Unreal 3 Editor Experience Question

Tools Unreal
#1

Hello,

I’m a new poster here at tech-artists.org.  I’m only recently entering into more serious real-time art development and implementation (primarily characters, fx work, and real-time shader writing) and I had a couple of questions regarding the Unreal 3 Editor (specifically what comes available with Unreal Tournament 3 or Gears of War PC).

First, I’m aware of some of the features provided with Unreal 3’s tools such as Matinee, however, I was wondering if anyone knew if it is possible to develop in-engine cut scenes that are scripted, but maintain interactivity.  That is, is it possible within the Unreal 3 Editor to develop an extensive animation sequence but still keep the player and the player’s camera in control of the entire event as it plays out?

On that same note, I’m aware that the Editor limits users from accessing any source code (as it is not an official Unreal license) but I’m curious as to what type of projects people have been able to complete within the editor and how far away from the Unreal Tournament 3 and Gears of War structures one would be able to get away from for educational purposes?  In short, I guess I’m asking what the extensibility of UnrealKismet and UnrealScript are within the engine in terms of making something other than a first or third-person gun wielding shoot-em-up?

I know this comes off as fairly rudimentary but I am very new to Unreal and am planning on beginning a project in one of a few engines.  While this is my first choice due to resources, popularity, and accessibility to the node based systems, I need to be sure that the engine (or what is available of it in the editor) fits the needs of my project.

All feedback is greatly appreciated.
#2

I think Epic’s forums would be a little bit better place to get info on the Unreal tech than here, but to answer your questions -

Yes, you can retain interactivity while using Matinee.
I have no idea what you mean by the editor limiting access to source code. You get access to most of the game code, just not the engine code.
Unreal is very flexible even without engine level code access. You could make an RPG, flight similutor, or even a fighting game. (with some limitations and difficulties)

You should really look at http://udn.epicgames.com/Main/WebHome.html. All of your questions and more will be answered by looking at that site. Also look at the video tutorials on http://www.3dbuzz.com/vbforum/sv_home.php.

#3

Thanks for the timely feedback, Adrian. I suppose I had some misconceptions regarding the flexibility. This is good news for my project and I’ll check out the links you provided. Thanks again -much appreciated!

#4

[QUOTE=davidmlally;2683]Hello,

I’m a new poster here at tech-artists.org.  I’m only recently entering into more serious real-time art development and implementation (primarily characters, fx work, and real-time shader writing) and I had a couple of questions regarding the Unreal 3 Editor (specifically what comes available with Unreal Tournament 3 or Gears of War PC).

First, I’m aware of some of the features provided with Unreal 3’s tools such as Matinee, however, I was wondering if anyone knew if it is possible to develop in-engine cut scenes that are scripted, but maintain interactivity.  That is, is it possible within the Unreal 3 Editor to develop an extensive animation sequence but still keep the player and the player’s camera in control of the entire event as it plays out?

On that same note, I’m aware that the Editor limits users from accessing any source code (as it is not an official Unreal license) but I’m curious as to what type of projects people have been able to complete within the editor and how far away from the Unreal Tournament 3 and Gears of War structures one would be able to get away from for educational purposes?  In short, I guess I’m asking what the extensibility of UnrealKismet and UnrealScript are within the engine in terms of making something other than a first or third-person gun wielding shoot-em-up?

I know this comes off as fairly rudimentary but I am very new to Unreal and am planning on beginning a project in one of a few engines.  While this is my first choice due to resources, popularity, and accessibility to the node based systems, I need to be sure that the engine (or what is available of it in the editor) fits the needs of my project.

All feedback is greatly appreciated.[/QUOTE]

I will just add my 2 cents here…The only limitation of using unreal is your imagination and time. Unreal can do whatever it is you want to do from a kids game to a training simulator to a bloody third person shooter,it can do it all.

The only thing you can not do is make code changes to the engine code but you can script pretty much anything you want to happen. Also you can add custom nodes to kismet via U-Script that interact with matinee allowing the player to still be a part of the cut scene. Really you can make just about anything you want with your only limitation being time and the talent of your team.

#5

One thing I found hard to do in UT3 for example was to setup a kismet sequence that involved scripting the bots to behave a certain way.

I had a CTF map where the flags were protected by a shield, no matter how I scripted the bots, they didn’t understand that there was an objective to do before the could capture the flag. so for testing purposes with bots my test map failed, but for human players it worked correctly.

since I didn’t know how to code unreal script to maybe modify the code or add to it, it was hard to troubleshoot potential problems in the test map.

#6

[QUOTE=Gizmosan;2865]One thing I found hard to do in UT3 for example was to setup a kismet sequence that involved scripting the bots to behave a certain way.

I had a CTF map where the flags were protected by a shield, no matter how I scripted the bots, they didn’t understand that there was an objective to do before the could capture the flag. so for testing purposes with bots my test map failed, but for human players it worked correctly.

since I didn’t know how to code unreal script to maybe modify the code or add to it, it was hard to troubleshoot potential problems in the test map.[/QUOTE]

Okay do you have the following in your map.

1: Path nodes
2: Are you building your paths when testing?
3: Do you have CTF at the beginning of your map?
4: What type of special path nodes if any are you using?

Answer those questions and I am sure we can figure out whats wrong with your bots not obeying your every command.