Hover Bike blueprint system (+ Demo and Multiplayer Support!)

Hoverbike system

Hey everyone, my name is Ram and I’m Unforgiven’s lead programmer. I want to show you some progress on this new package that the team has been working on: Hovebike system!

We are aiming to provide a base Blueprint class for racing games or any kind of games that need a hoverbike system. Some of the features we have implemented are:

  • Networking / Multiplayer ready!
  • Hovering effect
  • Camera lag
  • Mount and unmount system
  • Hover bike basic movement
  • Turbo boost

Lastest version demo download Link

A development diary is available on Youtube so you can keep updated on our progress each week. So feel free to check it out!

Also, you can download the project build to test the Hoverbike, we would love to get some feedback from you guys. Any suggestion or opinion is greatly appreciated.


You can check this post also at Dev Diary - 1: Introducing the Hoverbike! — UNF Games
For more info about Unforgiven you can check our website unfgames.com

Unforgiven’s 3D Artist here, wanted to show you some progress on the Hoverbike look. Still WIP but we are getting there!

http://puu.sh/q3fND/8dc9f04b24.jpg

I’m looking for an afforable hover vehicle system, the only other option is a fairly outdated and over priced Wipeout style item. I think this WIP looks great but I wonder if you’re limiting yourself to being a “hoverbike”. I think you could make this more generalised also covering other hover vehicle forms besides bikes.

Hey owenprescott, this system will work with any kind of hover type vehicle, you just have to change the mesh and some properties in the physics asset in order to make it work properly. We have an update of this project coming soon and should be submitted into the Marketplace in the coming days.

Looks awesome Mauriccio! Looking forward to seeing this in our reviews soon! :slight_smile:

The Hoverbike is out there to try it for free now! We are sending the project to Epic and meanwhile you can still download it and check if you like it or not :wink:

Try it out for free here!](Hoverbike System DEMO)

And is now live! you can grab it here and use it right away in your projects: https://www.unrealengine.com/marketplace/hoverbike-system

If you have any questions or need help you can post in this thread.

As a side note, we are working on the 4.13 version so I will update you guys once is ready to use. Meanwhile it works perfectly on 4.12 version.

Happy riding!

Hey I just tried out your demo, impressive so far, but there are some things that bother me:

The bike tilts forward and back like a see-saw, something feels ‘off’ about it’s center of gravity being directly in the center causing it to bounce forward and back all the time, it makes it really hard to control.
What I’m thinking is that perhaps if there were a bit of dampening on the nose of the bike to soften that bounce, basically I’m hoping for more “hover” than “bike” as the physics of the bike itself seem to get in its own way.
To clarify, I don’t think this is something that’s related to the shape of the bike though, I think this behavior would be the same even if the vehicle was shorter in length. I’m sure it’s just something about the hover physics.

It’s feels quite like riding a jet ski (which is cool) but the issue is that it feels like a riding a jet ski in really REALLY shallow water, and I keep rocking back and forth every time I bump a pebble.

Overall though, I’m intrigued, this does look quite promising though and I’ll be keeping my eye on this one.

Thanks :slight_smile:

Hey Aumaan, glad you like it. The 4.13 version is coming with very nice updates on the handling system, a new demo coming soon with the changes! Thanks for giving your feedback, it’s really valuable for us.

4.13 version is out!

Go try it out in the demo here](Hoverbike System DEMO)!

This version includes a lot of changes and stability improvements on different versions across the engine, some of them are:

-Rework of the hoverbike’s movement.
-Handling added.
-Fixed bugs when getting in the hoverbike while jumping.
-Fixed error “Accessed None” showing up.
-Added stability variable.

For those who already bought the 4.12 version you can already update it and use the new one.

It’s so much easier to control now! :smiley:

This update is already a solid improvement I think.
*
What I really like:*

  • Acceleration is really smooth.
  • Bike is better balanced.
  • The reverse/backing-up, it’s really immersive and feels great! I love that side-tilt!!! :smiley:

Question time:

  1. Ok, so the boost can’t activate if you’re already airborne, are the variables that control this exposed for users to edit? I would like to be able to activate boost in mid-air.
  2. When the boost is already active before going airborne, the bikes angular trajectory doesn’t get influenced when turning in mid-air at all, are there settings for this that are exposed for users?
  3. Climbing mountains, or otherwise dealing with rough terrain is not possible because acceleration is nullified when attempting, is this an intentional limitation set by invisible boundaries in the map?

Things that bugged me:*

  • Ok that side-tilt I mention before, the bike doesn’t tilt enough while in forward. I think it would be nice if the bike tilted sooner, the way it looks for real motorcycles (bikers have to tilt a lot when turning while moving forward).
  • Going in reverse has the opposite issue, the tilt when going in reverse while turning is too high, he can basically plank himself and the bike flat on the ground if you turn too hard while backing up. I think the maximum tilt would look better at a lesser value.

Something I hope to see in later would be bikes with different presets for the sake of example of what possible with the system.

