Where did the Actor Classes Go?

Community Community & Industry Discussion
1

Maybe this is an obvious question, but in UDK we could go to the Actor Classes in the Browser, and find things like audio, or physics tools like hinges etc. Lots of good stuff, or alternately you could use the drop down menu by right clicking.

However I want to access those tools that were once there and in UE4, there are scarcely any tools. So if I want to use something from Physics, I have to exit my game, copy something from the content samples and then paste it into my game. Its not exactly the streamlined pipeline I was hoping for.

Can anyone tell me what I’m missing? Where have the many Actor Classes gone to? The software feels incomplete… where are ladder volumes? Where are portals? Jump pads? Physics? Navigation tools? Pickups? Etc…etc.

it seems like such an obviously big hole in the software I’m going to check again that it’s all missing… nope, it’s still all missing. What am I missing?

Daev

2

A lot of those were UT things, and aren’t necessary for UE4. As for functionality, a lot of things are done now by Blueprints.

3

thanks for your response, but you’re saying that making a simple hinge joint is something that we need to blueprint and this is somehow easier? Many of those UT things were easy to implement, there was a full library which is one of the things I liked about UDK, now the tools have slimmed down considerably.

4

I think Epic said they wanted to move away from the idea of UE being a fps engine. This means that you can do more and different things than with UDK, but you will have to do everything yourself (unless it’s any of the basic stuff in the example games).
As for blueprints, you don’t need to do anything in it, you can do everything in c++ if you want to, some people just find blueprints easier to use. I think most of the classes that you are missing are very specific, and shouldn’t be too hard to recreate in UE4 (jump pads have already been added to the UT project created by a (non-epic) developer).

5

honestly i’m looking for more basic things, like hinges and ladders. I had a real nice hinge setup in UDK, interactive doors that could be easily opened and closed using physics, and just trying to rebuild them, however, I feel that it’s a mistake for Unreal to lose all those Actor classes.

I know the setup is different now, but having to create blue prints for things like ladders (which I’ve done) makes it less intuitive to use as software and throws out a simple but valuable tool. This is one of the reasons I left Unity, there were simply not enough things at the base level you could plug in, so you could work on your game and as an Indie developer.

Part of the draw to UDK is to engage in the process of creating a game with fewer roadblocks to creativity. Making blue prints for these things is not a creative endeavor for me and probably others like me, so I’m feeling somewhat disappointed that a whole bunch of tools has gone away.

6

Blueprints are actually made specifically for people like you–where you don’t have to know programming to be able to create gameplay, it’s setup in a format that is much easier to understand.

7

In ‘Place’ mode you can select ‘All Classes’ and find a lot of things you are looking for!

Stuff like audio (only 1 class needed now!), physics constraints (all the same classes from UDK) etc. Navigation is handled using volumes now, should be much better to set up than UE3. Things like jump pads and ladders are things that are too ‘game specific’, and its much better to make them easy to build yourself and customize to your needs, than try and build one version that will work for everyone!

8

I don’t object to the new Blueprints system, the system is robust and superior kismet. I’m simply saying there were tools that made dummying up gameplay quickly much better. For instance the ladder, portal, and physics class objects like hinges. I honestly don’t even know where to find the hinges if you don’t grab them from the example content game, and I’m not sure how that is supposed to be clear to people.

I’m suggesting that there are some valuable things missing, not commenting overall that I don’t like the new layout. I like the Modes, and how it is populated with the various tools, it’s more intuitive.

The navmesh tools are much simpler to use, so far they are instantaneous calculations which is amazing.

I’m still going to advocate for having the physics tools in the modes… hinges and that sort, unless they are simply hiding somewhere else, if they are, they are truly hidden. I don’t think that it’s good to hide amazing tools.

Now on the other hand there were these other tools, like ladder volume, which again worked really well and were so valuable to quickly setting up a level. In fact the reason I switched to Unreal again, is that in using the various volumes I felt you could very easily start testing a game, and focus on creative gameplay and assets.

Not to say that my knowledge of Blueprints has gone very far lately. Admittedly, since deciding to port my games to UE4, i have had scant time to learn where everything is. I’m one of those artists who likes to poke at every corner of the software though and find out where all the furniture is moved, and I feel that as awesome as the new setup is, and well worth the wait, there are a few minor things that are missing. I can work around them.

I"ll tell you one last thing, I’ve worked in VFX industry for many years before switching to games and working out of my own studio following my own creative endeavors. One of the things I was responsible for in my career was pipeline, making tools that would make the work of artists more intuitive and streamlined. Overall UE4 is far more streamlined, but I"m just trying to say these are some of the streamlined things that bug my sense of order and use of time. The ratio should be more creative, less re-inventing something (like ladders) that were already working perfectly. I’m offering my feedback for what it’s worth.

9

Hey! For Physics Constraints, this should be of use to you: Physics in Unreal Engine | Unreal Engine 5.1 Documentation. Good Luck! :slight_smile:

10

this sounds very reasonable to me

12

I don’t these things are just for FPS, I actually don’t even know if I said I was creating FPS. I said that the tools that were in UDK previously, made experimenting with gameplay easier, and was one reason I switched from Unity, where those things were non-existent. So whether I was testing a side scroll game, or a third person, or a top down, or an FPS, those tools are still valid tools that were previously part of volumes and other tools could easily be found in Actor Classes, that would be used across many games.

13

that’s it! thank you !