PaperZD State machine and Event system extension for Paper2D

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**PaperZD support for external tools:

Hi there guys, after almost 2 months of programming, digging into the source code, and banging my head around some solutions, i’m almost ready to release my own contribution to unreal engine, called “PaperZD” (Zeta D).
Because i’m working with a 2d dev team, we recognized the lack of 2d support for 2 things that are really needed IMHO: State Machines + Event System, just like on AnimBPs.

The solution we present is a mirroring of 3d AnimationBlueprints, the plugin comes with the following:

  1. Animation Blueprints => Now one can create an animation blueprint, add logic, modify an state machine (adding a Flipbook to each state as wanted), and even use Transition Graphs just as the Normal “3D” Animation Blueprints.

The Transition Graphs work just as any event graph:

  1. Each of this “States” can be double clicked to enter the “Event Editor”, which works as closely as possible to the AnimBPs.

Some things that this system can do:

  1. Can use Native Notifies or NotifyStates, the drawback is that this notifies are PaperZDNotifies, because AnimNotifies from Unreal rely on some wonky 3D objects not present on 2D.

  2. Can use BlueprintNotifies derived from this PaperZDNotify or PaperZDNotifyState

  3. Can use CustomNotifies: Just like on 3D, one can define a new notify, and the integrated compiler for this AnimBP will create a new function normally named ReceivedNotify_{NOTIFYNAME}.

  4. This plugin fully supports UNDO and transactions, so one can edit with no problems.

  5. The PaperZDAnimBlueprint comes with a TickEvent that can be managed to update animation variables, or whatever one would want.

  1. PaperZDCharacter & PaperZDAnimInstance => A simple inheritance from Paper2D that will automatically manage the states and events in game, just inherit from this classes, and you’re set

My DevTeam and I are right now using this plugin for our own game, and we are working on making it better each day.
The plugin will be finished in about 2 weeks (we are testing right now), and will be sold on the marketplace (will update here with the price).

I’m considering creating a Beta Testing team, so if any of you are interested on this solution and would like to beta test it, give me a call.
Cheers!

Head to http://www.criticalfailure-studio.com/paperzd/ where you can download the plugin now!

Now available on the marketplace!

CHANGELOG:

Version 1.3:

  • AnimSequences as assets for better external support, adding the possibility of external tools.
  • External tools support.
  • Fully IWYU compliant.
  • General bugfixes

Version 1.2:

  • Added new AnimationMode, AnimTransitions and AnimSequences

Version1.1:
-Added sequencer support for PaperZDCharacters, solved errors when trying to save a renamed AnimBP

Version1.0: Base plugin

Looks good! I haven’t done anything with Paper2D yet but anything that improves it is a great addition to Unreal :slight_smile:

Thanks a lot! I hope that with this, creating 2D games can be a tad easier

Super interested in this, quality of life improvements for Paper2d are very welcome. Can’t wait to get my hands on it.

Hi there, just messaged you. Thanks a lot!

Update: Showcase

Waiting for feedback for uploading

Update:

-Fixed some issues with Some animation notifies not triggering on extremely rare cases.
-Added Priorities to the Transitions

  • Added colors to transitions (because why not)

All this changes will be uploaded when the plugin is accepted

Does anyone knows how much more do we have to wait for the code review to end? it has been at least 3 weeks.

As you can see on the picture uploaded… i’m already using this for our own game, so any updates will be directed inmediately to the plugin as better support is added

Cheers!

Hey,
Just wanted to say we’re very interested in this extension. Great work, can’t wait to take a closer look!

Thanks… i just received your subscription… i’m also very interested on your work…
We’re starting a developer page, to keep everone posted.

If you like, i can message you when all the protocols are ready, and the plugin is uploaded…

Cheers!

This is great stuff! I’m looking forward to this.

Update:

-Added 4.17 Support:

Though the new release comes with the “BlueprintCompilationManager” which destroys the Custom Compilation needed for the AnimBlueprints, as per stated on here

AnswerHub:

Forum:
https://forums.unrealengine.com/development-discussion/engine-source-github/1356539-blueprintcompilationmanager-breaks-custom-compilers

For now, the only way to use this plugin on 4.17 is to disable the Blueprint Compilation Manager.

I will try to contact someone or see if it’s possible to make a pull request with the solution i provided to support custom compilers and the manager at the same time.

Update:

Epic answered about the issues stemming from the compilation manager, it seems they intend to support custom compilers on the window leading to 4.19 (approximately)… so until then, Compilation Manager breaks every plugin that uses custom compiling. So you must disable the compilation manager if you wish to use this plugin (or any other like this tbh)

Still waiting for code review, the plugin is uploaded on the new developers page… so it must be “close”, just gotta be patient.

Will reply here when the plugin is ready…

Cheers!

Update: For anyone wanting updates of the plugin head to Critical Failure Studio is under construction where you can review the changes, contact us and download via itch.io

Also head directly to:

to download the plugin

When the plugin is uploaded to the marketplace the link will be added here.

Cheers!

Thank you for sharing the link, just purchased it!!

Thanks a lot Blacob… it feels surreal to have people interested in my work…

Remember to go to
http://www.criticalfailure-studio.com

to learn more of our projects!

Any recommendations for the plugin or other tools that you think would be useful just contact me

Thanks!
P.S. will brew a cup of joe in your name

I am also very interested in this plugin, if i buy it through the website will i have access to updates once its on the marketplace or should i wait?

Of course, the Itch.io will be mantained updated… i would dare to say that the updates will come much quickly there, because tbh… epic is not doing a good job on keeping tings tight on the marketplace… i haven’t had contact with them on 3 weeks and no mail response either… so when a update comes… expect those times of delay on the marketplace, on itch.io i mantain the codebase by myself.

If you don’t mind using itch.io instead of the marketplace then it’s a good choice, if you don’t mind waiting for epic’s protocols, then marketplace is no problem
Updates will be posted on our twitter (we’re going to finish the creation of social media today), so you’ll be updated on that.
Also our company mail is also finished today, if you have any problems or need asistance

Cheers!

Sweet!!! Do you know if the plugin works with the 4.18 pre-release?

I’ll have to check the changes. 4.17 had some troubles because of the BlueprintCompilationManager that needs to be disabled, will download the pre-release and keep you posted.
Thanks for the interest!

So i just bought the plugin, can you also attach a sample project like the one in the video to see how to setup everything?