Modifying ATriggerSphere radius? - c++

I've created an instance of ATriggerSphere in my game, and placed it at my character's location, like so:
//Create activate trigger radius
activateRadiusTrigger = GetWorld()->SpawnActor<ATriggerSphere>(ATriggerSphere::StaticClass(),GetActorLocation(), GetActorRotation());
activateRadiusTrigger->SetActorHiddenInGame(false);
I need to adjust its radius now. I see that in blueprints there's a parameter under Shape that lets me change the value of "Sphere Radius", but I can't find the C++ equivalent field. Can someone tell me how that's done? Thanks!

If you look up TriggerSphere.h in the engine headers, you can find its public interface there. It looks like ATriggerSphere uses a collision component that you can get using GetCollisionComponent(). I'm going to assume this component is a USphereComponent, and you can call SetSphereRadius on that!
so try:
Cast<USphereComponent>(activateRadiusTrigger->GetCollisionComponent())->SetSphereRadius(NewRadius);

Related

Unreal - How to avoid hardcoded path when creating an object in cpp

The following code has been bothering me for a bit:
ARollingBall::ARollingBall()
{
UStaticMeshComponent* sphere;
sphere = CreateDefaultSubobject<UStaticMeshComponent>(TEXT("ball"));
static ConstructorHelpers::FObjectFinder<UStaticMesh> SphereVisualAsset(TEXT("/Engine/BasicShapes/Sphere"));
sphere->SetupAttachment(RootComponent);
if (SphereVisualAsset.Succeeded()) {
sphere->SetStaticMesh(SphereVisualAsset.Object);
}
}
Namely that I am hard coding a path. What if I decided I wanted to use a different object down the road? Imagine I had multiple pawns all hardcoded to use this asset. In cpp there is no easy way to change all these references. I had the bright idea to expose my mesh choice to blueprints to leverage Unreal's reference handling like so:
UPROPERTY(EditDefaultsOnly, Category = "References")
UStaticMesh * m_staticMesh;
However the following does not create a mesh when I inherit from this class with a blueprint and set the default mesh (m_staticMesh):
ARollingBall::ARollingBall()
{
UStaticMeshComponent* sphere;
sphere = CreateDefaultSubobject<UStaticMeshComponent>(TEXT("ball"));
sphere->SetupAttachment(RootComponent);
if (m_staticMesh) {
sphere->SetStaticMesh(m_staticMesh);
}
}
I'm using Unreal 4.21.2 both methods compile, but the latter fails to work.
Any suggestions on how to make the above function properly are appreciated. If you know of a better way to avoid hardcoding paths please let me know.
Using Static Constructor Helpers is generally not recommended at all.
Composing an Actor of Components and utilizing Unreals Reflection system to expose those Components and their properties to the Editor to be modified in Blueprints is the ideal pattern.
/* Weapon Mesh. */
UPROPERTY(VisibleAnywhere, BlueprintReadOnly, Category = "Weapons")
UStaticMeshComponent* Mesh;
Marking a Component that is created during construction with VisibleAnywhere will cause it to appear in the Component Hierarchy within the Actors Component view after creating a child Blueprint of that Actor.
You will then have access to modifying its properties such as the StaticMesh.
It is useful to know what the valid Property Specifiers are when working with UPROPERTY as well as all the Function and Class Specifiers and their MetaData.
Property Specifiers

Is it possible to inject a component that doesn't have a prefab/GameObject associated with it?

