I am working on a space simulation game and wish to have a movement indication in the same vein as Independence War 2: Edge of Chaos. A video is worth more than a thousand words: Let's Play: Independence War 2 - Part 1 - YouTube
Note the lines on the HUD moving in the direction your ship is moving (not necessarily facing). I was thinking a particle system would be suited to this, but how would I keep it stuck on the screen, and how would I emit the particles in the right direction? If perhaps I need to take a completely other direction, please let me know!
If you look closely the HUD in the video never moves in relation to the screen: it is fixed. The only thing that changes is the camera orientation and the spaceship orientation.
What I would suggest is designing a similar HUD using UMG (there is a sample project in the Learn tab in the UE4 Launcher that uses the UMG HUD and you can find several UMG HUD tutorials around the web). Check out the Youtube Unreal Engine tutrial series too: UMG UI UE4 Turorial
In order for the spaceship to slowly rotate to where the camera is facing i would use rotation interpolation (search for Interp in the blueprints).
I think you should be able to figure out the rest Let me know if this helped!
Hi Lazarus, thanks for your swift reply! Just to clarify, at this point in time I am not concerned with all of the HUD components, merely the lines you see drawn in space that change as the player changes the ships direction. When he is moving forward, the lines are drawn toward him, when he flies sideways, the lines pass by from right to left. It is this effect specifically I am trying to create. Is that possible using UMG as well, or should I be looking at some other option? Thanks!
In this case: yes, particles are definitely what i would try! I am no expert so i suggest reading through the documentation: Particle System User Guide
Let me know if this helped!