multiplayer

[burnt meteor]

i made a kick system but all the pc's id's are 0

so when i click kick everyone is kicked

[thin stratus]

Usually you have some sort of visual list of players

[burnt meteor]

yes

[thin stratus]

Usually driven by the playerstates

[burnt meteor]

i have

[thin stratus]

So if the server presses kick on the widget

He grabs the playerstate

Gets the owner

[burnt meteor]

ok

[thin stratus]

And has the correct playercontroller

[burnt meteor]

i cant get the player controller

[thin stratus]

Not via the playercontroller

Wtf

Use the PlayerArray of the gamestate to populate your playerlist

Or your own PlayerState array if you need

Get PlayerController 0 will always return the local one

[burnt meteor]

ok

[manic pine]

hmm isnt there already kick functionality

[thin stratus]

So for the server the servers

[burnt meteor]

no? is there?

[thin stratus]

No, and yes.

There is a cpp function

[burnt meteor]

@thin stratus thx

[thin stratus]

Which isnt implemented

[burnt meteor]

lol

[manic pine]

ah i found this

bool AGameSession::KickPlayer(APlayerController* KickedPlayer, const FText& KickReason)
{
    // Do not kick logged admins
    if (KickedPlayer != NULL && Cast<UNetConnection>(KickedPlayer->Player) != NULL)
    {
        if (KickedPlayer->GetPawn() != NULL)
        {
            KickedPlayer->GetPawn()->Destroy();
        }

        KickedPlayer->ClientWasKicked(KickReason);

        if (KickedPlayer != NULL)
        {
            KickedPlayer->Destroy();
        }

        return true;
    }
    return false;
}

[thin stratus]

Then that's new

But yeah doesn't do more than destroying the actors

The client rpc on there is empty i thinl

[burnt meteor]

lol

@manic pine and @thin stratus are the best cause ur the most active

[thin stratus]

That's the playercontroller

[burnt meteor]

how to get the player controller now lol sry

[thin stratus]

While that CAN be used. You can't really use that in networking

Playercontrollers aren't replicated to other clients

[burnt meteor]

i red ur guide

[thin stratus]

GameMode doesnt exiwt on other clients either

[burnt meteor]

only server

[thin stratus]

Making the players array replicated is also pointless

[burnt meteor]

i get it but how do i get a player controller from that array

@thin stratus ue4 did it lol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsyOITVdBt4&list=PLZlv_N0_O1gYqSlbGQVKsRg6fpxWndZqZ&index=19

[manic pine]

you'd use some kind of ID for the players

[thin stratus]

That tutorial is garbage

[burnt meteor]

2:28

[manic pine]

that the admin sends to server and uses to identify the playercontroller

[burnt meteor]

@thin stratus lol

[thin stratus]

Seriously the tutorial is bad

[burnt meteor]

i get it but how do i get a player controller from that array

[thin stratus]

Don't use it. It teaches tons of wrong things

[burnt meteor]

ok

[thin stratus]

You don't. Use the PlayerArray

[burnt meteor]

ok

[thin stratus]

Of the GameState

[burnt meteor]

ok

now?

@thin stratus

or @manic pine

...

[thin stratus]

That's a list of playerstates

The owner of a playerstate is its playercontroller

So get owner of them and cast

Be aware this only works on the server

[burnt meteor]

ok

@thin stratus could u send me a screenshot please?

its hard 😦

i have been trying for months

[thin stratus]

Not anywhere near my computer

[manic pine]

have admin send the playerstate to kick to server, then let server use that to find the playercontroller to kick

[thin stratus]

Also a screenshot wouldn't help you. A playerstate driven ui with kicking takes a few blueprints

[burnt meteor]

...

[thin stratus]

Not gonna do that. You have to figure that out yourself. We all did

[burnt meteor]

i just want to get the index lol

k any good tutorial for this stuff!?

[thin stratus]

I already said rhe index doesn't exist in multiplayer

[burnt meteor]

...ok

[thin stratus]

It's for local players

Only id you can use is the one of the playerstate

That has a playerID

That is only unique for a playersession afaik

[thin stratus]

Map changes and reconnects would chnage it

[burnt meteor]

why am i getting this

[thin stratus]

Idk where you are printing

[burnt meteor]

player controoler

ok when i switched it to a playerstate it worked?why? and wtf

[thin stratus]

Timing

If you want to access a class, make sure it's properly spawned

Aka use its beginplay or so

[burnt meteor]

...?

@thin stratus the player controller was spawned properly but it kept saying 0

when i switched it to a playerstate it worked

[thin stratus]

Playercontroller has no id

[burnt meteor]

but why did it the server go from 371 to 0,and client from 371 to 371?

ohh

ok

so is there a difference between player index in player controller and playerid in player state?

@thin stratus i am currently going to a printing store to print ur guide and study them in school lol

will come in 10m

[thin stratus]

There is a white version of it

To be more printer friendly

I hope you took that one

[fossil veldt]

: Hey guys I need to replicate a large Array of Structs to a client but when I try doing this with RPC it's not working because it's too much data and if I set it to reliable it hangs the editor and disconnects the clients. Does anybody have a solution to how I can achieve this, Even if it means hanging everyones games for a few seconds like a loading screen any solutions you guys could come up with please let me know. 😃

[jolly siren]

What data are you replicating? And is it really necessary to replicate?

[fossil veldt]

well basically it's voxel data

The generation occurs ahead of time in a "waiting period" of the game

and then I was going to have the data sent across to clients (Only needs to do this a singular time)

[mild hull]

seed and gen on each end?

or optimize what you need to send to only what they can see

[fossil veldt]

Hmmn i'm not sure it would work though because it's not just location data

I'm basically simulating physics

on the server

and then saving the velocity and transform to structs

If you can convert that data to a seed and it would work reliably then that could be an option

[mild hull]

would that not need constant updates?

[fossil veldt]

Nope

Think of it like this

The server simulates some physics

and logs all the transforms / velocitys of the objects simulating

then it stops those physics objects from simulating

sends those logs to all clients on the server

and then the clients are setting those variables

therefore stopping the server from flooding with data

It doesn't need to be updated in real time

I just need it to happen once

and then send the recorded data to clients

[mild hull]

so you simulate the start of the explosion and share the resulting transform and the velocity's?

[fossil veldt]

yea

basically

all of the explosions for example

they are simulated ahead of time only on the server

and then I need to send this collected data to clients

I've got the data collection part working and it's all stored in arrays but when I try and RPC set the array for the clients the server just disconnects the client

[mild hull]

i think that you can calculate it correctly on each client, but you could also send it over tcp/udp connection or split the array up and send it in pieces

[fossil veldt]

Unfortunately i've tried calculating it on each client and it's just not viable as the physics objects always seem to mismatch between the server/clients

But splitting the array up may actually work

hmmn

Also, do you know if it's possible to send TCP/UDP packets via Blueprint?

I know that functionality isn't there defaultly but do you know of a plugin or anything?

[mild hull]

not sure never had the need for a plugin

[fossil veldt]

Hmmn

By splitting up the array you'd have to create new arrays on fly right?

and just fill the data to arrays of lets say 10 structs per array?

[mild hull]

yeah in bp you have to do that

https://www.unrealengine.com/marketplace/tcp-blueprint-plugin

[fossil veldt]

Oh nice that plugins looks pretty cool

plugin*

I will keep that one bookmarked but ima try splitting up the array first

So, In BP you can't create new variables on the fly can you?

So how would you split up the array and create new arrays to fill with the data

For splitting up the array you could just do the length of the array on a for loop that's easy but how would you create the child arrays?

