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Sonic Engine (Unreal Engine 4)

Discussion in 'Fangaming Discussion' started by Codr, Jan 6, 2017.

If a build of the engine with some levels was released, would you download and play test it?

  1. I would!

    11 vote(s)
    68.8%
  2. Maybe...

    3 vote(s)
    18.8%
  3. No way!

    2 vote(s)
    12.5%
  1. Codr

    Codr

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    Huge secret ;)
    History of the Project:
    Hey guys, this is my latest project, I haven't named it yet but I've been working on this engine for the past year on and off. The engine runs on Unreal Engine 4 and uses only blueprints, I have not written any C++ code. It all started when I downloaded Unreal Engine 4 and saw the potential the engine had. I started researching on how to implement 360 degree movement using blueprints, however everywhere I looked everyone said that such a mode of movement would be impossible to implement with blueprints only. Long story short I needed to know C++ to make a Sonic Engine in UE4. I chose to peruse this topic further and built a prototype that featured no 360 degree movement (so loops couldn't be used) but had gimmicks such as springs, dash panels, and boosting. Eventually I hit a dead end with the blueprint scripting and decided to scrap the engine around 2 months in due to complications with the movement.

    Around September, I decided to revisit this idea, now having much more knowledge on how to use Unreal Engine 4, here is how the engine looks now.

    Engine Features
    • Boost Gameplay Style
    • 360 Degree Movement
    • Common Sonic Game Gimmicks (Springs, Dash Panels, Dash Rings, etc.)
    • 2.5D and 3D Gameplay

    Confirmed Levels
    • Green Hill Zone Act 1 & 2 (Generations)
    • Windmill Isle Act 1 (Unleashed)
    • Hydrocity Zone (Remake)
    • Terminal Altitude (Original Level)
    • Rooftop Run (Undecided)
    *(Original Level) - This tag means that the level will not be ported from any other Sonic game and will be an original level.
    *(Remake) - This tag means that the level will include remastered elements (like higher poly models or even a complete level remake from 2D to 3D).

    Major Things Left To Do
    • Fix control rotation so it works like in Unleashed
    • Add QTE
    • Implement grinding (Code is there just needs to be implemented)
    • Better 2D path following
    • Animations
    • Smooth rotation when in air

    The engine is still in a very early stage so I won't be releasing any game play builds in the meantime (maybe in the summer). However I look forward in hearing your thoughts and opinions about the engine //forums.sonicretro.org/public/style_emoticons/default/smile.png/>/>/>/> . Any recommendations? Clearly there are things I don't know how to do however I am trying my best to learn.

    [Engine updates are uploaded more on my Youtube channel.]

    Features:
    • Smooth Air Rotation
    • Fixed Boost
    • Homing Attack
    • Animations :D
    • Bug Fixes
    • Grinding
    Version 0.15:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Xm4m28RN0k
    https://www.youtube....h?v=q9OSydRlMUA

    Old Versions:

    Version 0.1:
    https://youtu.be/3Wc8Mt9Jwls

    Version 0.04:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brQY79IJrxk

    All feedback is greatly appreciated! //forums.sonicretro.org/public/style_emoticons/default/smile.png/>/>/>/>
     
  2. Codr

    Codr

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    Huge secret ;)
    Quick Update: I have decided to migrate the project to CryEngine V, this is due to the fact that it has Global Illumination, this will make the project look way better. Also if that fails and it proves too hard then I guess I will be continuing the Unreal Engine 4 version. CryEngine 5.4 release date will be the time I begin development.
     
  3. Andrew75

    Andrew75

    Technical Artist Member
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    How far did you get in Unreal 4 ?

    Edit:
    Unreal 4 has an alternative like LPV but its got some issues, This thread goes into comparing the Voxel and LPV lightly.

    https://forums.unrealengine.com/showthread.php?106518-The-Future-of-Light-Propagation-Volumes&p=508682&viewfull=1#post508682
     
  4. Amnimator

    Amnimator

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    UE4 has GI, granted it's prebaked. There is a method to do it real time but I hear it's not optimal, ^

    Unity has prebaked global illumination, but it also has a prebaked - realtime hybrid kind of thing. Might want to look into that. If you want people to make content for it, know CryEngine is the least popular of the big 3 (Unity, UE, CE), you'll have an even harder time than UE in terms of user generated content.
    I'd recommend either sticking with UE4 or maybe going with Unity. UE also has native modding support, which is a huge plus for what you're trying to do. As opposed to Unity where you have to do a build of a game for every modification unless you want to implement modding support yourself (which with Unity gets hairy quick). With CryEngine; I doubt implementing mod support is as problematic as Unity, but I also doubt it's as clean and simple for the developers as well as the players. I mean, this is a bit of a tangent, but that's a big deal if you're focusing on letting players distribute their content in an efficient way. See Blitz Sonic vs Sonic GDK in terms of how easy it is to share content you made.
     
