Replication of Rotation does not work

Development Programming & Scripting Multiplayer & Networking
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1

Hello guys,
I changed the top-down-code sample and made it so that my character always turns to the mouse pointer.
The problem I have is with networking.
When I play in editor with 2 players, I can turn my character but others (including the server) don’t see the client rotate.

How can I replicate the rotation of each character safely and performant?
Here’s my code:
.cpp file

void ARPGTestCharacter::Tick(float DeltaTime)
{
	Super::Tick(DeltaTime);
	if (Controller && Controller->IsLocalController())
	{
		TurnToMouse();
	}
}


void ARPGTestCharacter::GetLifetimeReplicatedProps(TArray<FLifetimeProperty>& OutLifetimeProps) const
{
	Super::GetLifetimeReplicatedProps(OutLifetimeProps);
	DOREPLIFETIME(ARPGTestCharacter, targetRotation);
	DOREPLIFETIME(ARPGTestCharacter, currentFacing);
}


void ARPGTestCharacter::TurnToMouse()
{
	FHitResult mouseHitLocation = FHitResult();
	bool bMouseHitResult = GetWorld()->GetFirstPlayerController()->GetHitResultUnderCursor(ECC_Visibility, true, mouseHitLocation);
	currentChar = this;
	if (bMouseHitResult)
	{
		FVector_NetQuantize MouseHitLocNet = FVector_NetQuantize();
		MouseHitLocNet = mouseHitLocation.ImpactPoint;

		FVector characterLocation = currentChar->GetActorLocation();

		FVector targetVector = (MouseHitLocNet - characterLocation);
		targetVector.Normalize();

		targetRotation = FRotator(0.f, targetVector.Rotation().Yaw, 0.f);
	}
	currentChar->SetActorRotation(targetRotation);
	currentFacing = targetRotation.Vector();
}

.h file

#include "GameFramework/Character.h"
#include "RPGTestCharacter.generated.h"

UCLASS(Blueprintable)
class ARPGTestCharacter : public ACharacter
{
	GENERATED_BODY()



protected:
	virtual void SetupPlayerInputComponent(UInputComponent* InputComponent) override;
	virtual void MoveUp(float val);
	virtual void MoveRight(float val);

	
	class UCameraComponent* CameraComponent;
	class USpringArmComponent* CameraSpringArm;
	virtual void Tick(float DeltaTime) override;

public:
	ARPGTestCharacter(const FObjectInitializer& ObjectInitializer);
	void GetLifetimeReplicatedProps(TArray<FLifetimeProperty>& OutLifetimeProps) const;
	void TurnToMouse();

	UPROPERTY(Replicated)
	FRotator targetRotation;

	UPROPERTY(Replicated)
	FVector currentFacing;

	ACharacter *currentChar;

	inline class UCameraComponent* GetCameraComponent() const { return CameraComponent; }
	inline class USpringArmComponent* GetCameraSpringArm() const { return CameraSpringArm; }
};

UnrealNetwork.h is included in the game’s main file.
Bonus question: is it even good to have a function this big in the tick function and replicate it every tick?

Thanks for your time and help

Edited main post for latest update

2

The problem is that you’re turning the character on the dedicated server. If you are playing a networked game from PIE your main window is the server and its also a client. And the second window is only a client.
Try Checking the Run Dedicated Server then both of your windows become client and the server runs in the background.

Bonus question: is it even good to have a function this big in the tick function and replicate it every tick?

No. You should use the built in variable and actor replication system to replicate these things.

Function replication in a tick function generates big network usage.

But tell me if i am wrong! :slight_smile:

3

It looks like yes.

4

So what I have to do now is just calculate the turn on the client and replicate the result?

5

I’ll try it when I get home and mark this as an answer if it works!
Maybe I’ll have to ask a few more questions though, haha.
Thanks for your help mate!

Edited main post

6

I got exactly what I wanted:
Here’s my final code
.cpp

void ARPGTestCharacter::Tick(float DeltaTime)
{
	Super::Tick(DeltaTime);

	if (Controller && Controller->IsLocalController())
	{
		TurnToMouse();
	}
}

void ARPGTestCharacter::TurnToMouse()
{
	FHitResult mouseHitLocation = FHitResult();
	bool bMouseHitResult = GetWorld()->GetFirstPlayerController()->GetHitResultUnderCursor(ECC_Visibility, true, mouseHitLocation);
	currentChar = this;
	if (bMouseHitResult)
	{
		FVector_NetQuantize MouseHitLocNet = FVector_NetQuantize();
		MouseHitLocNet = mouseHitLocation.ImpactPoint;

		FVector characterLocation = currentChar->GetActorLocation();

		FVector targetVector = (MouseHitLocNet - characterLocation);
		targetVector.Normalize();

		targetRotation = FRotator(0.f, targetVector.Rotation().Yaw, 0.f);

		GetWorld()->GetFirstPlayerController()->SetControlRotation(targetRotation);
	}

}

There’s actually no manual replication used at all.
I found this thread and used SetControlRotation instead of SetActorRotation and it worked just fine.