[mild hull]

in macros you can create local vars to hold things or use a loop that calls a function which takes a array +offset, that has a local array, copies 10 elems from the array into the local array and than sends that.

[fossil veldt]

Ah! Cheers

I will try that now, Thank you for the info

Ah damn I don't think the macro option will work for me as you can't assign certain types of data to local variables

I need to send over an actor reference too

so that the clients know what data relates to which actor

Oh nevermind there's a local wildcard option which I think will work for it 😃

Oh for fucks sake lol the local wildcard node is broken

[burnt meteor]

@thin stratus no too late

i took the back one

which took me 40m to print lol

[burnt meteor]

@thin stratus and @manic pine thx i have a working player id setup now

[wary willow]

Hmm. Random questions:

What's the cheapest way to replicate an inventory (ensuring that the inventory of a player from non-MP mode gets into an MP map)?

What's the best non-cheat way solution?

What's the overall best way? Via UE4 or Database backend?

Don't need specifics, just overall impressions for those that have done something similar. High level. Google has a wide range of opinions of the matter, but nothing really specific for UE4 (probably because it isn't really) but still wouldn't mind others opinions for UE4 implementation.

Non-Dedicated Servers. So all listen

[thin stratus]

Non MP to MP i would setup a backend

[wary willow]

Thinking about using Gamesparks

Since I am already comfortable with it

[thin stratus]

Otherwise you'd need to wrestle with sending it to the server etc

[wary willow]

Aye, because I need to send it back to Non-MP map

well storage anyway

[thin stratus]

Would just host it somewhere and pass the id of the player to the server

Then he can grab the inventory

Then it doesn't matter much if MP or non MP

[wary willow]

Cool, so my train of thought wasn't too far off then

[graceful cave]

is there anything built in to prevent version mismatch between client and server in listen server games?

[thin stratus]

Should already happen afaik

[bold heron]

Hey everyone. When setting up a dedicated server using AWS, Azure or some other headless environment. What are some recommended specs for an instance. I know it will change based on the game. Just a starting point.

[graceful cave]

interesting, is it something that can be bypassed? my current idea is to "fake" a dedicated server by having another exe only used on server that creates a session upon launch

wondering if its even possible

[worthy wasp]

@thin stratus - in your experience - have you seen teh default nature of EventNetworkFailure (host disconnects) as being: Loading the Game Default Map (Maps & Modes) ?

I am trying to do a HostMigration feature - and i've removed all traces of EventNetworkFailure from C++ & Blueprints.... and hands down when my host disconnects - my remote clients are going back to their Default Game map.....

[thin stratus]

@graceful cave Why would you fake a dedi server?

[graceful cave]

i dont have any c++ experience and that could be managed entirely with BP

[thin stratus]

@worthy wasp I think that's the normal sitation when the world is getting destroyed

@graceful cave There are full guides on creating a Dedicated Server

[worthy wasp]

😭 no abiltiy to explicitly do anything different?

[thin stratus]

It's not too hard to do this. You should not really use a ListenServer for this. @graceful cave

And it requires 0 C++. Only to download some stuff and compile

[worthy wasp]

my goal was to keep the current map loaded - create a session + continue to invite people from the game that WAS in session

[thin stratus]

That is all explained @graceful cave

@worthy wasp The main issue is, that with the host going, you loose all information

[graceful cave]

ok sounds good, i was under the impression it required a lot of coding knowledge

[worthy wasp]

hte information i was prepared to restore

[thin stratus]

@graceful cave No. You only need to download the Source of the Engine

[worthy wasp]

and handle on Client_PostLogins

[thin stratus]

Follow a few clicks @graceful cave and compile that thing

[worthy wasp]

from the disconnected match

[thin stratus]

That can take a while though @graceful cave

(sorry for the massive tagging. Don't want to mix stuff up with walldiv)

@worthy wasp You might need to check where the HandleNetworkFailure stuff comes from

It might just call a bit more that you don't see yet

Could also go down towards the drivers

idk

[graceful cave]

yeah i actually built the engine from source and when i made the server.target.cs file, i didnt have the "development server" option in VS so i probably need to download 4.18 source instead or release

but wouldnt i need to code a server browser too?

[thin stratus]

That can be done via BPs

As long as you either use the default nodes

Or the Advanced session plugin

[graceful cave]

ok

im actually using your lobby plugin

my next step is to reconfigure everything so that it requires no authority input between games

[thin stratus]

Yeah it's not setup for Dedicated Servers atm

Originally I wanted it just for local friends to host and join

And the host starts, chooses map etc

[graceful cave]

yeah and that works great

adding a mapvote between games wont be hard though

and character select at start

[wary willow]

@worthy wasp host migration, on dedi?

[worthy wasp]

no - LIsten server ( hear its even harder 😦 )

[thin stratus]

UE4 was never designed for that :D

Host goes. Connection/Session dies

That's it

[burnt meteor]

@thin stratus what am i doing wrong here:

i am getting the ids properly but its not kicking

[jolly siren]

@burnt meteor Do not ping moderators to answer your unreal questions

[minor anchor]

slaps @burnt meteor

[north stone]

slaps @burnt meteor the other way

[burnt meteor]

😦

why does the cast fail?

[jolly siren]

GameMode doesn't exist on client. Only server.

[ripe raptor]

how wonderful, only one out of 6 bosses is showing extreme lag and rubber banding even in local LAN play

nothing out of the ordinary in net stats

no idea where to even start looking

[fossil veldt]

Hey guys, i'm trying to RPC Set an array on a client but because of the size of the array the RPC doesn't go through and if I try to set it to reliable it just disconnects the client. I've tried splitting up the array into seperate elements and sending them over and then rebuilding the array on the clients but it's still too much network traffic for the engine. Does anybody know how else I can get this array over to the client?

[finite bison]

you could offer it as a traditional download e.g. in JSON format from a http server and send the clients the URL where to download it from

[fossil veldt]

Hmmn, But then the server has to upload to a http server

And those http servers would have to be self hosted so that's a no go for me i think 😦

[finite bison]

are you running a dedicated or a listen server?

[fossil veldt]

listen server

[nova sky]

Have questions aboud includes from 8 chapter of this guide

What is SteamBridgeItemsDetails.h

• Why this include is error?

https://wiki.unrealengine.com/Dedicated_Server_Guide_(Windows_%26_Linux)#8._Dedicated_Server_on_Steam

[manic pine]

anyone think of a decent way of doing character/character collisions without triggering tons of corrections?

[vagrant drum]

I was looking at photon and some of their documentation and i was curious about their suggestion for mmos using regions of interest.
How would you tackle towns if you follow that approach? Even if you make it a separate level and cap the number of players that can exist, you can't control that in the open level if a lot of players gather on the same region right?

[twin juniper]

@manic pine i would like ot know this too

[burnt meteor]

hey why is my cast failing?

i am doing it in a widget

for a kick function

[wary willow]

widget

[burnt meteor]

?

@wary willow

[wary willow]

AFAIK, widget are client side only

Some dude said this:

[burnt meteor]

dude listen

when i click a button its cast to the gm

it selects the player from the gm

[wary willow]

dude

[wary willow]

Who is doing that call?

[burnt meteor]

server

[wary willow]

Who owns that widget?

[burnt meteor]

this is in the pc

the widget calls the function in the gm

[twin juniper]

is there a way to detect when an actor is going to get culled due to distance, and unculled?

[wary willow]

Why wouldn't you be doing that via the GameState?

[burnt meteor]

why?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_TUp3MVNEE

[wary willow]

Well, since you're following the tutorial..

I'm not going to watch it 😭

@twin juniper Are you talking about Net Cull?

[burnt meteor]

😦

need help lol @wary willow

why is it failing in the cast to the pc?