I have a game object (a cube, let's say) which exists in the scene, and I want it to have an injectable component. I want to be able to say, for example: My cube has an IShotFirer member, which can resolve to either a BoomShotFirer or a BangShotFirer MonoBehavior component, both of which implement IShotFirer. When binding happens, I want this component to be added to the cube object.
public class CubeBehavior : MonoBehaviour
{
[Inject]
private IShotFirer shotFirer;
}
Is it possible to do this without 1) needing an existing prefab which contains one of these Bang/Boom components, or 2) needing an existing scene object which has one of these components attached?
In other words, I want to be able to dynamically add the component to my game object depending on the bindings, and not relying on anything other than the script files which define either BoomShotFirer or BangShotFirer. But the docs seem to imply that I need to find an existing game object or prefab (e.g. using .FromComponentsInChildren(), etc.)
Is it possible to do this without 1) needing an existing prefab which
contains one of these Bang/Boom components, or 2) needing an existing
scene object which has one of these components attached?
Yes, it is.
Zenject provides a host of helpers that create a new components and bind them -- quoting the docs:
FromNewComponentOnRoot - Instantiate the given component on the root of the current context. This is most often used with GameObjectContext.
Container.BindInterfacesTo<BoomShotFirer>().FromNewComponentOnRoot();
FromNewComponentOn - Instantiate a new component of the given type on the given game object
Container.BindInterfacesTo<BoomShotFirer>().FromNewComponentOn(someGameObject);
FromNewComponentOnNewGameObject - Create a new game object at the root of the scene and add the Foo MonoBehaviour to it
Container.BindInterfacesTo<BoomShotFirer>().FromNewComponentOnNewGameObject();
For bindings like this one that create new game objects, there are also extra bind methods you can chain:
WithGameObjectName = The name to give the new Game Object associated with this binding.
UnderTransformGroup(string) = The name of the transform group to place the new game object under.
UnderTransform(Transform) = The actual transform to place the new game object under.
UnderTransform(Method) = A method to provide the transform to use.
That list is not even exhaustive, be sure to check the readme and the cheatsheet (from both of which I have extracted the info above).
Also understand that, as usual, you can append .AsSingle(), .AsTransient() and .AsCached() to achieve the desired result.

How do you control a player character in Bullet Physics?

I am not sure how you are supposed to control a player character in Bullet. The methods that I read were to use the provided btKinematicCharacterController. I also saw methods that use btDynamicCharacterController from the demos. However, in the manual it is stated that kinematic controller has several outstanding issues. Is this still the preferred path? If so, are there any tutorials or documentations for this? All I found are snippets of code from the demo, and the usage of controllers with Ogre, which I do not use.
If this is not the path that should be tread, then someone point me to the correct solution. I am new to bullet and would like a straightforward, easy solution. What I currently have is hacked together bits of a btKinematicCharacterController.
This is the code I used to set up the controller:
playerShape = new btCapsuleShape(0.25, 1);
ghostObject= new btPairCachingGhostObject();
ghostObject->setWorldTransform(btTransform(btQuaternion(0,0,0,1),btVector3(0,20,0)));
physics.getWorld()->getPairCache()->setInternalGhostPairCallback(new btGhostPairCallback());
ghostObject->setCollisionShape(playerShape);
ghostObject->setCollisionFlags(btCollisionObject::CF_CHARACTER_OBJECT);
controller = new btKinematicCharacterController(ghostObject,playerShape,0.5);
physics.getWorld()->addCollisionObject(ghostObject,btBroadphaseProxy::CharacterFilter, btBroadphaseProxy::StaticFilter|btBroadphaseProxy::DefaultFilter);
physics.getWorld()->addAction(controller);
This is the code I use to access the controller's position:
trans = controller->getGhostObject()->getWorldTransform();
camPosition.z = trans.getOrigin().z();
camPosition.y = trans.getOrigin().y()+0.5;
camPosition.x = trans.getOrigin().x();
The way I control it is through setWalkDirection() and jump() (if canJump() is true).
The issue right now is that the character spazzes out a little, then drops through the static floor. Clearly this is not intended. Is this due to the lack of a rigid body? How does one integrate that?
Actually, now it just falls as it should, but then slowly sinks through the floor.
I have moved this line to be right after the dynamic world is created
physics.getWorld()->getPairCache()->setInternalGhostPairCallback(new btGhostPairCallback());
It is now this:
broadphase->getOverlappingPairCache()->setInternalGhostPairCallback(new btGhostPairCallback());
I am also using a .bullet file imported from blender, if that is relevant.
The issue was with the bullet file, which has since been fixed(the collision boxes weren't working). However, I still experience jitteryness, unable to step up occasionally, instant step down from to high a height, and other issues.
My answer to this question here tells you what worked well for me and apparently also for the person who asked.
Avoid ground collision with Bullet
The character controller implementations in bullet are very "basic" unfortunately.
To get good character controller, you'll need to invest this much.