  5. winterhell

    winterhell

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    If it was me I'd focus on the gameplay first. You can make hyper realistic graphics on both UE4 and CryEngine
     
  6. Amnimator

    Amnimator

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    ^ Yeah, you can do hyper realistic graphics on pretty much any modern engine available. Heck, you could achieve some really good looking graphics in UDK if you really wanted to. I'm guessing he wants a bit more incentive to do a rewrite and at the same time learn something new. I argue the relevancy of CryEngine, but he's free to do as he pleases. But it's not like CryEngine will suddenly make the game look better, or UE is inhibiting him any. I assume he just wants realtime GI, for the sake of rapid prototyping and making things easier on the content creators.
     
  7. Codr

    Codr

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    Huge secret ;)
    Hey guys! There are plenty of reasons I chose to switch over to CryEngine, first and most major is that with the use of blueprints in Unreal Engine 4, the blueprint for Sonic has gotten so huge and inter dependent on itself that it was difficult maintaining it while adding features (when BPs get big they are a pain to work on), adding one thing could easily break the other. At the state the project is in currently converting it to a modular design would be a complete remake of the whole project. You could say it's my fault for not making the project modular and it is. So I decided to modularize the project, since if it was modular I could activate and deactivate aspects of the player's behavior accordingly, so I began, but gave up midway through because I thought that starting the project from scratch with my previously gained experience would be faster, better, and cleaner. So then I was faced with another dilemma: Go with blueprints again and suffer when they get huge and complex, or use a programming language. The only programming language I know well enough is C#, so I looked for good C# plugins for UE4 and the ones I found weren't that good and seemed like support for them could be dropped any second.


    So I decided to look for other engines that have C# support: Unity and CryEngine. So I have decided to try my hands on CryEngine 5. Please note that CryEngine 5 is completely different from 3, they have a new editor, C# support and an Entity-Component system like UE4 and Unity. Also I always wanted to see how coding a Sonic Game in C# goes so here is my chance. Also note that if I have any difficulties that cannot be surpassed, or if the engine is too difficult after all the updates and simplifications, then I can just continue the UE4 version... I'm not deleting it //forums.sonicretro.org/public/style_emoticons/default/smile.png.

    Anyway here is how some assets I imported into the engine look (the fan, rings and 1-up are C# entities):

    http://imgur.com/rKUQ8Zb

    So 4 more days since CryEngine goes full Unity with it's Entity-Component system (joking), pretty excited to see how this goes.

    I'll start posting updates on Twitter, and also start uploading updates onto Youtube again so everyone can see how it goes.
     
  8. Lobotomy

    Lobotomy

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    Wait, are you saying that you got loop handling to sort of work in UE4 blueprints without succumbing to gimbal lock?


    Fucking how??
     
  9. Codr

    Codr

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    Huge secret ;)
    Yes I did, the loops fully worked, the reason that they appeared buggy was because I changed some code in the way Sonic handles slopes (in order to be like the genesis games where he would accelerate down a hill alone and stuff), I think by the method I used to handle 360 movement. It's been a while since I looked at that part of the blueprint so I may not be correct (don't have access to my computer right now to check, sorry) but I think that I recalculate the rotation each frame instead of using the previous rotational values, I think this is what allows the gimbal lock to be surpassed, as using previous rotational values would mean that at some point, the gimbal lock would occur.

    I plan on using quaternions for the CryEngine version as the 360 movement issue is very simple with those.
     
  10. Amnimator

    Amnimator

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    Typically, you'd stop gimbal lock by going with Quaternions. Gimbal lock is an inherent part of how Euler angles work. I mean, as long as it works, it works; but I wouldn't stick with Euler angles at all for this kind of slope detection. Rotate in more than 1 axis, and gimbal lock is almost ensured. Kind of weird how UE4 requires you to use Quaternions in C++ only, but they have their reasons. I can see why you'd want to use Cry Engine or Unity if you want to work with C#.
    Anyway, wish you luck on the project.
     
  11. GalaxySoftware

    GalaxySoftware

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    Hi !

    I think it's a good idea to port it to CryEngine 5 for some reason ;)
    And this will be the first sonic fangame powered by cryengine
    And if you want too you can check the hedgephysics engine who is coded in C# to help you to recode the sonic physics etc..

    I wish you the best for this project and I hope we will be able to see your new content on your new channel

    Good Luck
     
  12. Codr

    Codr

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    Huge secret ;)
    Thanks everyone!

    Just found out that UE4's BP system only uses euler angles when the user directly edits them, when performing certain operations, such as 'combine rotator', the engine automatically converts the euler angle over to a quaternion, behind the scenes, performs the operation and then converts it back to euler angles. Still not as good as allowing direct access to quaternions but still something to take note of.

    //forums.sonicretro.org/public/style_emoticons/default/smile.png

    Also gimbal lock also occurs only when you increment the rotation, in my project, I never used incremental rotation for slopes, I always recalculated the rotation so this avoided the gimbal lock problem.

    I got pretty far. Also UE4's GI is nothing compared to CryEngine's. Somehow Crytek managed to make the GI in their engine real time, no baking, which amazes me because most if not all engines use pre baked.
     
  13. Amnimator

    Amnimator

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    ^Ah, I see. I'm still apprehensive about using Euler angles for this kind of thing, but that's actually a clever workaround. As you said, not quite as good as using Quaternion functions, but functional. I can see there being issues if you start to add more rotations to the player under different scenarios.
    Also, tip: Unless you want a really bad headache, Quaternions should very rarely be manipulated directly. Instead you should use Quaternion functions like FromTo, or something of the like. Almost certainly UE4 and CryEngine has an equivalent.
     
  14. Azu

    Azu

    I must be stupid. Member
    Good to see you're still working on it. (I hope)
     
  15. Codr

    Codr

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    Huge secret ;)
    Yeah about that... I have an important announcement to make... Since Crytek have decided not to update the C# api for CryEngine (they're not saying when they plan to). I have decided to follow another project. I have decided to create a 2D Sonic Engine (with possible 3D support for special stages) based on Monogame (formerly known as XNA). I can't reveal too many things about the engine since it's still too early. I actually started working on it around August, but my goal is to make it as capable as the Sonic Mania engine in terms of 2D.


    So far the engine has:
    • Level streaming (for those Sonic 3 transitions //forums.sonicretro.org/public/style_emoticons/default/v.png)
    • My take on an entity component system
    • Collision (almost implemented)
    • Tiled support
    What it will hopefully have when complete:
    • Palette cycling support
    • Some other stuff
    Progress is a bit slow because of school but I am developing it in my spare time. I might make a fan game when it's complete but it's too early to be dreaming about that //forums.sonicretro.org/public/style_emoticons/default/specialed.png.
     
  16. lotzi

    lotzi

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    Is there a better coding language to use when creating your own Sonic engine? I know C++ is a more powerful language than C#, but it seems like a powerful engine can be made by either language. What language would you guys use if you were to build your own engine?
     
  17. winterhell

    winterhell

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    Choose the one you are more comfortable with. Both languages can do the same things with the same speed. If a competent person writes it, you'll get the same framerate ingame with either.
     
  18. lotzi

    lotzi

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    If I were to make my own Sonic engine, what are somethings you'd recommend that I need to know before I start writing code?
     
  19. winterhell

    winterhell

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    You need thousands of hours of experience just writing programs and games.
    Also, this is a must. You absolutely cannot jump over it, and you'll only lose time by not doing it, not save:
    You need to write couple of very basic games, and gradually go bigger. Pong, Snake, Tetris, Pacman, then a platformer that spans several screens, Super Mario Bros Level 1-1 is a good place.
    After, and only after you have programmed these games, you'd have the experience to move to something bigger.

    I cant stress enough how important those are. 99% of the people would go 'pfft, Pong, thats stupid'. But an experienced programmer can code it in 15 minutes. If you are that good, would you lose something by giving 15 minutes of your time and doing it anyway?

    This is the best advice I can give you.
     
  20. lotzi

    lotzi

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    Thanks for the advice.

    I already have some experience making a game through school and side projects, so I'm looking to start a bigger project. Sonic's game engine is kool so I wanted to try and build it. Is the "Fangaming Discussion" forum a place where I can ask coding questions?