[wary willow]

I have no idea, what did the tutorial tell you to do?

If i need to talk to my clients, I go through GS

@twin juniper Yo

[burnt meteor]

GS?

[wary willow]

Someone had a decent pic

but I can't access pinned messags for some reason

[burnt meteor]

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/350158983316766730/418958617736118283/unknown.png

[wary willow]

Read the comp

Maybe he has something in there

[burnt meteor]

ok

@thin stratus only u could help me

[lusty dust]

u dont put logic like that in a widget

[burnt meteor]

no

only casting @lusty dust

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/221799385611239424/418959131777695744/unknown.png

@outer birch pls help lol

[wary willow]

<@&213101288538374145> ^Random pinging for help, has no patience

[fossil spoke]

@burnt meteor Dont @ random people because no one can help you at this time.

Have some patience or try and research the issue yourself.

[burnt meteor]

😦

[burnt meteor]

@fossil spoke i tried not working

i have been trying for 8hours now

[fossil spoke]

Whats wrong?

Is that inside an Widget?

Widgets are Clientside only and the GameMode exists only on the Server so your Cast will fail because Widgets wont have access to the GameMode.

[heady delta]

^

[fossil spoke]

You need to use an Proxy class like the PlayerController or more appropriately the GameState in order to call an RPC to the Server to then have access to the GameMode.

[burnt meteor]

see above @fossil spoke

[fossil spoke]

I can see exactly from your image what the issue is mate.

Did you not read what i wrote?

https://www.unrealengine.com/en-US/blog/crash-course-in-blueprints-replication

[burnt meteor]

i red

@fossil spoke i can cast to the gamemode but not from the gm to the pc

[fossil spoke]

Mate, stop @ ing me please.

Im here, helping you.

No need to @ every message

[burnt meteor]

ok

sry

i can cast to the gamemode but not from the gm to the pc

[fossil spoke]

I need more information than that mate, i cant read minds. Ive got no context at all from that

[burnt meteor]

this is in the gm

it failed

this is int the wedget where i call the GM's function

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/221799385611239424/418985265252794378/unknown.png

and from the gm i call the pc's function

[fossil spoke]

The ID is semi random based on connection information, it is not going to be very useful for you the way you are using it.

[burnt meteor]

no i have checked that by using a print string before it kick him'

and its correct

[fossil spoke]

You dont understand, you have an Array called Players which im assuming is an Array of PlayerControllers which your modifying yourself on PostLogin, the Index of the PlayerController in the Player Array will NOT correspond to the ID

Essentially what i think your attempting to do is grossly access an element outside of the Player array

[burnt meteor]

no i get the id from the widget owner

it passes the id to the gm

[fossil spoke]

Dude i can see the images

[burnt meteor]

ok

[fossil spoke]

Stop posting stuff multiple times

Its really annoying

Dude

What did i just say

[burnt meteor]

it gets the id from the connected players

i just copied the link

i dint post again

FINE i wont post

[fossil spoke]

Stop posting the same stuff over and over

I can see that same image 3 times

Its unnecessary

[burnt meteor]

k

so whats worong?

[fossil spoke]

Your printing ID to the screen, can you see how it returned 324

[burnt meteor]

when i click kick it print thier id and its perfect

[fossil spoke]

Then you use it to try and get an Element from the Array

Which is wrong

[burnt meteor]

ok

[fossil spoke]

You wont have 326 elements in your array

Your trying to GET the 326th element

in the Player array

[burnt meteor]

i followed a tutorial he did the same but it worked

[fossil spoke]

You need to go back and rewatch it because you probably missed something or did something wrong

[burnt meteor]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_TUp3MVNEE

[fossil spoke]

Im not going to watch that, you need to rewatch it and make sure you did everything EXACTLY the same.

[burnt meteor]

ok

do u know how to zoom more than 1:1 in ue4?

[burnt meteor]

devilsD not working

[fresh saddle]

Should RepNotify be getting called on Connect? I can't seem to work out why it isn't

[stray harbor]

So weird question but, is it possible to have players on the same server in different worlds?

[cloud ledge]

Theoretically

[stray harbor]

That sounds terrifying

[hasty adder]

any tips for storing bots stats? aicontroller is a no go from what i've tried (i imagine its not replicateable.)

can't use the pawn they get destroyed

[fossil spoke]

C++ or BP?

[hasty adder]

bpp :<

[fossil spoke]

You could hijack the PlayerState class and create your own managed array of BotStates

Inherit from PlayerState, spawn your own BotStates

[hasty adder]

do ai have a playerstate of sorts?

or is that what you mean

generate one for the aicontroller

[fossil spoke]

Yes

Generate your own

[hasty adder]

hmmm

[fossil spoke]

PlayerState is simply an special type of Actor

So it can be spawned just like any other Actor

Its up to you to determine how you use it

If you dont want all the mess that comes with PlayerState just create your own Actor type of BotState and just spawn it

PlayerState is just convenient because it cant be placed in the world

It must be spawned

So an Designer couldnt accidentally drag/drop an BotState into the world if it was derived from PlayerState

But again, you inherit all the mess in PlayerState as well

When an New Bot is spawned, have the Server also spawn an BotState for it that is replicated through GameState the same as PlayerState

[hasty adder]

Well right now, gamestate looks to see if bots are on, then asks gamemode to spawn its pawn, which of course makes the controller, then when the pawn is destroyed the pawn on unpossess does the respawn routine with game mode, i suppose on creation of the aicontroller i could spawn the in world playerstate for itself to then house its stats as a reference in the controller

and then other players can just look for the array of botstates

[fossil spoke]

👍

[hasty adder]

so now i wonder the inherited playerna,e..

hafta just make my own text var i guess

[fossil spoke]

Well like i said, if you dont want to worry about inherited crap you dont need, just derive straight from Actor instead.

PlayerState is actually derived from AInfo which is an Abstract NonBlueprintable class of AActor

AInfo represents an Actor that has no physical represention and thus acts as an type of Manager class.

[hasty adder]

ah ok-

ahh nice this is working

[fossil spoke]

Good stuff

[hasty adder]

well nice got a workaround for name. 😉

the display pull for the states is by ps - so if in the event the name is null

i just do a compairison with the ps's owned by the pawns since they're replicated anywho just means the name will disappear if they die l(

😉

and come back when they spawn

[coral dock]

Hey guys, hoping someone might be able to recommend some good learning resources on multiplayer rewind systems. I don't need it to be UE4 focused, but just want to read best practices and such because I'm probably going to need to implement one in my next game.

[twin juniper]

Is it considered OK to set Character as Owner for PlayerState and check PlayerState's net relevancy "depends on owner", and so when Character is network-culled because of distance, PlayerState is also culled (i.e. destroyed locally)?

I mean is this ok as a practice?

[thin stratus]

@stray harbor Not by default. ONE server ONE world.

@fresh saddle If the actor is replicated, yeah

[fresh saddle]

@thin stratus it is. Will need to investigate tomorrow

[burnt meteor]

@thin stratus u online?

[thin stratus]

@burnt meteor Buddy, stop pinging specific people like this (: I'll help whenever I'm online and not busy.

[burnt meteor]

ok

sry

[finite bison]

is ShooterGame still a good example on how to do a (fps) multiplayer game in ue4?
if not, any pointers to weak spots in the project so i can read up on them?

[grand kestrel]

You want responsiveness with server authoritative detection. Not the realm of a small example project; prediction for shooting is complex and involved. I don't know any good examples, might have to figure out your own solution if you require that (any competitive online fps)

[finite bison]

i meant in a more generic multiplayer way

[grand kestrel]

I'm not familiar enough with it to answer that specifically then :)

[finite bison]

np and thanks for answering either way 😃

if i want to disable an actor component when not running on the owner's machine (be that server or another client), is there an alternative to if (GetOwner()->HasAuthority()) {...} ?