Game NPC multi-action lua script design

I need to put scriptable NPC in my currect game project.
The project itself is developed in C++ language.
I will using Luabind to bind lua and c++.
I need to call NPC function when certain NPC clicked or timer to do something is activated.
Currently I stuck between 2 NPC script design.
Using a kind of npcname_action to differentiate every NPC.
This is kind of troublesome to give name to every different NPC.
I'm still thinking how to implement this in my project.
Example:
HotelBellboy12_Click() { .. }
HotelBellboy12_TimerAction() { .. }
Using name of function.
Every npc have it own lua file.
I'm thinking to load script into memory and when needed will be loaded into luaState using luaL_loadbuffer
Example:
OnClick() { .. }
OnTimerAction() { .. }
Which one is better and why?
You could use another design.
Take advantage of the fact that table keys and values can be any type.
Let's say npc is a table containing all NPC's. Its keys are NPC' names and its values are another table. This other table keys are the actions, and its values are the function for this actions.
So, if you want bob to jump when clicked on, and alice to cry after a timer, simply do :
npc.bob.click = function () jump() end
npc.alice.timer = function () cry() end
I've done something like this before and I used something similar to your #2 option. When the map loads I load a configuration Lua file containing all the NPC data; among that is the name of the script file used for the NPC.
When I need to load the NPC in the game I compile the Lua file. NPC's can use a 'model' NPC type to dictate most of the common behavior (for example a Merchant type or a Commoner type) which is specified in the NPC configuration. These model types provide all the basic functionality such as providing a trade window when clicked. The specific NPC's use functions like OnClick() to override their model and provide custom handlers.
This worked pretty well for me, although it ends up being a large volume of scripts if your game gets large.

Draw a multiple lines set with VTK

Can somebody point me in the right direction of how to draw a multiple lines that seem connected? I found vtkLine and its SetPoint1 and SetPoint2 functions. Then I found vtkPolyLine, but there doesn't seem to be any add, insert or set function for this. Same for vtkPolyVertex.
Is there a basic function that allows me to just push some point at the end of its internal data and the simply render it? Or if there's no such function/object, what is the way to go here?
On a related topic: I don't like vtk too much. Is there a visualization toolkit, maybe with limited functionality, that is easier to use?
Thanks in advance
For drawing multiple lines, you should first create a vtkPoints class that contains all the points, and then add in connectivity info for the points you would like connected into lines through either vtkPolyData or vtkUnstructuredGrid (which is your vtkDataSet class; a vtkDataSet class contains vtkPoints as well as the connectivity information for these points). Once your vtkDataSet is constructued, you can take the normal route to render it (mapper->actor->renderer...)
For example:
vtkPoints *pts = vtkPoints::New();
pts->InsertNextPoint(1,1,1);
...
pts->InsertNextPoint(5,5,5);
vtkPolyData *polydata = vtkPolyData::New();
polydata->Allocate();
vtkIdType connectivity[2];
connectivity[0] = 0;
connectivity[1] = 3;
polydata->InsertNextCell(VTK_LINE,2,connectivity); //Connects the first and fourth point we inserted into a line
vtkPolyDataMapper *mapper = vtkPolyDataMapper::New();
mapper->SetInput(polydata);
// And so on, need actor and renderer now
There are plenty of examples on the documentation site for all the classes
Here is vtkPoints : http://www.vtk.org/doc/release/5.4/html/a01250.html
If you click on the vtkPoints (Tests) link, you can see the tests associated with the class. It provides a bunch of different sample code.
Also, the vtk mailing list is probably going to be much more useful than stack overflow.