Oh, btw, this is really awesome :slight_smile:

Hi! lets answer the questions in order:

  1. The boost activation while airborne bool is not exposed directly to the user but it should be very easy to change. I’ll be sure to include a bool exposed to the user named “CanBoostInAir”. Meanwhile, you can get around this by modifying the variable “MaxTraceDistance”, if the value is large enough it should consider the bike to be in the ground while in air making it possible to boos while airborne.
  2. You are right, you cannot affect the trajectory while airborne and there is no way to do it as it it right now. Maybe when the boost is activated a add impulse node can be used so the trajectory is modified.
    3.This behavior when dealing with rough terrain is a side effect from migrating from a pure physics approach to a non physics approach in the 4.13 version. In the 4.13 the physics approach was broken and we had to change it. As you say the hoverbike behaves more like a vehicle, is stable and is almost impossible to turn upside down. We would love to fix the physics approach of the hover bike because there are people that like that behavior so if we manage to do that there will be to versions to choose from.

About the things that bugged you:

  1. What you mean is to adjust the tilting depending on the acceleration the hoverbike has? That would be a neat improvement to the overall feel of the bike that I will definitely look forward to adding.
  2. Yes, I have tested it right now and there should be a limit to the tilt when going in reverse. Maybe a function that sets the limit based on the speed that takes in account the tilt rate that depends on the acceleration… or something along those lines.

Thank you very much for your feedback, you made it very easy to respond because of the way that you organized it.
I really can’t thank you enough for this type of feedback, it will do wonders to the system. And yes there should be more variety of presets so it shows more of the system, I will look into that.

@RamP93
I should be thanking you, this system is incredible, the only reason I don’t already have it is because I’m still dry from the previous sale LOL, but I’m really excited to add this to my project soon. The system has grown in a very short time :slight_smile:
Thanks for the answers to my questions, this explains a lot about the system and gives me confidence that I will be able tailor it to suit my needs.

I’m surprised that the 4.13 version is non-physics approach, the movement is so fluid that most would never know, that alone speaks to how well designed it is that it feels physically right even though it’s not a physics solution. That’s really impressive :smiley:

Right now I’m working on a cover snap system, and I’m using a method I think the hover bike could use to stabilize itself for uneven terrain:

Perhaps you already have something like this in mind, but if not then I hope you feel free to use this method for your hover bike system, I hope it helps :slight_smile:

In my cover system, the character must orient to the wall normal using a trace, however, in order for uneven walls to not break the system I have to get the average normal of the uneven wall, or multiple walls. The average can update on tick or on movement, either way, the idea is that the character can slide along and or re-orient while transitioning to a new wall surface.

This means spreading out multiple traces (spreading out the “start” points of each trace has a HUGE impact on this method and can be used to tailor stability as you need),
I only need two traces for “left” and “right” but perhaps your hover bike could trace “forward, back, left, right” of the ground and average the impact normals that it gets.

I’m sure that the bike already uses something close to this, but perhaps this specific approach can be of some use.

As it is right now, I’m not using an average myself but instead a interpolation between the angle that had the last position and the new one. It should be interesting to try the approach you mention, might as well give it a try.
More traces could mean a more desirable effect but also more processing power needed so I will definitely test this. Thanks for the recomendation :cool:

Got it for the most part working, pretty sure physics also needs turned off for complete control of bike though, feels jittery when moving around. Then we’d need it’s gravity scale set to 0 correctly to avoid world fallthrough when mounting

Edit Nvm, spoke too soon…when playing as host, works as described, when playing as client, side saddle once again. So physics may not need to be touched, just this set correctly =/ Just noticed the missing reference in the multicast, sad thing is…if I link that,it drives good, but the character falls through the world instead so it’s likely the gravity z scale of it’s movement component causing the issue. With this, it works…but the collision is slightly off, your falling the entire ride but attached to your seat at least… lol Do not touch “Set Simulate Physics” for mesh and capsule components for rider… tried using same method for that, crashed me back to editor. https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/206145260882100224/233321052380463105/unknown.png Got it. Just reverse the above process when dismounting. Set in your AnimBP from Jump Loop to Riding Transition= Riding Bike and it will properly play/mount. Dismounting is proving to be slightly more tricky. For Boosting, set the max speed of character component as a run on server event.

Was looking at getting this for the physics assets; any chance you’ll be coming out with a “traditional” motorcycle setup? Would save a ton of work on my end for a small-ish project I have in the pipeline.

Hi @Kyota94, which version of the hoverbike are you using? (4.12 or 4.13)
As it is right now, here at Unforgiven are running on a deadline for a presentation of the game we are developing called LeBlank for the 24th of October so we can’t afford to let one of our programmers to take a in depth look to the multiplayer functionality just yet. Multiplayer it is definitely a feature we would like to include in the next update as soon as we can and any type of feedback means the world to us.

Hello @SaviorNT
What do you mean by a traditional motorcycle setup? (I’m assuming one that doesnt float but I just want to understand you better. More details would be great!)

4.13, and No problem at all! I can easily understand hehe. Looking forward to comparing our results, may even use both since yours is likely to hover better, mine just moves fast…really…fast…funnest testing so far, and can turn on a dime even at 200, though can’t take a hill for **** unless perfectly sloped, sharp angels are it’s bane. Love the work, had fun getting it to replicate aside from the nearly losing it(Good practice), it actually helps me meet my deadline as well. =)

Yea, a motorcycle with wheels :slight_smile: