UE4 Tutorial: Using timeline effects in the HUD blueprint

In this tutorial we will make a HUD capable of displaying messages with some nice effect like changing color and fading out.

The best way to do animations from blueprints is to use timelines. But, as we know, Timeline is a so-called latent node and it has some limitations. For example, it can't be used inside functions and it breaks Event Receive Draw HUD.

In this tutorial I deal with this problem. The basic idea is to have a separate event that hosts the timeline for our visual effect and talks to the Draw HUD event via local variables.

Let's get started.

UDK? UDK...

For the last few weeks I've been studying Unreal Development Kit (UDK). The engine is great, and the editor is relatively simple. However, it has certain drawbacks as well, small things really. But it is funny how small things can get you raging.

Just one of these, for example, is that when you want to make an interactive liquid, it's surface can only be a rectangle (FluidSurfaceActor). This issue is quite popular and been discussed on the support forum. It's not a big deal when you know about it: you just find a way around or design your game considering this limitation. But for the first time it really makes you ask: "Why? It's such a small thing, it shouldn't be like that!".

And there are many other small bits like sluggish material editor with no option to create a material somewhere else, Kismet for everything (I am a programmer, I prefer to type commands not to "draw" them), Ctrl+S to subtract geometry...

If the engine hadn't been awesome in the first place, these small issues woudn't bother much. I think it is in a human nature (or in my own nature?): if something is really cool, I want it to be perfect. And it upsets when it's not like that.

I was so moved, so I made a comic!

(Firefox) How to "fix" that ugly Roboto font in developer.android.com documentation pages?

Today I opened online Android SDK as usual and was shocked. They have replaced their body font with some kind of a blurry crap. At first I tried reading it hoping I'll get used to it, but after a whlie I became dizzy and my eyes were hurt...

So, I had to fix that in order to continue reading the documentation.

In the page source I identified the line:

<link rel="stylesheet" href="//fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=
        Roboto:regular,medium,thin,italic,mediumitalic,bold" title="roboto">

It's basically this Roboto font that makes me sick.

The easiest solution was to block fonts.googleapis.com at the system level, i.e. add 127.0.0.1 fonts.googleapis.com to C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts file. That did work, the browser replaced missing Roboto with the default Arial (which is perfect). But I didn't want to totally disable Google Fonts API (in case if some webside uses it for actually cool looking font).

Since I am using Firefox, I checked if there are addons that can filter HTTP requests using resular expressions or wildcards. Redirector addon didn't work: it seems to redirect only URLs you enter in the address bar.

And finally BlockSite addon was just what I needed. I added the following URL to the black list:

http://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Roboto:*

... and enjoyed reading Arial.

Still, it is very annoying when Google adds new "looks" and "features" without giving users an opportunity to say they hate it!

PS: I switched back from Chrome to Firefox for a similar reason...

Forgotten Lands: does it make (ad)Sense?

3K visitors on my Forgotten Lands page and not a single donation so far.
I hate ads, but looks like it is the only reasonable way to get support for my project.

Registered for Google adSense, awaiting validation...

Forgotten Lands texture pack for Minecraft has been released!

Forgotten Lands is a 16x16 texture pack for Minecraft.

- It does not require any mods to run.
- Low resolution means it runs fast.
- This is the most photo-realistic texture pack available for this resolution.M
- Brightly coloured and smooth.
- Enhanced biomes: you can find autumn forests and even grow a frozen park in tundra.
- Distinctively looking ore and clay.
- Everything redesigned: terrain, mobs, items, interface.

Check out the gallery!

Discanoid update 1.0.5.2

What's new:
- Breaking blocks now requires velocity (this greatly affects Maze II mission stage and Maze II Pro achievement)
- Other minor bug fixes

Fixing ProGuard config for Android projects

This is a brief tutorial on code obfuscation for Android apps using ProGuard tool supplied with Android SDK. I had a bug related with this and solved it, so I would like to tell people about it.

Update 1.0.5.1 - bug fix

It appeared that the start message hasn't been showing at all, not just after Restart button. Should be fixed by now
.
Also please comment to the bug report thread if you find something or if you would like make a suggestion. Any feedback is highly appreciated.

RELEASE! 1.0.5

Update 1.0.5 changes:

- Start message not displayed when level is restarted/replayed

- More Games button in Options menu linked to the Android market

- Code obfuscation fixed

- Bug fix: wall collision sound when disc has no velocity

- Bug fix: disc control after been teleported

- Other level-scripting related bugfixes

Discanoid update 1.0.3.2b: obfuscating obfuscation :(

1.0.3 update didn't work because of ProGuard code obfuscation.
I totally do not understand why it worked on my device and nowhere else.

Sorry about that :(

In 1.0.3.2 I removed the obfuscation, so it should work fine now.

Discanoid Update 1.0.3b: Guest Mode

- Fixed achievements display for older droids (2.1 or less).

- Added features: guest mode, move to SD.

- Level 6 renamed and simplified.

- Removed 4 boring achievements.

- Under the hood: minor bugfixes, major refactoring, full-version forward compatibility and code obfuscation.

- Content rating: low maturity

What is guest mode?

All records, achievements and unlocks earned in the guest mode will be reverted when the mode is off again. It is useful if your friend wants to play the game, and you do not want him or her to mess up with your progress. Guest mode will be automatically switched off when game exits or can be switched on/off from the options menu.

xrbpowered.com

Yeah! Now I am cool. Check this out:

xrbpowered.com

PS: There's a missing post about update 1.0.2 - blogger was down when I published it. However, the list of changes is quite minimal:
- Achievements!

- Internally, more gears and levers to maintain achievements, triggers and events.

Discanoid update 1.0.1b

What's new:

- Fixed multiple screen support: better look on mdpi screens, fullscreen mode on xlarge screens.

- Toss physics improved, now it is more responsive to fast flings. Other physical parameters have been adjusted to keep the game difficulty at the same level.

- Added gradually increasing difficulty in the arcade mode.

- Sensor levels are marked as such in the level list and show a special mark on the disc base.

- Back key returns from options and level selection menus.

- Added fly-in notifications, such as "difficulty up" and "secret unlocked". Will be used for achievements too.

- Added drum sound on level start and difficulty increase.

- Click sound removed from Stage 3.

Discanoid: bug reports and suggestions

This post is here in case if someone wants to report a bug or make a suggestion.
When reporting a bug, especially if something serious, please include your Android version (can be found in Settings / About phone) and device model.

Discanoid beta is now online

Discanoid Demo at Android Market

Discanoid is a variation of a toss game with a puzzle element. It includes cool features like doors, boosters, portals, changing gravity and more.

Use the touchscreen to toss the disc in the desired direction. Remember that you can manipulate the disc only within the blue areas of the map. If the disc is out of reach, you can press Back key to return it to the original position. This does not reset your progress, so feel free to use it as often as you like.

Some maps use accelerometer sensor, so you have to balance your handset to control the gravity vector.

The game has two modes:

- MISSIONS are the series of maps where you must hit a certain number of targets to complete the stage;

- in ARCADE mode your task is to hit as many targets as you can before you lose or reset the disc. Arcade maps can be unlocked while doing the missions.

Good luck.

* This is BETA version *

Achievements are not yet implemented...

Recommended settings: Android 2.2 or higher, 800x480 screen.

Hello blog!

What this blog is about, as I see it:
- keeping track on my projects for Android Market and other stuff;
- in future, receiving a feedback from users;
- oh well, and some personal stuff maybe, we'll see about that.