[north stone]

last warning on that as well @burnt meteor so you are warned.

[manic pine]

yeah no7hing, you can do GetOwner()->IsLocallyControlled

that'll check if any of the local playercontrollers are in control of the pawn

well its a bit more roundabout than that, it assumes GetOwner() refers to a pawn, and you'll have to cast it from AActor to APawn too, since its a pawn function

and that could be problematic too... the best way would be to start the actor component disabled

and then when client receives onpossessed, enable it

[finite bison]

in this case it's actually a pawn and the component is added in the pawn's constructor
so {Actor Component}->SetAutoActivate(false) should do the trick?

[manic pine]

in constructor you can just do component.bAutoActivate = false;

[finite bison]

why not use the interface? 😛

[manic pine]

you have to find out what function is called on client pawn when it receives a controller though... cant remember which it is exactly

[finite bison]

my guess would be ReceivePossessed

"Event called when the Pawn is possessed by a Controller (normally only occurs on the server/standalone)"

[manic pine]

yeah probably, just make sure its onnly called on the possessing client

right so thats not it

[finite bison]

shit

[manic pine]

OnRep_Controller

thats should be it

[finite bison]

thanks, i'll try that

[manic pine]

its not set to condition owner, so it could trigger for other clients too

so you might need a check e.g. if(Controller){doyourstuff}

[finite bison]

why is this hidden so much? oh epic...

[manic pine]

ye

remember to call Super though, i think it does some important stuff

[fossil spoke]

Always call Super unless you know why you dont want to 😃

[finite bison]

yeah i've run into that one from time to time. horrible to debug/find out

[nova sky]

https://wiki.unrealengine.com/Dedicated_Server_Guide_(Windows_%26_Linux)#8._Dedicated_Server_on_Steam Does who know , what is SteamBridgeItemDetails.h in SteamBridge.cpp? Where can I get code or download .h file?

[manic pine]

oh and this approach wont work on listenserver

you'll need to use something else to handle that case, maybe ReceivePossessed

[finite bison]

daaaamn, listen server is exactly my case

lol

[manic pine]

haha, ouch... yeah, replication doesnt happen on the server obviously, unless they're called explicitly

which they are in some cases, but you can only find out by doing a find all references to this function thing

[finite bison]

so now i'am back at square one: using GetAuthority 😄

[manic pine]

well, at least you can use it in combination with GetNetMode() != NM_DedicatedServer

do you only need this for listenserver though?

if you dont plan on doing dedicated, and if clients dont need those components running, then hasauthority should be fine in any case

[finite bison]

no plan on doing dedicated servers as it's only coop

[manic pine]

ah, well, if you need them running for clients too, override the onrep and activate there, but also activate in ReceivePossessed if hasuathority

[finite bison]

not local coop though (at least not exclusive)

[manic pine]

splitscreen too eh?

[finite bison]

no

basically a shared vr expierence

[manic pine]

hmm ive yet to try this vr stuff

wanted to wait for the headpieces to get better before i jump into it

[finite bison]

the Vive Pro is a step into that direction and the next Oculus Rift will most certainly be an even bigger step (though not before 2019)

[manic pine]

yeah, i imagine its gonna be great eventually

though im a bit concerned about long term use and the effect on eye sight

[finite bison]

though, the mobile Oculus Santa Cruz with 6DOF tracking for both headset and controllers will bring something unique to the table

even if it has (supposedly) only the resolution of the regular Rift

[manic pine]

hmm i was kinda hoping it would be fine to use with just regular kb/mouse

e.g. playing a regular mp shooter just in vr

[finite bison]

for development or actual usage?

[manic pine]

yeah actual play

[finite bison]

once you've tried actual motion controllers, you don't want to get back 😃

[manic pine]

haha maybe thats true, though i can imagine its very hard to aim precisely with

[finite bison]

it depends on the implementation

e.g. aiming with one controller over the other can be super precise

[slim holly]

anyone know any templates that include multiplayer melee damage system combined with hit combos?

having hard time trying to figure out how to set up animations without making client authorative

[nova sky]

@jolly siren Can you create video guide of last part (Steam Subsystem) ? https://wiki.unrealengine.com/Dedicated_Server_Guide_(Windows_%26_Linux)#8._Dedicated_Server_on_Steam I really can't find some information about working steam subsystem. Nobody can't help me.

[pallid mesa]

@thin stratus http://cedric.bnslv.de/sessions-in-cpp/ <- still hosting it? It says domain unreachable

[thin stratus]

It's in the default UE4 wiki

Changed my host quite some time ago

[pallid mesa]

👍 updated the compendium? this is not a very old copy

[thin stratus]

Yeah

[pallid mesa]

aight got the latest version, some links aren't pointing the right domain/page on it . I'll PM you in a single message the pages where I find links not working and then whenever you'll have time you can fix them if you like :) @thin stratus

[magic crest]

Anyone up for a discussion? A fairly high level one, without too much implementation detail.
I am designing a loot system where killing an entity would drop an entity. Since I am not sure how many item types might be dropped and what they might do when PickedUp, I am kind of reluctant to use the standard tutorial pickup pattern where they use a pickup class and then keep adding BPs for each.

What I was thinking was making an interface, e.g. IPickupableEntity, which I would then implement on the EntityBase class with a virtual function and have all droppable items inherit EntityBase. Then on each, implement the pickup function. This way, I could have a, let's say fully functional gun on the ground as a pickup, but when actually picked up it attaches to the player and becomes a usable item (shoot). On the other hand, another pickup might just modify the player and be destroyed all together.

Also, this would allow for a minimum amount of BPs to handle like weapon, powerup etc. Instead of having 'copies' of BPs for each individual type, the visuals might be setup by getting the data from a data table and simply modifying existing components (Meshes, particle systems etc) on spawn.|

What do you think?

[steady tendon]

@magic crest EntityBase class and having an interface in its childs overriden the functionality is very flexible and powerful, i suppose it would receive a reference to the player as a parameter of the event

[magic crest]

yeah

whoever overlaps do something meaningful

[steady tendon]

Its very similar to my case with my inventory, i have a PickUp actor, composed by a static mesh and a sphere collision, and an ID as a public variable, so in the construction script i take the info that i need (static mesh of that item, sphere interact radious, etc) from the datatable of all the items with its ID. When i overlap the sphere, the pickup actor adds itself to an array that the player has

So when i press E key in the player, if the array isnt empty i execute OnPickUp in the 0 index of the array, a custom event that i created in the pickup actor

Its just a possible way

[magic crest]

Yeah. that's pretty much the same. It depends on the environment. I want to be able to force an AI to pickup something that will benefit the player in his gameplay, but also have this item be pickupable and usable by the player. I suppose a 'pickup' could be a trigger to spawn a certain actor, but then i lose some of the functionality for the gameplay. for instance, modifying the behaviour of the gun in such a way that it heals and have an AI pick it up by mistake

shoot at the player thus healing him 😃

or whatever other scenario we might come up with

It's an action game so no real inventory exists, except the left and right weapon and nothing is swappable until you drop and loot something else. no windows, no bags, nothing

[little dawn]

Hey folks, I'm working on a local multiplayer 2 player game. I want to assign them each to a different "team", and I'd like to do it via a player start.

I have a custom player start, but don't see a way to imbue the team value onto the pawns

any thoughts on how I'd do that?

