Thank you very much. Now, audio files aren’t such a big problem. About 50 files can be converted anywhere. I meant all my big Unity asset folder that contains not only the MP3 sounds. I just investigate what can be imported or what can’t and what to do to perform this task fast and painlessly.
Because the situation is specific. I made the Demo of my 3D application in Unity 3D and now I wish to make the Main Application in UE4. That’s why, I would like to use the same assets because the Main Application will be similar to the Demo. I changed the engine because the Demo showed me all drawbacks in Unity. I need something stronger for the Main Application. UE4 seems the best solution to realize the project.
Very good! It’s really useful. Thank you very much! However there’s a bug in that probably because I can’t close the Widget Reflector window and when the window is docked somewhere the “Application Scale” slider left or right doesn’t move.
Just wanted to say thanks for the excellent suggestions. I entered a few tasks into our database for some of these, but most of the requests were already on the roadmap. I especially liked the idea of dragging actors from World Outliner into the Content Browser to easily create a Blueprint from them.
The screen real-estate thing is interesting. We designed UE4’s interface to be forward looking for high resolution displays, but it could definitely be a bit more compact, optionally if nothing else. We do discuss this all the time, but there is a lot of UI to update now. There is a “small icons” option in the Preferences, and as you discovered we have an “application scaling” feature. The application scaling feature is not officially supported yet because certain UIs will break, but in the future it might become more prominent.
To the op: I just wanted to sat that some of your tips seem really good, and I hope they get incorporated into UE4. I also have to say that it’s very refreshing to see suggestions like this instead of the usual fanboyism, where both sides go into defensive mode and just defend their engine of choice. Your way is so much better. Thanks =)
You’re welcome! My idea was to help improve the UE4 to attract more developers, especially from Unity 3D. Your software is really great and I will be using it for my projects because there are all what I need. I don’t want to come back to Unity because this engine isn’t good for big projects. It’s bad that there are many features in UE4 that I haven’t learned yet.
The most important thing for me is C++. I know you have the very good Blueprint System, but I need learn C++ for my future project. Most C++ tutorials are obsolete. It’s really important that as soon as changes in coding are introduced with a new version of UE4, there should be one document (in pdf for example) describing all the changes and all what is needed to start coding; step by step and understandable for all who have some experience with coding. I know it is written somewhere in your big documentation and a part is posted on the forum. However, I think it would be great to have a downloadable pdf that all is described in short; and with that all every person with some coding experience will be able to start coding.
I have an experience with C++ and long one with other languages but I was completely lost how to start learning programming in C++ with Unreal. And many people are simple lost like me. I have spent a lot of time in seeking up to date C++ stuff to learn. Now, I know much more and I’m able to write my own classes.
Again, we should look at Unity 3D. They have the file templates that haven’t changed for a very long time. The Unity Developers changing the versions of Unity and they still have the same file templates, but the API of Unity is changing. It’s a very friendly way because even old tutorials can be still useful for beginners.
In general, it’s important not to forget about C++, even if you have so great the Blueprint System. I think the Unity Developers are accustomed to coding, so they would rather to use C++ than the Blueprint System. For me, for example, I started with C++, not with the Blueprints because C++ is similar to C# (and I have an experience with C++) and I thought I would learn how to use it quickly. No, I was forced to taste the Blueprints first to learn how to work with UE4. The Blueprints System is really good for artists and people who don’t like coding, but most of Game Developers are just coders and they are forced to use the Blueprints because they are unable to learn C++ in Unreal quickly.
Regarding the making blueprints with dragging and dropping actors, this system is in Unity and is really very useful. It’s one of best features of Unity. We are dragging objects all the time in Unity making prefabs in a quick way, so it’s fully accepted by the Unity Developers. And they will see something like that in UE4. It should be an option, but in reality can be useful for all. So it’s really good, the Epic Staff take into consideration.
As to the GUI of UE4, the Laptop Mode would be a very good feature too, because laptops will be more and more popular. Not all are true and professional Unreal Developers with a PC and a few monitors. In general, UE4 should be friendly for laptop users too or for people who have a PC with a smaller monitor. In general, however, making more space for the Viewport would be great for all. There are some graphics elements that aren’t used for real work, so they can be reduced.
I’m glad I was able to help you improve the UE4. It’s a really great software, but some things should done to make it more easy, universal and available for more people. Unity 3D is so popular because even kids can start making something in this engine. Unity is really easy to learn and is intuitive.
Thank you for sharing my thoughts. It’s all for making UE4 better for all of us. I think the features can be useful not only for the Unity Developers, but for the Unreal Developers too.
Half true
It can sound good. If we are talking about a single sound file, say a song, converted from CD audio to MP3. With the right settings, we get a nice compression and are still able to maintain a quality that is high enough to preserve dolby sourround information in a stereo file. But then the file is played “as is”. No tweaking, no mixing.
So if we take a background song as MP3 on its own, it may sound good. Some wind/footstep samples in MP3; sound good too.
Now when they all get pitched, stretched and then mixed together in the audio cue network, and then in the game together with zillions of other sound actors, then artefacts are much more pronounced than with uncompressed WAV material as input.
That is the reason why some of the better DAW solutions like ProTools|HDX use 48bit sample resolution (@48 kHz).
What would be much more intersting than new additional file formats: Using VST effect plugins
Thank you for taking my ideas into your consideration. I will be useful for most of us I think. All UE4 users and developers wish to make UE4 the best game engine in the world. By the way, it’s best for me now and I don’t want to replace it with other software.
However, working with UE4 I think that maybe it would be good to have a button (in the toolbar for example) to compile and save all opened blueprints (that have been edited). For example, I am making a game and I’m editing a few blueprints at the same time: a Level Blueprint, a HUD blueprint and a Game Mode blueprint. I’m forced to go to each of these editors to compile and save my work. Sometimes, there are errors because I forgot to compile one blueprint because I have five blueprint opened. With such a global button for compiling and saving, it would need only one click and our work would be compiled and saved. What do you think about that? Maybe, there’s such a button, only I don’t know.
With default settings all your blueprints get compiled once you hit the play button. You can change this behavior in the Editor Preferences or somewhere else…
Well, I also sometimes expierience it that construction script changes are not reflected in the editor unless I go into the BP instance and hit compile…
Thank you for your advice. I have found it: Editor Preferences -> Level Editor -> Play -> Auto Recompile Blueprints. It is checked by default, but i’m not sure if my blueprints are recompiled and saved in reality. I must test it.
Not sure if mentioned but there is a bug with scaling the widget reflector. If you scale it down then the minimize, maximize and close buttons top right does not work in windows 7
In fact the transform gizmos for scaling rotating and moving doesnt work well either if you use the widget reflector scaling option
EDIT: Nevermind. The bug report was submitted last year July.
Exactly! Somebody should redesign the Editor UI. We need more work space in the viewport. And in general I think the buttons in the viewport should be on the Toolbar and by default all the icons should be smaller.
I think with a simple moving around of some of the components it makes it easier to work with.
This is similar to what I use, and the small icons option was great! So ive made some other changes now too
Something like this layout would be great to see as default…
There is a “small icons” option in the Preferences, and as you discovered we have an “application scaling” feature. The application scaling feature is not officially supported yet because certain UIs will break, but in the future it might become more prominent.