticed the substance plugin is on the marketplace, meaning that my launcher notify me when an update to the plugin happens. Made me wonder why you did not submit this fantastic plugin on the marketplace I have no idea if it would make it harder for you or not to update it this way so please don't blame me if i'm proposing something ridiculous :P

[axell699]

I have also tried to use the scene capture save blueprints but they don't really work. I have tried to attach different scene capture objects and save into different formats and folders but nothing works. The output is false no mattr what i do. Any tips?
Thanks!

[teak421]

Rama,

Are you keeping the github updated because it appears that its not...??? Not sure if I am missing something. I built a custom base build with your source (so I don't have to add to each project) but I had to download from the zip file. Just be easier to grab off of git. Thanks for all your work!

teak

[teak421]

It's definitely the custom build because the vanilla build works just fine. When I created a project folder in the vanilla build with a template project, the Victory plugin registers as installed. However, when I'm running the custom build it fails.

I've actually downloaded the latest in the Unreal Engine repository and did a clean build of that and then tried using your plugin in a Template project and it fails. So it appears your library might only work with vanilla builds of UE.

Hi... I use a custom build and it works great with Rama's code... I'm just building a base build with his added code and it works peachy.

teak

[Rama]

Load Level Instance, Load Multiple Transformed Instances of Same Level, not in Levels List! ♥ Rama





Dear Community,

New: Please note I've now made a pull request for this Node to the Engine! If you'd like to see this in-engine make sure to comment!
https://forums.unrealengine.com/show...l=1#post518835

The code in this node was first presented by Epic staff, Marc Audy, as code used in Fortnite.

I've fully implemented the code as well as making it user-friendly.

In particular I've presented a solution for ensuring you can spawn multiple instances of the same UE4 level, by giving you an "Instance Number" that you should increment each time you spawn an instance of a level.

This allows me to enable you to easily create as many uniquely translated and rotated instances of a level as you want!

This is ideal for Dynamic Level Generation!

~~~

Can Include Landscapes and Other Fancy Level Features!

In my demo I included a landscape in my level "tile."

~~~

Level Scripting / Level Blueprint

You can also include level scripting that will run uniquely per level isntance!

~~~

C++ Code For You

Here's my implemenation of the code Marc Audy originally presented to the Community, exactly as it is in my Victory BP Library:

bool UVictoryBPFunctionLibrary::VictoryLoadLevelInstance(
	UObject* WorldContextObject, 
	FString MapFolderOffOfContent, 
	FString LevelName, 
	int32 InstanceNumber,
	FVector Location, FRotator Rotation)
{
    if(!WorldContextObject) return false;
	 
	UWorld* const World = GEngine->GetWorldFromContextObject(WorldContextObject);
	if(!World) return false;
	//~~~~~~~~~~~
 
	//Full Name
	FString FullName = "/Game/" + MapFolderOffOfContent + "/" + LevelName;
	  
	FName LevelFName = FName(*FullName);
    FString PackageFileName = FullName;   
	
    ULevelStreamingKismet* StreamingLevel = NewObject<ULevelStreamingKismet>((UObject*)GetTransientPackage(), ULevelStreamingKismet::StaticClass());
 
	if(!StreamingLevel)
	{
		return false;
	}
	
	//Long Package Name
	FString LongLevelPackageName = FPackageName::FilenameToLongPackageName(PackageFileName);
	
	//~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
	// Here is where a unique name is chosen for the new level asset
	//    Ensure unique names to gain ability to have multiple instances of same level!
	//	   <3 Rama
	
	//Create Unique Name based on BP-supplied instance value
	FString UniqueLevelPackageName = LongLevelPackageName;
	UniqueLevelPackageName += "_VictoryInstance_" + FString::FromInt(InstanceNumber);
     
    //Set!
    StreamingLevel->SetWorldAssetByPackageName(FName(*UniqueLevelPackageName));
	//~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
	 
    if (World->IsPlayInEditor())
    {
        FWorldContext WorldContext = GEngine->GetWorldContextFromWorldChecked(World);
        StreamingLevel->RenameForPIE(WorldContext.PIEInstance);
    }
 
    StreamingLevel->LevelColor = FColor::MakeRandomColor();
    StreamingLevel->bShouldBeLoaded = true;
    StreamingLevel->bShouldBeVisible = true;
    StreamingLevel->bShouldBlockOnLoad = false;
    StreamingLevel->bInitiallyLoaded = true;
    StreamingLevel->bInitiallyVisible = true;
 
	//Transform
    StreamingLevel->LevelTransform = FTransform(Rotation,Location);
 
    StreamingLevel->PackageNameToLoad = LevelFName;
          
    if (!FPackageName::DoesPackageExist(StreamingLevel->PackageNameToLoad.ToString(), NULL, &PackageFileName))
    {        
        return false;
    }
  
	//~~~
	
	//Actual map package to load
	StreamingLevel->PackageNameToLoad = FName(*LongLevelPackageName);
	
	//~~~
	
    // Add the new level to world.
    World->StreamingLevels.Add(StreamingLevel);
     
    return true;
 }

[Harcarik]

oh man, this is cool, thanks, this is much appreciated !!

[Jacopo Papaccio]

Any update on VictoryEdEngine for UE 4.11? I've read about the issues, and we need it pretty badly for its vertex snap feature

Anyway, Rama, you've done an amazing work so far!

[SalihBalkan]

Hi Rame, SavePixelArray node is saving colors wrong. I was easily able to reproduce this by using your node in the BeginPlay event of a level. Here are some color conversions that the node writes:

Given color in [0-1] range -> Saved color in 8bit PNG file

0.0 -> 0
0.25 -> 137
0.5 -> 188
0.75 -> 255
1.0 -> 255

Engine version is 4.11 and I used latest version that you shared via mediafire.

[Rama]

Victory Ed Engine on 4.11

Any update on VictoryEdEngine for UE 4.11? I've read about the issues, and we need it pretty badly for its vertex snap feature

Anyway, Rama, you've done an amazing work so far!

Welcome to the forums Jacopo!

