Hi, there are a few things I’m curious about. What do your finished projects actually look like? How many additional components does your Player Character have? How complex are your blueprints? How many widgets do you use to display information near the character? (Here’s an example: if you have a dialog with an NPC, do you change the widget or conversation box to another one, or do you use separate elements?) How many variables do you have on a single actor?
I’m still working on my own project, but I’m curious about how these final projects actually look. I’m asking about both games where you can spend 30 hours, as well as games where you can finish in 1 hour or even 30 minutes. I’ve just never had insight into the final results, and I’m really curious about it!
How many widgets do you use to display information near the character? (Here’s an example: if you have a dialog with an NPC, do you change the widget or conversation box to another one, or do you use separate elements?)
If it’s simple, just pop-up a new widget. If it’s complex, pay the upfront cost of setting a system up. Make it easy later on.
And you’re already thinking about it - why not redo everything again?
In my projects (they usually have up to 2-3 hours of content.), the count is usually in units, rarely in tens. This applies to everything: components, variables, classes.
There may be many (several thousand) models and textures, but to process them, just a few classes that simply change the visuals are enough. If this is not the case, then perhaps you took a wrong turn somewhere…
The main widget class for the window, another class for dialog items. The items themselves are usually created/deleted in the process (it’s easier at the beginning), but if memory problems start, then a pool of objects is created and the parameters are refilled.
Creating a separate widget class for each dialog in the game is something that definitely shouldn’t happen.
We need to find a balance between: “everyone in one class” and “a separate class for everything”.
And my experience of almost 10 years is still not enough to do it the first time.
“Big” blueprints (in which there are many nodes) are usually dialogue trees or quests where nothing can be simplified, each point must be written manually.
Cool! Thx for answer. This is something that intrigues me, so I did want to know how others do more knowledge
I’m really happy about your reply with Variables. On few of mine blueprints I have 4-5 variables, but on few I have about 50-60 rn and I was wondering if it’s a lot or not yet (Main blueprints that have big impact )
A good question to ask here would albo be “how large should functions be?” It will, of course, depend on what we’re trying to accomplish; but if we must pack 100+ nodes into a single function, perhaps it’s time to break it up it into smaller, more manageable, reusable, logical pieces.
And comment everything even though you think it’s obvious. It is now, it will not be not next week. And it will be cryptic next month
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