FMP 2 - Making the characters switch

This week I have been working inside UE4 creating blueprints for the switching character mechanics, some of the work was already done for me by Hazrat as he shown me how to create the character switch at its most basic level, I then worked on refining this and adding flexibility for respawning and an AI follow setup for the two characters.



One issue I had to overcome with the AI though was adding the ability to switch it off in certain areas where it would be annoying for the other character to get in the way, I placed in volumes that can toggle the AI update in order to control the effect, this just made it a bit easier to navigate the puzzles.



Here is a better look at the game mode blueprint I have been working on, here I dealt with the character switching logic as well as the AI update and character spawning.



This taken a good few days to figure out! Sometimes the character would switch incorrectly after hitting the switch key of times and then both pawns would be unprocessed which basically meant that nothing happened. This required a little string of logic to check which character was controlled after a switch happens.



A lot of this current work is quite a bit different from what we usually do on the course so it's taking a bit longer to get right, I am really enjoying spending a bit more time on the blueprinting though, as I've been able to figure out some new things pretty quickly, I have never programmed a game mode before and I don't think I have even scratched the surface of what could else could be done with it. Some other things which have crossed my mind though include a collectables system, more dynamic AI or a save system, all things which would serve better inside a gamemode blueprint where it's easier to manage.

Next time I work on setting things on fire... in game obviously.