~~~

Dear Community,

I've gotten multiple requests to update the VictoryEdEngine plugin, so here it is!

I"ve now updated my Vertex Snap Editor to 4.11!

The delay was because the Instance Static Mesh (ISM) portion of the editor was unable to operate after changes made to Instanced Static Mesh Component in 4.11.

I've decided to simply disable the ISM feature for now.

You can now use the vertex snapping functionality of my Victory Ed Engine plugin in 4.11!

https://wiki.unrealengine.com/File:VictoryEdEngine.zip

Enjoy!

♥

Rama

[Rama]

Hi Rame, SavePixelArray node is saving colors wrong. I was easily able to reproduce this by using your node in the BeginPlay event of a level. Here are some color conversions that the node writes:

Given color in [0-1] range -> Saved color in 8bit PNG file

0.0 -> 0
0.25 -> 137
0.5 -> 188
0.75 -> 255
1.0 -> 255

Engine version is 4.11 and I used latest version that you shared via mediafire.

I am mostly just using UE4 API functions for this, so I am not sure what the cause of the issue is.

Here is the relevant portion of the source code for this node:

bool UVictoryBPFunctionLibrary::Victory_SavePixels(const FString& FullFilePath,int32 Width, int32 Height, const TArray<FLinearColor>& ImagePixels, FString& ErrorString)
{
	//Create FColor version
	TArray<FColor> ColorArray;
	for(const FLinearColor& Each : ImagePixels)
	{
		ColorArray.Add(Each.ToFColor(true));
	} 
	 
	if(ColorArray.Num() != Width * Height) 
	{
		ErrorString = "Error ~ height x width is not equal to the total pixel array length!";
		return false;
	}
	  
	TArray<uint8> CompressedPNG;
	FImageUtils::CompressImageArray( 
		Width, 
		Height, 
		ColorArray, 
		CompressedPNG
	);
	    
	return FFileHelper::SaveArrayToFile(CompressedPNG, *FinalFilename);

There's not much room here for me to make mistakes of my own, its really just API calls.

But clearly something is amiss, I tested saving as a bmp and got the same unusual results as with compressed png:

I did a test with 0.25 and got 137 as well, instead of what you'd expect, 63.75 (255 * 0.25).

I tested 0.715 and got 220 instead of 182.325

The culprit appears to be the ToFColor function:

//Create FColor version
TArray<FColor> ColorArray;
for(const FLinearColor& Each : ImagePixels)
{
	ColorArray.Add(Each.ToFColor(true)); 
	UE_LOG(LogTemp,Error,TEXT("float is %f, byte added as %d"), Each.R, ColorArray.Last().R); 
}

yields this:

LogTemp:Error: float is 0.000000, byte added as 0
LogTemp:Error: float is 0.250000, byte added as 137
LogTemp:Error: float is 0.000000, byte added as 0
LogTemp:Error: float is 0.000000, byte added as 0
LogTemp:Error: float is 1.000000, byte added as 255
LogTemp:Error: float is 0.000000, byte added as 0
LogTemp:Error: float is 0.000000, byte added as 0
LogTemp:Error: float is 0.715000, byte added as 220
LogTemp:Error: float is 0.000000, byte added as 0

So the conversion you are not enjoying is being done by FLinearColor::ToFColor

ToFColor has this sRGB option:

/** Quantizes the linear color and returns the result as a FColor with optional sRGB conversion and quality as goal. */
FColor FLinearColor::ToFColor(const bool bSRGB) const
{

The sRGB conversion algorithm can be found in Color.cpp if you want to see it for yourself!

When I set that to false then the values you'd expect are returned:

LogTemp:Error: float is 0.000000, byte added as 0
LogTemp:Error: float is 0.250000, byte added as 63
LogTemp:Error: float is 0.000000, byte added as 0
LogTemp:Error: float is 0.000000, byte added as 0
LogTemp:Error: float is 1.000000, byte added as 255
LogTemp:Error: float is 0.000000, byte added as 0
LogTemp:Error: float is 0.000000, byte added as 0
LogTemp:Error: float is 0.715000, byte added as 183
LogTemp:Error: float is 0.000000, byte added as 0

You can read about sRGB here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SRGB


I've now made this sRGB conversion optional, and off by default

The update will be in my next plugin release



Rama

[Jacopo Papaccio]

VictoryEd 4.11 worked smoothly, thanks again for your work

[sivan]

Hi Rama,
I have read on GitHub that your level instance loading solution might cause problems in cooked/packaged projects (maybe I misunderstood that comment), but you wrote it was tested.
So is there an actual conflict? And if yes, is there a chance to have a workaround for it in future?
I started to built on it an important part of my game system (a pseudo random world due to the lack of runtime landscape creation/deformation possibilities), so this feature would be essential for me...
thanks.

[Ricardo.lpc]

NICE JOB RAMA! Thanks a lot to share it!!

I just would like to know if there is any BP to execute an external file, it would save my life.

i really don't know how to use this "FPlatformProcess::CreateProc(TEXT("C:\\Users\\Cero\\Desktop\\Test.exe"), nullptr, true, false, false, nullptr, 0, nullptr, nullptr);"