multiplayer

[uncut atlas]

Oh that makes sense.

[winged badger]

for example, on GameStart, if you try to access the PlayerState via the PlayerState member in Pawn, which is replicated

you're likely to get null on clients

as for the PlayerState Actor itself usually takes a while till it gets to replicate

in that case - your Pawn would have valid NetGUID to the PS, but would be unable to resolve it at the time, since the object hasn't replicated yet

[uncut atlas]

Thanks for the example

[winged badger]

OnRep still fires when the NetGUID is resolved though

[kindred widget]

@brave solar You may need to show how you're setting the bool and how you're debugging it.

[limber mortar]

Can anyone see why this lightning bolt won't appear then disappear to clients?

It is an actor in the level (so on the server.) I tried also just running Any damage straight into the print string

In both paths the bolt will not appear

the print string fires off

[lost inlet]

it fires off on the client?

[limber mortar]

Oh dang, it fires off on the server twice, wonder why it won't fire on the client, let me look at some stuff

[lost inlet]

like not checking the replicates setting?

[limber mortar]

The actor is set to replicate

I take server damage and run multicast in other parts of my game, this is what I don't like about being self taught lol. Doesn't make sense to me

[lost inlet]

does this even need to be a multicast?

[limber mortar]

I tried without

[lost inlet]

seems like something you'd do in an onrep

[limber mortar]

didn't work, so I tried with

let me try that

[lost inlet]

and maybe you want to try affecting the visibility of the MESH rather than the entire actor

and you should make sure that any default state for the actor is also valid

[limber mortar]

I tried the mesh too

that is why I went to the actor

ok, hold up, I am making a new actor

something has to be jacked up

[lost inlet]

well these things are always much easier to debug in C++, I never do anything but basic stuff in BP

but you might want to make sure the actor starts in a correct default state

[limber mortar]

I might just delete the old one. my first attempt with a blank actor, without hiding and unhiding, is showing right

I think I might have it

[limber mortar]

ffs why is this so complicated, destroy actor won't work either

things look right as far as the state it starts in to me, I have never had to setup anything special state wise where I destroy my other actors, lol

[lost inlet]

if that doesn't work, then it's probably a really dumb oversight. I would make sure this is the actual actor you placed in the level and it is replicated

I've never had issues with SetLifespan unless something else was invalidating the timer

[limber mortar]

I doubt something is invalidating it, that is the only code running in the BP right now, its definitely placed in the level

Both my new and old

[lost inlet]

well I obviously can't see everything you can, if the print string is showing then after 5 seconds, the actor should be removed from the world

if the actor takes damage again in that 5 second window, the timer will reset back to 5 seconds

[limber mortar]

Yea

ok

I have an idea

I've made some progress, got lifespan to work

but I think there is some other networking issue going on

[unique wave]

Not really following everything that is going on for you Bogadu. But a few thoughts:

• Setting an actor to hidden on the server will actually stop it from replicating (did before 4.26 at least, don't see why it would change)
• You used a multicast RPC, not sure if you set it reliable.
• You have "NetLoadOnClient" true, and you're saying this actor is placed in the level. Unlike dynamically spawned replicated actors, this means your actor exists on the client regardless of its state on the server. If it turns off replication I believe it just sticks around on the client, and would then probably not care about anything that happens to the server version of it anymore.

So maybe an unfortunate mix of setting hidden, (which turns it non-replicating) and then the client version of the actor becoming disconnected from the server one and ignoring your RPCs?

(No guarantees, :p but maybe something like that happening?)

[limber mortar]

oh thanks, I didn't know hiding would stop replication

or the third point

I'm no expert

thanks a lot, let me play around

[unique wave]

Basically the server assumes that your client can't possibly care about replication for the actor if it is hidden. By definition you shouldn't be able to see anything on it in that situation.

[chrome bay]

Setting an actor to hidden doesn't stop it replicating

[unique wave]

There are other issues with having replicated level actors as well. Like the actor being tied to the lifetime of the level it is in. So if your level is unloaded from level streaming (imagine a car you placed in the level and you start driving it into the horizon) due to distance, your actor will be unloaded with it. (car go bye bye)

jambax tells me i'm wrong, i could be xD

[chrome bay]

Well how would you unhide it if that were the case 😄

[unique wave]

I said hiding it on server would make it stop replicating to the client. So it stops sending any messages.