[winged badger]

add a variable for team in say playercontroller, override GameMode's choose player start function

if you do tho, keep in mind that overriding it will also affect the "Play From Here" in editor, unless you check if you are in PIE mode and return w/e parent function would return if you are

[fossil spoke]

@little dawn Why do you want the PlayerStart to assign the team? Why not give each Player their Team when they connect and have them spawn at their Teams PlayerStarts?

[little dawn]

Thanks guys those are both good ideas, I'll try them out and see what works for me. This is my first multiplayer project, so it's all new to me. 😄

[fossil spoke]

👍

[heavy marlin]

can anyone confirm that RPCs can only be called on the client when they reside in the player controller?

lest i call something "retarded" which isnt actually the case

[brittle sinew]

No, that's not the case.

The object on which you're trying to call the RPC needs to be owned by the PlayerController, however.

(it can be indirectly owned, i.e. PC owns A which owns B which owns C; you can call server RPCs on C)

[heavy marlin]

ok

so for example an inventory attached to the player controller would be fine

but a chest in the world would not

hmm

guess i need to take ownership of the chest while im interacting with it

(if you can even do that)

[thin stratus]

@heavy marlin You can but that's the wrong way

With this, only one player at a time can manage the chest

Split your inventory into Inventory and Manager Component

[heavy marlin]

yeah good point

[thin stratus]

Leave the Manager on the PlayerController

Let the inventory deal with itself (remove, add, etc.)

And let the Manager deal with two inventories. (move item from one to another etc.)

Like this you can always call server rpcs on the manager and pass it the inventories

[heavy marlin]

ok

so the manager is purely for RPC calls?

[thin stratus]

Yeah

[heavy marlin]

ok

thanks for the tip

[thin stratus]

Well can also handle a bit more. But that's the basic idea

[heavy marlin]

i was thinking about that, i could have a series of "View" classes that are essentially proxies for access to a game object

[thin stratus]

Just make sure the inventory components are set to replicate

[heavy marlin]

that are owned by the player controller

yeah

[thin stratus]

So you can pass them via the rpc

That's the proxy for you then

Cause level placed actors are owne by the server

And you can only have one owner at a time

[heavy marlin]

ok cool, so thats a way of specializing functionality for that item in a class without bloating my PlayerController

[thin stratus]

Yus

If done properly, you can plug the inventory component onto every actor you like later

Mine is also handling spawning its widget etc

[heavy marlin]

yeah i have a generic container which has an owner (the world can be an owner) which can be an inventory or chest or whatever

[thin stratus]

Quite handy

[heavy marlin]

in fact you can see it here: https://github.com/georger/rpgbase

ill make a ContainerView, make a note that it should be attached to the player controller, have a function to set the current container, done 😄

[vernal idol]

Hi, can anyone help me with this question: https://answers.unrealengine.com/questions/764564/network-how-to-catch-manual-connect-to-ip-failure.html

[winged badger]

you could do a workaround,, have the server add its IP to custom session data, then check if any session in FindSession results has the entered IP

[vernal idol]

Interesting advice. But I think custom session data can be done only with C++. There is no way with Blueprints? I know this plugin "Advanced Sessions Plugin" and there is possible, but at this stage I am sticking to engine build-in features. Also, what about if I don't want to using Session nodes (Create/Find/Join)? Only console command node with : open map listen and open IP.

[winged badger]

problem with those is, it will not punch thru the NAT

you would have to set port forwarding for it to work

[vernal idol]

Yes I know for port forwarding, but the problem is not - player can't connect with manual IP address entering. It's - player don't know when this server not exist and visually this error can't be represent on the screen if manual connect is used with console command node: open IP.

[winged badger]

i think first feedback you'll get from the engine is ConnectionTimeout 60 seconds later

you can read your LogNet logs and see if there is anything you can latch on to for notification, but i do not think there is

also it would likely require c++

AdvancedSessions is your best bet

[vernal idol]

Yes I seeing in PIE "Output Log" panel messages for: LogNet time out... something like this. Can I catch notifications from LogNet with Blueprints? But probably it's possible only with C++.

I have a idea. Player entering manually IP adress (input field) and pressed button for Join. Appearing visually on the screen dialog with Loading text, this will be Delay node 2 seconds, after this is - execute console command node: open IP. And if 10 seconds nothing happent and player is not connected to a new level, then screen dialog text is appear "can't connect to the server" or something like this.
But this is just to simulate loading proccess with screen representation. This is not trully the real situatuin that's happens.

Actually I know this delay is set to 60 seconds in the INI files by default for server timeout... and these 10 seconds are unreal thing 😃

[magic crest]

Hi. How does unreal handle 'prefabs'. I have a BP of enemy. I'd like several instances (unity's prefabs) that would have a different texture, some stats numbers changed etc. But, duplicating this BP doesn't sound right, since I'll be creating a whole new class, with no new functionality, just some numbers changed. How is this handled in Unreal? Data tables and then change data on spawn or is there a way to make instances of the BP in editor and then spawn them when needed.

SeriousEngine had this handled by dragging instances of an object to the scene, then reference them in a manager and spawn with manager.

[manic pine]

if you only have a few types, data blueprints should be fine, if you have many variations then data tables might make more sense

[magic crest]

I wouldn't call them types you know. Here's an example. There is a red robot that has 100 hp and deals 20 dmg. but there is a purple robot with 200 hp and 50 dmg. they are the same dype.

type*

the only difference is 2 numbers and a base material color

[manic pine]

variations* not types, sorry

yeah, you have to decide if its worth the extra work of making the data table setup and spawn alterations

if youre only gonna have those two variations, it probably isnt

[magic crest]

i'm certainly going to have more than 2 variations, each potentially carrying a whole different weapon etc... yeah, data tables sound right

[manic pine]

on the other hand, data table setup would also make it easier to load from files rather than pre-make it all in editor

[magic crest]

yeah. excell n shiat. so, unreal doesn't really have an option to make an 'instance' of the bp and then spawn the instances

the way I'd do it in unity is make a scriptable object as the data holder (data table) and then populate it with other scriptable object assets that carry the data for each variation i need

then spawn the prefab, populate with data from asset and done.

thnx for the tip @manic pine

I'm reading about data-only BPs. something to do with deleting the construction script so it becomes an 'instanced bp'

[manic pine]

yeah, im doing that for essentially everything

you just delete the three initial functions

then compile, close, reopen

[magic crest]

gimme a sec. i never noticed this 😃 do i need to derive from my original bp or from the c++ again?

[manic pine]

its nice when doing all logic in cpp and you just want bp's for altering values without recompile

either should work fine

just means it'll inherit from bp or cpp

[magic crest]

oh nice.. this is promising

I have to say i never noticed the parent construction script when i derived from c++. Honestly, i rarely open the construction script to begin with

Erm.. my BP derived from C++ doesn't have a parent construction script node

so, do i delete graphs or what. I'm lost 😃

[manic pine]

for making data only bp?

[magic crest]

yeah

[manic pine]

delete all bp variables and functions

[magic crest]

I don't have any defined in the bp

[manic pine]

if graph is completely empty, save compile and reopen bp

should give you the data only view

[magic crest]

ok sec

oh, you mean the bp editor that sometimes opens in that other mode and have to click show full or something to get to graphs and class settings ?

[manic pine]

yah

[magic crest]

aha! i never realized that actually changes the bp 'type'

Hehe reading also helps a lot 😃

Note: This is a data only blueprint.... +)

[manic pine]

^___^

[gleaming bobcat]

Ah. Clumsy soft is soo cool

for multiplayer testing

[twin juniper]

this chat is for multiplayer?

for creating multiplayer games???

[gleaming bobcat]

lols 😉 Sure

The sad is it's mixed BP+C++

[twin juniper]

😦

sad

can make multiplayer game without C++?

