Quick question from some friends learning UT4; would it be possible with the physics included in UT4 to design a system where the player has full control over their vehicle/skateboard/driveable entity while in midair (eg. spin on both x/y axis simultaneously, or just one direction, etc.)? We want the player to be able to land dynamically on rails, creating their own tricks/flips for total control as opposed to Tony Hawk style lock on the rail. Would this require external programming?
You’ll have to consider the deeper implications of the question, Tony hawks method is’nt really physiqued, Its more or less scripted for specific scenarios with crafted transitions for each possible outcome. The player and the board are one to the engine. Within the bounds of the player character/pawn. To do what your suggesting you would have to carefully consider the physical relationship of your player and his feet to the board. Unless your very good at physics i somehow doubt the feasibility of doing a skateboard model, Also sense instantaneous rotation and such in midair is’nt actually possible not accounting for the centripetal forces allowed by the body of the player. Anyway should you plan to attempt it you’ll have to map out the concept in depth. It is an interesting idea and present some interesting questions, But know. That when dealing with Physics based gameplay you’ll often get scenarios you dont like game breaking And would have to carefully script around.
I took the rolling ball demo a while back and messed around with prototyping a skate game. It was actually pretty trivial to replace the ball with a board and implement some skate like behavior, ramps and obstacles. I do this sort of thing in C++ but there is a blueprint for the template. Have a look at it and try to make a skate game out of it.
Your end result however is going to be a combination of physics and controlled/directed faux physics. You are going to end up treating the skater and his body rotations separate from movement, something like a person in am invisible hamster ball with limited freedom of direction. It won’t be possible to rely on physics 100% and things like dynamic slides and grinds are going to prove frustrating as a gameplay mechanic. There is a reason why some tricks work the way they do in THPS.