[Twitch] UT Update and AI Discussion - May 15, 2014

[fluidmint]

Please Sticky this post and future posts every week.

[anonymous_user_5057acc3]

@Taleweaver;40018

Movement: floaty UT2kx-style or grounded UT(3) style?
(I can think of a million other questions, but this one is the one we need an answer for before one half of this community kills the other half ).

Let’s rephrase that to something less offensive:

How do you feel about the differences in core mechanics between the games and does the team have a unified vision of how to move forward from here?

And also something that I think is very important:

Are you worried that large amounts of content that cannot be automatically downloaded when you join a server (meaning paid content) will end up fragmenting the community and end up hurting the entire playerbase?

[crowl]

May 15 Twitch: UT Update and AI Discussion – Live from Epic HQ

Hi everyone, tomorrow at 2pm ET we’re looking forward to sharing an update on the new Unreal Tournament collaboration with the UE4 development community. After a short break, senior programmers Broder and Mieszko Zielinski will lead a discussion on artificial intelligence and the team’s current focus on AI-related features. As always, there will be news updates, community spotlights and live Q&A.

What: UT Update and AI Discussion
When: Thursday, May 15, 2 p.m. EDT countdown clock]
Where: Twitch.tv/UnrealEngine

=====
AGENDA

Unreal Tournament update (2-2:20pm)
o UT community first week snapshot
o Current discussions and progress
o Topics of interest

Break (2:20-2:25pm)

News and 4.2 Preview (2:25-2:40pm)

Community spotlight (2:40-3pm)

AI discussion + demo (3-3:15, maybe longer!)

Live Q&A (3:15-3:30pm)

You know what to do next - ask your questions below!

[anonymous_user_e281dc471]

When will be available SpeedTree for Unreal Engine?

[anonymous_user_923c79df]

@;45621

When will be available SpeedTree for Unreal Engine?

I think it’s better to ask this question in the official speedtree thread, because you will get a answer directly from the speedtree staff :): https://forums.unrealengine/showthread.php?1173-Official-word-on-SpeedTree-for-UE4-subscribers&highlight=speedtree

@crowl;45603

When: Thursday, May 15, 2 p.m. EDT countdown clock]

pretty useful, now I don’t have to calculate the time difference, when the stream starts, anymore

[anonymous_user_8f26659d]

Regarding UT:

Q: We’ve seen the likes of Kevin Ripel, Michiel van den Bos and Alexander Brandon voicing their interest in returning to compose music for the new UT game. Are there any other members of past Unreal series’ development teams that Epic are interested in getting on board for the project? If so, would they actively make an attempt to contact them, or could that be left down to the community? (The same way that the 3 previous composers were contacted)

[Danielito]

UT:

Could you point out a rough timeline of the first development steps?

[gregdumb]

AI Question:

Are there any plans to implement some sort of (maybe dynamic?) cover system for AI? Cover-finding algorithms have always baffled me

[anonymous_user_1eba302f]

for the UT development team: Would be interested in hearing if you’d make any core movement developments, thanks

[anonymous_user_2117bcb3]

Yes please tell if you are going to hire one or both of the soundtrack composers of the other unreal tournament games or contact them.

[Xodroc]

I’m hoping there will be some discussion of non-combat AI. Perhaps RTS harvesting AI or Sims style goal/needs based AI, that search for more than a player to attack.

More advanced combat AI that has more self preservation as well as ambushing/hiding/cover. AI that considers not engaging at all if it is out numbered/out geared or doesn’t have many allies nearby or uses flanking tactics with with allies(FEAR anyone?).
The usage of “smart objects” with AI, such as a table that can be tipped over to use as cover. Things of that nature.

[Daniel_Broder]

FYI – I’ve begun a hub thread for posting first-pass Behavior Tree Documentation.

Right now a lot of the documentation is lacking screenshots and examples, but I’ll keep fleshing it out as well and making it easier to understand. We’re also working on samples right now (Mieszko just made the first one). Then video tutorials will follow as well (a bit further down the road).

Please let me know if there’s anything confusing in the documentation or what questions you most need answered so I can add it to the documentation as I work on it.

[hard_code]

AI/Navmesh Question:

How can I restrict where certain characters can go in a navmesh?

Related answerhub question here:

https://answers.unrealengine/questions/35053/navmesh-areas-for-certain-characters.html

[Daniel_Broder]

@gregdumb;45711

AI Question:

Are there any plans to implement some sort of (maybe dynamic?) cover system for AI? Cover-finding algorithms have always baffled me

Yes and no… at the moment we don’t intend to implement a specific cover system. There’s a lot of specific details dependent on the game itself as to what constitutes cover and what does not.

That said, we are working on another system that can be used to help AI solve a lot of environment-related queries (such as finding the best cover). It’s not ready for use yet, but we plan for it to be in the “experimental” section by the time Behavior Trees are officially NOT experimental (within the next few releases).
We’ll talk about it during the Twitch stream.

[anonymous_user_8f0def54]

UT
a) Do you guys consider to make a separate Unreal Editor or not?
b) Who is the target of the game?

Thanks

[gregdumb]

@Broder;45791

Yes and no… at the moment we don’t intend to implement a specific cover system. There’s a lot of specific details dependent on the game itself as to what constitutes cover and what does not.

That said, we are working on another system that can be used to help AI solve a lot of environment-related queries (such as finding the best cover). It’s not ready for use yet, but we plan for it to be in the “experimental” section by the time Behavior Trees are officially NOT experimental (within the next few releases).
We’ll talk about it during the Twitch stream.

Ooh, my question got answered early

I totally understand what you mean by “game-specific”, but it looks like you’re already getting it all figured out. I eagerly await the stream for more information

[anonymous_user_e7c22c13]

AI Question:

Do you plan to add perceptual system, the AI in Unreal?
Thus the agent would have sensors (eg visual detection, sound detection) that would detect certain behaviors.

Example of this type of system can provide:

When equipped, the Agent gains the ability to understand or notice something easily like footsteps as they approach, the first drops of rain during a storm, or when a friend is injured and needs help.

[Brainshack]

Regarding AI:

Are there any Plany to include any form of local avoidance an/or steering behaviours like flocking etc.?

[SwiftIllusion]

I’d really appreciate knowing if it’s safe yet to start using Behavior Trees, or if it will be in 4.2, or if we should wait until it exits the experimental tab as I recall them discussing how much potential features still in the experimental tab could be broken.

Also, awesome to see documentation for the behavior tree being developed already, hopefully this will further increase the usability of UE4 and its capable game designs :).

[Mr_SquarePeg]

Questions regarding The UE3/UDK Crowd System
#1 - Will the Crowd System from Unreal Engine 3 / UDK be making a comeback for Unreal Engine 4? Or is there a better crowd system in the works?
#2 - Are there plans to include any form of flocking or local Avoidance with the crowd system? Providing that it makes a come back.
#3 - If there are no plans to include a crowd system in UE4 would it be possible to open source the UE3 Crowd System for us to use in Unreal 4?

Paper 2D Questions
#1 When Will Paper 2D receive an Update?
#2 What can we expect from the next version of Paper 2D?

Marketplace Questions
#1 When Will the marketplace launch?
#2 What will be epic games “cut” from the Marketplace for each purchase?

Modding Tools Questions
#1 I currently want to have users modify and extend my game. I know that epic has provided a Unreal Editor with past unreal engine games. I want a mod toolkit bundled with my game. Would this be possible?

Thank you for your time,

Ben