@twin juniper yes u can

oh i am hipe

but i don't know that

do you say me link or tutorial??

[gleaming bobcat]

C++ > BP 😃

I mean the collaboration is the best

The question what you put is massively generic 😃

Start with this as a soft theory preparation : http://cedric-neukirchen.net/Downloads/Compendium/UE4_Network_Compendium_by_Cedric_eXi_Neukirchen.pdf

[thin stratus]

You'll want to not do Multiplayer before you can do singleplayer

Learn how to program first

BPs are C++

Just in visual form

You can't avoid learning the basics of programming

@twin juniper

[twin juniper]

okay

but i want to create my games only with blueprints

[hasty adder]

hmm where oh where would i find the right override for when a player joins a dedicated server it checks its PS for a password to disconnect them if they have nothing set

[polar bridge]

@hasty adder my guess would be AGameMode::PostLogin

HUDs don't spawn on server right?

[magic helm]

If your talking UMG they can if it's a listen server... Otherwise no, it's suppose to spawn on the owning client

[polar bridge]

just want to make sure i don't need to check for is local controller on the HUD

[magic helm]

Yeah just make sure it always spawns on the owning client and your good

[thin stratus]

@hasty adder @polar bridge AGameMode::Login

PostLogin would already be POST the login

Actually PreLogin

The one that gives you Options and the ErrorMessage

Options would be the passed password and what not

And ErrorMessage needs to be non-empty to deny login

[hasty adder]

doesnt look like prelogin is exposed in bp anymore so require some c++ and parse options?

[thin stratus]

C++

BP only has Login

Also BPs don't allow to get the passed Options

GameMode OptionsString is the one from the Server

However clients can join via the ClientTravel function

Passing options with ?key=value

Which you can grab in PreLogin

:P Can't say often enough: If you do Multiplayer, be prepared to use C++

[hasty adder]

right so either way i need to make first a server based option to bUsePassword and set a string and then if used a prelogin override to get the option passed from client to match to allow or deny

[thin stratus]

Well if you do check in the PreLogin, you don't need to use any SessionOptions

Despite maybe the boolean

To indicate that the session is locked behind a password

But the compare of passed and actual password happens on the server

You don't want to save the password in the session info

[hasty adder]

well if it makes a difference i'm just trying to make a ded server option to allow users if they want set a password ie mydedicatedserver -pw hellofriend

then if set it looks for this when clients join if

[thin stratus]

Yeah

You can grab the command lines in c++ too

if "pw" is defined, you set a boolean for the server

and save the passed password

and in PreLogin you check the boolean and if it's true you compare the password etc

It's pretty straight forward

[hasty adder]

::nods::

testing this is fun 😉

[thin stratus]

:P hehe

Yeah and then you should also kinda save that PW in the RegisterServer function

That sets up the Session

Although not SAVING the PW

but save that there is a PW

so that if a player clicks on a Session with PW, he needs to enter it

[hasty adder]

right - well i'm more a designer then coder, so i have my 'workarounds' haha - so far simply if a password is set a 1 or 0 is passed to my master server alas mysql. which when is passed to client when they search for servers ingame browser, it gets the one setting it requires a password // more logic here.

[hidden thorn]

Is there any way of making the Editor the server and other instances of the game to be clients?

For me it only works the other way around.

[winged badger]

advanced options under play

uncheck single process, set the number of clients to 2 (probably enough)

and you will have a dropdown to select if the editor will be the listen server or the client

the other one will start in a standalone instance

[hidden thorn]

For some reason the standalone doesn't have anything on the screen

https://i.imgur.com/g2sZqHj.png

I am using sessions so not sure if that has an impact on it or not

[winged badger]

steam involved?

[hidden thorn]

No

just a null subsystem

[winged badger]

it should work just fine in "Play from here" scenarios

i am heading to bed, hopefully someone else can chip in, sorry

[hidden thorn]

I'm also going to bed, will try it again in the morning

[twin juniper]

Hello

Can you send me link for create a multiplayer game only with Blueprint??

[fossil spoke]

There are plenty of tutorials on Youtube mate. Take 5 minutes and try and search for some yourself.

[twin juniper]

okay

thank you

[twin juniper]

What databases are you guys using for your projects?

database???What???

why??

[twin juniper]

for storing player data?

[twin juniper]

aha on your Pc where you create game can ??or not??make the PC server and if yes how??

[thin stratus]

@twin juniper Pinned to this channel, you'll find my Compendium

Read that first before you ask anything (:

[twin juniper]

ньщ

okay*

where i will read in which category where??

[cold sparrow]

I'm making respawning of my character once it is killed. The way how I do it: I unpossess killed character, spawn a new one, possess a new one. Problem is that PlayerState remains the same for just spawned character, thus all weapons, and other character props remain from old one... Is there any way to create a new player state?

or is resetting values in PlayerState the only solution?

[winged badger]

weapons and props do not belong in a PlayerState

its purpose is to hold stuff like rank, name, score, other status information of public interest

[cold sparrow]

right...

[winged badger]

but its just that, information

weapon naturally belongs to your character

[cold sparrow]

ok, looks like I should move it to the pawn itself

tx

question: let's say a player gets disconnected, game mode will keep that player's PlayerState until some timeout expires. Will that player state hold a pawn as well?

[winged badger]

it won't

not by default

[cold sparrow]

(that was the reason why I kept weapons in PS)

[winged badger]

and then the other shoe dropped

you can probably save a PC/PlayerState to Pawn mapping in your GameMode when someone disconnects

[cold sparrow]

What would the be best solution to keep weapons/props for disconnected players? Copy that all in PS and when a player reconnects copy that info to pawn?

[winged badger]

then check if that particular controller was already around on PostLogin and give it back the pawn it had if it has

[cold sparrow]

I see

[manic pine]

you could just keep the pawn around and reference the pawn in playerstate

[winged badger]

that too

[manic pine]

player returns, gets back his old PS, repossesses pawn

[cold sparrow]

got it

so, keeping a reference to my Pawn in PS, will not kill the Pawn on disconnect, right?

[manic pine]

only calling Destroy on it will kill pawn

of course, someone could kill the pawn while hes disconnected, unless you handle that

but maybe thats alright

[cold sparrow]

perfect, thanks a lot! Going to rewrite that logic.

[manic pine]

should be able to add the reference in pawn when it receives its PS reference

[slim holly]

PS could run a check on beginplay to check does controller have a controlled pawn 🤔

no wait, that won't work

[rapid dagger]

https://answers.unrealengine.com/questions/260495/set-game-paused-doesnt-work-on-cients.html?childToView=260596#answer-260596

I would like a better answer than this. I can understand disabling for PVP. but what about a co-op game?

I want clients to be able to pause a game.

[winged badger]

ServerPauseGame RPC inside the PlayerController that does GetGameMode->SetGamePaused(true)

should do the trick

[ionic rivet]

Good evening guys. I have a question. I will write the server with the normal UE4 server setup system and close all replicas. It will only be used when users are running custom events. How many people support it (capasity)?

Sorry for my bad english 😃

[rapid dagger]

@winged badger Thanks, I'll give that a shot.

[indigo root]

how do I specify what map to travel to after using console command "open IP"?

[bitter oriole]

@indigo root Why would the client connecting to a server decide which level to load ?

[indigo root]

well how do I make the server decide that? (using blueprints)

right now im doing this https://owo.whats-th.is/5455d1.png

but the client doesn't travel there, instead it goes back to the first map that opens when the game starts

which is a login menu

[bitter oriole]

It goes like this : server starts a level, client connects to the server (and loads the server level), then the server may change the level

Which part is the problem ?

