[Twitch] UE4 programming discussion - June 12, 2014

[Demolition_Man]

Hi,
I have a question for the group. Just exactly what is a and when would I use that instead of code or say a blueprint? Also, are there any good tutorials available on the making of plugins?

[HypnoticShark]

What resources do you recommend for learning to write shaders? I know how to write basic shaders but what resources would you recommend for some advanced learning? Also, where do I begin if I wanted to create my own hlsl material expression nodes for the material editor?

[anonymous_user_5b3411a8]

@HypnoticShark;72796

Also, where do I begin if I wanted to create my own hlsl material expression nodes for the material editor?

Look at the UMaterialExpression class. You can see all the other Material expressions for learning under Source\Runtime\Engine\Classes\Materials

[anonymous_user_f54268a3]

[Question]

Please do a mini lecture on the use use of and proper way to include header files.

What is the UE4 way to include header files?

Also, please explain the generated.h file and how it works.

Thank you

[NanoMind]

Any advice or best practices on handeling large amounts of objects (10.000 or more / in large worlds)
(communicating with them, updating, looping trough them, etc…)

Since I’m new to a 3D game-engine:
What is smart to do on making objects visible or not regarding performance;
is this something that is working out of the box …like some sort of “visibility box” (all object outside it will not render; but will still act on events)

Thanks again for a great product!
(I love (learning) to work with it)

[Marc_Audy]

@zoombapup;70208

2. Can you talk to us about the component organisation? It seems coming from another engine (ahem), that you have kind of half-done the “composition” thing. You have components for a large part of the functionality, but then opt for a single monolithic “blueprint” script to control it, rather than have the scripts simply another part of the collection of components that composes the object. Why is that? Are there any plans to change that?

The intention is to allow the creation of blueprint components which could each have their own script. There are obvious limitations to the assumptions that you can make in that scripting about the presence of other components and how they interact, but I think it gives you more of the compositing behavior that you’re looking for. I can’t provide a specific release that this will be in, but it is a high priority for us.

[Marc_Audy]

@Ad3ViLl;72325

Also in ShooterGame there is a GameKing, which is an experimental gamestate management system. Has there been any progress yet on an In-Engine gamestate management system or should we use GameKing for now ?

The GameInstance work is currently stalled but should be picked back up soon. If you feel that the GameKing solves problems that you’re facing you’re certainly welcome to follow that model, but I don’t think that it is a good representation of what GameInstance is going to look like or how it will interact with the logic flow.

[BrUnO_XaVIeR]

I’d like to know when Steam Achievements will be fully integrated, and also when will we have blueprints for that. (docs included)
Also would be great a guide about Apex and its api.

And C++ casting drives me crazy sometimes, a little discussion about how to properly access different engine types would be welcome.

Oh, and very important… How to let players change input keys for controllers or keyboard/mouse. If I’m right we can only preset input keys on Editor and players can’t remap anything. Would be awesome to know how to change that.

[Regularry]

Opening the Marketplace to 3rd party sellers is not mentioned anywhere in the roadmap. Does that mean that it is so far in the future that it is not even scheduled yet, or is it just an oversight?

There are undoubtedly hundreds of developers interested in developing for UE4 who would benefit from knowing more about the plans and timetable for the Marketplace.

[anon54496231]

any time frame yet for 4.3 bin release and any more news on upcoming marketplace projects other than blackjack, platform game and weapons pack…is there a set plan to release a certain amount of marketplace content each month?

[Ad3ViLl]

@Audy;73416

The GameInstance work is currently stalled but should be picked back up soon. If you feel that the GameKing solves problems that you’re facing you’re certainly welcome to follow that model, but I don’t think that it is a good representation of what GameInstance is going to look like or how it will interact with the logic flow.

Hey . Thanks for the reply. Do you have any kind of time frame or nothing yet ?

[Demolition_Man]

Another Question for you

At this point in time, what is the best method for creating game logic for AI characters? Also, what things are in development to aid in this process for future versions of the engine?

