At first the project is hard to digest cause it tackles multiple things: online/multiplayer; mesh generation; improved character animation; modular abilities; asset/reference use permissions; re-usability; project-organization; etc… (probably missed something). This makes the project quite intimidating at first. Contrary to all other existing templates, which allowed me to test and tweak from the get-go.
To a mere mortal… It took me several attempts to understand the fundamentals… Here are some thoughts.:
(a) UE team should have broken the project into smaller parts and take an approach similar to Visual Studio and their scaffolding pipeline/method of presenting their products. When creating a new project give options to the templates:
- Include a starting menu and options;
- Include Online gameplay;
- Include the lyra mesh generation;
- Include the Character Animation (FPP, TPP, etc… Which shoud be in theory the starter animation pack)
- Include the character, modularity and ability system;
- Include inventory and interaction system;
- etc… What ever makes sense to break into smaller parts/fragments.
This way all of the parts of the lyra project could be useful to someone. And they can be updated individually (e.g., the Lyra modularity and character animations are behind an intimidating wall that most will avoid. It is completely different from the templates.)
(b) UE team doesn’t explain the Why(s) and the How(s). Quickly leading to different branches. e.g., you left an inventory and interaction test, but no documentation in how to build upon it. We are left only with the desire to use something that is nothing more than a test.
(c) Overall, the content of the project is good. It is clearly well organized. It has amazing features. It is clear to me that UE team wishes to create some kind of STANDARD-way of doing things so it becomes possible to work in different projects without knowing all of the details.
I think it is a question of commitment from UE part: which parts are considered best practices and will receive support? I want to try the modularity and ability system but something doesn’t feel right…