[indigo root]

this is what I do to connect https://owo.whats-th.is/ceb311.png

the B part of the append is the IP

when I run 2 windows in editor it crashes telling "invalid url /Path/To/LoginMenuMap"

when I use "launch game" on the uproject it just moves to the login menu map on the client

im not sure what am I doing wrong

[bitter oriole]

On the client-side, you should be using "open"

not travel

[indigo root]

same results

tested already

i am testing by running both on the same machine with ip being localhost

[bitter oriole]

The first screenshot I don't understand - you're opening a level twice

[indigo root]

yeah I know, the servertravel one is my debugging attempt

disconnected the servertravel node, https://owo.whats-th.is/0d671f.png

[bitter oriole]

Start with regular console commands in console

[indigo root]

same as before

[bitter oriole]

Launch two standalone games, run on as server, the other as client

When you understand the flow of commands well you can implement it with buttons

[indigo root]

is there a way to "launch game" on uproject in windowed mode?

[bitter oriole]

Right click -> launch game

[indigo root]

yeah but its fullscreen

[bitter oriole]

If you've set the game to fullscreen you can set it to windowed in command line

setres 1280x720w

w is for windowed

[indigo root]

k

[bitter oriole]

Basically your server should only do "open level X as listen", and your client should only do "open"

[indigo root]

ok so it kinda works now

except client is spectating but I know why that is

but the blueprints are doing the exact same thing so I am pretty confused

so I ran Travel GameMap?listen on one and open localhost on the other

and it worked however pressing the buttons that do the same doesnt work

[bitter oriole]

If you're starting the game through the editor with 2 players, they're already linked together in a weird away

So be sure to always test networking in standalone

[indigo root]

yeah ik

so I did this https://owo.whats-th.is/fe6716.png

which should be exactly what I inputted

now host button just makes it travel to login menu???

oh shit I meant GameMap

not GameSerevr

ok so host works now but join still travels to login map

for no reason

[bitter oriole]

Sure you really do "open localhost" ?

[indigo root]

ok wtf

its inconsistent as well

sometimes it connects and sometimes not

ima need to investigate some more

it suddenly works now...

im extremely confused but ill take it

ty for the help

[indigo root]

---

I'm trying to change a player from being a spectator to controlling a pawn using this https://owo.whats-th.is/dfc1c6.png

On listen server host: works, player becomes a normal pawn
On client: only client sees a new pawn (in addition to host's), still is in spectator camera

probably something to do with authority? idk

@bitter oriole you seem to be a multiplayer wizard, maybe you know?

[graceful cave]

so i got dedicated server with steam working but im having some issues with players who leave and reconnect

they dont show up on scoreboard, their ingame name is reset to their steam name instead of what they picked ingame

seems like it relates to the player state

also they arent updated on the status of actors in the level

where would i even begin to start fixing this?

[jolly siren]

@graceful cave https://blog.maide.ca/2016/02/26/ue4-persisting-users-across-disconnects/

[graceful cave]

thank you

[jolly siren]

np

[indigo root]

@jolly siren any idea why my thingie doesnt work? (a couple messages up)

[indigo root]

ok so I changed it to this: https://owo.whats-th.is/a98cf1.png

now it unpossesses properly but does not possess the new actor

[thin stratus]

Are you somewhat starting the player as spectator?

[indigo root]

yes

[thin stratus]

Cause there is a Boolean that blocks further possession after that

And I think that was C++ only

(:

[indigo root]

bruh

what node do I press to kms

u sure theres no way to do that using blueprint?

maybe theres a plugin that allows to manipulate that?
or rather what keywords can I use to research all that

[indigo root]

@thin stratus answer me reee

[wide chasm]

How do I get the local pawn in a multiplayer game?

[pallid mesa]

I was typing "yep"

[quartz vector]

lol

[fossil veldt]

Hello guys, I'm working on custom player movement for a pawn class and I've stumbled upon a little bit of a problem concerning movement replication. When my pawn moves at first the movement is very skippy and looks like it's jumping frames and then after time it becomes less so and looks like it normally should. Anybody know what's going on with it or some solutions? (My guess is it's to do with the engine's prediction)

[thin stratus]

@HexiaDesigns#5179 What exactly do you mean?

@indigo root No idea. I just know that I had to reset the boolean via c++.

[fossil veldt]

Anybody?

[high heart]

i'm having an issue in 4.18 where VoIP cuts out for random players after a seamless travel. I don't remember this being a problem in 4.17... anybody @here know what changed?

[graceful cave]

is there a way to test my built dedicated server with a standalone game running from the editor so i dont have to package to test things?

running the binary i just built generates errors and the log closes

but that doesnt happen if ive packaged the whole project

[winged badger]

you can do "<full path to your engine's UE4Editor.exe>" "<Full path to your project's .uproject file>" - server - log inside a shortcut and start a standalone w/o the editor that way

altho i think you need to do a few more steps for dedicated server standalone to work

[graceful cave]

yeah it requires me to build the engine whenever i package the game

so i think thats why it wont work

but i figured out another way

[winged badger]

there is a workaround

try searching for UWorks documentation

it has a pretty good guide for that

it does involve copying a few files from steamworksSDK and engine source to your engine

[gloomy tiger]

Hey guys!

I have the impression my DefaultEngine.ini is not being considered when running my game through the Editor.

Am posting this here because the subject is directly related to the Steam integration.

When I run this command in my prompt:

"C:\UE4\Engine\Binaries\Win64\UE4Editor.exe" "%CD%\MyGame.uproject" StartMenu -game -log

Steam works properly. But when I do execute the game through the editor, Standalone or not, it doesn't work. The Steam overlay simply doesn't appear and my status on Steam doesn't change.

[cloud ledge]

That's intentional behavior

One sec

I'll give you exact line of code that does it (steam subsystem skips loading when you're running game in editor)

[gloomy tiger]

Even in Standalone, @cloud ledge?

[cloud ledge]

Only if you are starting it from editor

[gloomy tiger]

🤔

Wait. I don't get it. If I start the game through editor, regardless of being Standalone or PIE, is it supposed to not work?

[cloud ledge]

\Engine\Plugins\Online\OnlineSubsystemSteam\Source\Private\OnlineSubsystemSteam.cpp:485

[gloomy tiger]

Because I've created another project here. A vanilla one. Used the same DefaultEngine.ini and Steam works on it, through Editor or not.

[cloud ledge]

It should start up steam subsystem only when -game switch is added to command line

[gloomy tiger]

so

        // Test all the Steam interfaces
#define GET_STEAMWORKS_INTERFACE(Interface) \
        if (Interface() == nullptr) \
        { \
            UE_LOG_ONLINE(Warning, TEXT("Steamworks: %s() failed!"), TEXT(#Interface)); \
            bSteamworksClientInitialized = false; \
        } \

this is the code fragment I should be looking at?

[cloud ledge]

No, it might be different between our versions. Look for bEnableSteam = IsRunningDedicatedServer() || IsRunningGame();

Steam subsystem will be disabled because it will not consider your cases as "running game"

[winged badger]

steam works in standalone, even started from editor

normally

even in not-single process PIE

[gloomy tiger]

🤔

[cloud ledge]

No, it didn't use to work in PIE

Of any sort

[gloomy tiger]

Well, that's weird. Why it is not working through the Editor but when I run that command? 🤔

[cloud ledge]

Only if you started with -game switch

[winged badger]

looking at it right now

[gloomy tiger]

It works in Standalone though.

I mean, not here. But usually. Right?