[Marc_Audy]

@Ad3ViLl;73872

Hey . Thanks for the reply. Do you have any kind of time frame or nothing yet ?

I’m allergic to timeframes

But in all seriousness, it is a high priority for us to get done, but it touches a lot of things that are old and sometimes lack someone who knows or remembers why they were done a certain way, so we are being cautious. It had substantial progess made on it, but then had to be paused for a bit due to some more critical priorities, but it is about to started back up. I’d be shocked if it is in 4.3, I’d say that 4.4 is a high likelihood, but as always these things can change.

[Marc_Audy]

@BrUnO XaVIeR;73433

Oh, and very important… How to let players change input keys for controllers or keyboard/mouse. If I’m right we can only preset input keys on Editor and players can’t remap anything. Would be awesome to know how to change that.

I posted some details about how one might go about doing this awhile ago here: Input Action And Axis Mappings - Announcements - Epic Developer Community Forums

I don’t currently have plans to provide any built in system for key remapping as I feel it is very much a UI problem more than the function calls and each game will want to do things differently. I like to imagine that we’ll eventually see community plugins with some kind of standard menu set that might include key remapping.

[Demolition_Man]

Guys,
I have an idea for a feature that could be added into the editor. Is it possible to add shared collections of assets like we had in UDK? If so, this could be used to solve the problem of having common elements (i.e. Props, Blueprints & Materials) between projects. In UDK, you just had a text file that simply had a pointer to a directory where the item was stored. In theory when you switch from one project to the next you just load the collection configuration file into the new project. What do you think?

[Demolition_Man]

@Audy;74164

I’m allergic to timeframes

But in all seriousness, it is a high priority for us to get done, but it touches a lot of things that are old and sometimes lack someone who knows or remembers why they were done a certain way, so we are being cautious. It had substantial progess made on it, but then had to be paused for a bit due to some more critical priorities, but it is about to started back up. I’d be shocked if it is in 4.3, I’d say that 4.4 is a high likelihood, but as always these things can change.

Hey ,
I’m allergic to time frames too. Just saying

[Ad3ViLl]

@Audy;74164

I’m allergic to timeframes

But in all seriousness, it is a high priority for us to get done, but it touches a lot of things that are old and sometimes lack someone who knows or remembers why they were done a certain way, so we are being cautious. It had substantial progess made on it, but then had to be paused for a bit due to some more critical priorities, but it is about to started back up. I’d be shocked if it is in 4.3, I’d say that 4.4 is a high likelihood, but as always these things can change.

That makes 2 of us Thanks for the reply and the honesty.

[anonymous_user_b16017bb]

Multiplayer question: Is it somehow possible to join the same server from different plattform ?

[Ad3ViLl]

Hey Guys. Thanks for the show and answering all the questions. Really appreciate it.

[gmpreussner]

We forgot the link to the Plugins documentation. Here it is: Plugins in Unreal Engine | Unreal Engine 5.2 Documentation

For completeness, here are the other links as well:

Intro C++ in UE4
.unrealengine.com/blog/ue4-intro-crash-course-programmers

Understanding MyClass.generated.h files
.unrealengine.com/blog/unreal-property-system-reflection

Networking Basics
.unrealengine.com/blog/blueprint-networking-tutorials
.unrealengine.com/blog/crash-course-in-blueprints-replication
.unrealengine.com/blog/network-tips-and-tricks

New Blueprint Networking Tutorial Videos Posted

Programming
https://docs.unrealengine.com/latest/INT/Programming/index.html

And some other useful links:

Objects/Actors/Framework: Programming in the Unreal Engine Architecture | Unreal Engine 5.2 Documentation
Quick Start: Unreal Engine CPP Quick Start | Unreal Engine 5.2 Documentation
Replication: https://docs.unrealengine.com/latest/INT/Programming/Gameplay/Framework/Networking/Replication/index.html

These will also be linked in the YouTube version. Thanks for watching!