[winged badger]

PIE in more then 1 process will host one instance in editor, for which steam will not work

and other instances will be connected via standalones

[gloomy tiger]

But the point is: why can't I manage to make it work here, in Standalone? 🤔

[winged badger]

and for those steam works

[gloomy tiger]

Have a .bat file with the following command:

"C:\UE4\Engine\Binaries\Win64\UE4Editor.exe" "%CD%\MyGame.uproject" StartMenu -game -log

Then, the game it executes, works with Steam perfectly.

[winged badger]

any relevant logs?

[gloomy tiger]

That's a good question. Is there a proper place to see Standalone logs?

/Saved/Logs seems to only save/show editor logs. 🤔

[winged badger]

saves standalone as well

[gloomy tiger]

Ok. This is my log: https://gist.github.com/chiefGui/cfac477125ee7555eeb4c836fe379614

Line 130: LogOnline: Display: STEAM: Loading Steam SDK 1.42

No errors.

[cloud ledge]

I presume the reason that steam subsystem doesn't start in editor is because it can't handle client and server within same process

For whatever stupid reason

[gloomy tiger]

The editor, meanwhile, reports me:

LogOnline: Display: STEAM: Loading Steam SDK 1.42
LogOnline: Warning: STEAM: Steam API disabled!
LogOnline: Display: STEAM: OnlineSubsystemSteam::Shutdown()

But whatever. It's the editor.

[winged badger]

that is not proper steam log

as far as i remember it

there is no information that it found runnign steam client

no line with your steam name

etc

[gloomy tiger]

@winged badger agreed.

@cloud ledge well, I'm not running the dedicated server/client in the same process. 🤔

Well. Just started, again, the other vanilla project I have with Steam and checked the logs. The same output, but it works.

[winged badger]

which subsystem are you using?

[gloomy tiger]

[/Script/Engine.GameEngine]
+NetDriverDefinitions=(DefName="GameNetDriver",DriverClassName="OnlineSubsystemSteam.SteamNetDriver",DriverClassNameFallback="OnlineSubsystemUtils.IpNetDriver")

[OnlineSubsystem]
DefaultPlatformService=Steam

[OnlineSubsystemSteam]
bEnabled=true
SteamDevAppId=480

[/Script/OnlineSubsystemSteam.SteamNetDriver]
NetConnectionClassName="OnlineSubsystemSteam.SteamNetConnection"

On both projects.

I do remember that I fixed this issue a few weeks ago. Forgot to document my solution and now we're here. 🤷

I also do remember that was something stupid that I forgot. Like checking a box or something...

I just can't remember now. 😢

Mhmm... Ok, progress!

Setting this option to Play Offline initialised Steam properly.

(Was Play as Client before.)

Yep. That's the problem. Using Play As Client, even in my vanilla project, makes Steam stop working.

^ this is the setting my project has. Doesn't work with Steam.

[twin juniper]

Hello.
help you solve the problem

LogOnline: Warning: OSS: AutoLogin missing AUTH_LOGIN=<login id>.

Dedicated Server..

[thin stratus]

Normal IPNetDriver. So Subsystem Null?

@gloomy tiger You can't have more than one instance with steam on one computer

Usually one gets blocked by steam

Cause it only allows one game at a time

Dedicated server, after being packaged, will allow multiple ones, but they need the steam dlls and don't have an actual account like you do (that's also why presence needs to be off)

[full bane]

what is the cleanest way to exclude the calling client from a multicast?

to be specific:
1) I want the client to do a thing, spawn local effects on the local machine, 2) then it tells the server the action happend and 3) the server tells all clients to play the effects 4) the issue is the client then receives the multicast he/she initiated

[magic crest]

4. are you're using GetLifetimeReplicatedProps()?

[full bane]

yes, but the multicast is just an event

with no replicated variables

[magic crest]

Aha. Well, I don't use multi-cast. Instead I use this pattern:

[full bane]

repNotify?

[magic crest]

I implement a Server function, say ServerFire()

aha..crap, no onRep..

in GetLifetimeRep you can define condition. ignore_something.. sec

https://docs.unrealengine.com/latest/INT/Gameplay/Networking/Actors/Properties/Conditions/

[full bane]

that would mean I have to add variables though

for stuff that techincally doesn't need variables

[magic crest]

What's the exact scenario? You need something to happen but nothing really changed?

like those effects that play. what do they represent?

What made the caller (client) decide that the particles need spawning?

[full bane]

let's just say you press a button and then it plays a particle effect

I want to play it on the calling client directly, to have a crisp feeling to it when latency is high

[magic crest]

i understand

[full bane]

so

that's it

do you have a proper code sample for the RepNotify thing?

probably using 'COND_SkipOwner'

[magic crest]

sec

it just sounds strange that you dont have a value to replicate. at least something like 'someKeyPressed', hear WHAT key was pressed and then do stuff on other clients (as if they were the ones that pressed the key).

What is the purpose of particles if nothing actually happened in the game (purely logical)

{
    Super::GetLifetimeReplicatedProps(OutLifetimeProps);

    DOREPLIFETIME_CONDITION(ASWeapon, HitScanTrace, COND_SkipOwner);
}```

so, when a player shoots, it gets the Hit result. he populates the HitScanTrace struct (in this case) and replicates it. Clients receive it OnRep and create particles that shoot from gun to hit point

so. pattern is this
Client shoot -> if !HasAuthority -> ServerShoot (which simply calls shoot again) -> hit gets replicated -> OnRep -> calls PlayParticles(HitPoint)

so, client will call server, immediatelly make his own shot (local no lag) and be excluded from the rep (so he doesn't shoot twice)

[full bane]

ya, that could work

still weird for something that has nothing to replicate other than the actual event 😄

[magic crest]

I don't know other methods. Let me see the docs to check how a multicast can ignore the owner

[full bane]

just play particle, SFX and an anim montage

I checked, and there is nothing

your way is probably the proper way

[magic crest]

is there a value that forces the montage.. like, i have a bIsAiming

just to be clear, you're in c++, right?

[full bane]

a mix of c++ and BP

with C++ base. ya

[magic crest]

yeah.

gg

[full bane]

ok, I will cook something up that creates the least amount of confusion when reading the code 2 days later

thx for your help 😃

[magic crest]

well, you can flag your client as bEffectsPlayed

then check when received event

ignore those who have it true

or... send the netId of the instigator via the event and ignore on those who ==

But I'd stick to something tangible. Like, what actually happened when the key was pressed. Forget visuals. If we have a scenario. You press a button. Something happens in the game. THEN we add visuals, if it's a 3d game 😃

[full bane]

sure

[magic crest]

imagine we're the headless server. you press a button. what happens? surely not visuals 😄

[full bane]

but whatever happens is pretty much a pure event

no state change

[magic crest]

whats the event? I dont understand. if you jump, you change state. if you move you change state. what's your event?

[full bane]

text emote

with SFX

as simple as it can be

the thing I could add is a delay thing

or IsPlaying something, but it technically isn't

[magic crest]

ok. from what I understand, there must be an emote that you want to send. So, replicating the emote value sounds correct. if there wasn't an emote. the message would be text, right?

you'd need to replicate the message.. unless it's the ONLY emote 😃

[full bane]

sure, but it's way cleaner to just send the emote to the server

and the server multicasts it

and more logical

than a variable that I have to manage

because I probably have to reset it after some time to get a change propagated over network

[magic crest]

yeah, I understand.. From what I gather online, this might be the cleanest solution

 {
    //stuff inside of the multicast_implementation that will not run on owning client
 }```

[full bane]

I read that

but I am not sure if that is the fix

because MyPawn->IsLocallyControlled() would be true for all clients

[magic crest]

yeah. IsLocallyControlled is often used in stuff like that. I see it all over the engine