It still exists on the server of course.

So unhiding it on the server is no issue.

[chrome bay]

Right but if you hid it and stopped replicating, client would never get an update if you un-hid it

(either way though it doesn't stop repping when hidden)

[unique wave]

Unhiding it would make it replicate again

when the server stops replicating an actor, if it is a dynamically spawned one, it gets destroyed on the clients.

In his case, where it is part of the level, i think it just stops listening to the server for that actor.

[limber mortar]

I made a physx bulldozer but can't figure out a simple lightning bolt lasting 3 seconds, lmao

[unique wave]

So unhiding on server would make it start replicating again, and therefore spawn back in on the client @chrome bay

[chrome bay]

It might not be relevant anymore, but that's not the same as setting it to hidden

[unique wave]

Ok I checked to make sure 😄 I was slightly off @limber mortar

[limber mortar]

maybe this is my problem

[unique wave]

It's a combination of being hidden and no collision that makes it stop replicating.

[unique wave]

    {
        return false;
    }

[limber mortar]

the fire started 2 places when it should be 1 strike

[unique wave]

So my bad, the is hidden probably alone is not causing your issue.

[limber mortar]

let me start function by timer a couple secondsd in

nope, still runs twice

hmm, 1 print string, 2 fires

[sinful tree]

Don't run it on tick. On the begin play, set up a timer by event.

[unique wave]

@limber mortar

When 1 is called, it calls number 3 and does random integer of an actor from your get all actors of class. (no clue if you have more than one in your scene, but i'm guessing you do?)

When 2 is called. It will call 3 again for every time 2 is called in your for loop. All green nodes that are connected to a blue (callable) node are re-executed every time the blue node is called.

So you are probably expecting it to use the same randomized actor in the for each loop, but it's doing the randomize again. Save the randomized result to a variable and use that to avoid this.

[limber mortar]

the tick is spreading the fire throught the game

that all works right

oh i see

so save that result as a variable

got it

that explains the 2 fires

thanks

[unique wave]

np, it's somewhat non-intuitive how that works 😄

[limber mortar]

ok

so I fixed the 2 fires starting

Now I just need to make a lightning bolt appear at the same location and remove it 4 seconds later

I have a new idea on that too

maybe instead of having the lightning bolt in the starting actor

I generate a lightning bolt from my fire control system

so after that function runs you labeled, Spawn instanced static mesh at location of start actor

like so

[summer tide]

@winged badger Hi

[summer tide]

So I have a struct with repnotif which is a boolean either male or female. Based on that I set some SK meshes.

In player's event play, I assign the struct from game instance to the player's repnotif variable.

Any idea why it wouldn't work

[unique wave]

You don't get a RepNotify triggered if you set the variable to the same as the Default value of the replicated property/variable.

So maybe that?

[summer tide]

So I have the settings in my game instance, how do I pass that to player after spwned.

I previously got it working by using swith with auth -> auth connects to multicast event and remote connects to server event

Then I called that event in begin play @unique wave

[unique wave]

Does the setting change during gameplay? or do you just set it once in your game instance class before you start the game.

[gleaming vector]

specifically, a variable doesn't replicate if it hasn't changed

if you set some variable to 0 that is already 0, for example

it wont replicate

so, what you would want to do is, on beginplay, set the skeletal mesh to whatever the variable is

and if the variable ever changes, set the skeletal mesh

do it twice

[summer tide]

That gets set during player selection before the game starts

So I'm setting it once

[unique wave]

Then you are probably only setting it on the Client GameInstance.

[summer tide]

before the game starts

[gleaming vector]

also

you can make your replicated var RepNotifyAlways

which if you do somehow trigger a replication for a variable that is the same value that it was previously, it will fire the OnRep

this is becoming more common with Push Model

[summer tide]

where do you see RepNotifyAlways

[gleaming vector]

DOREPLIFETIME_CONDITION_NOTIFY(UEmpAttributeSet_Faction, Tickets, COND_None, REPNOTIFY_Always);

like that

[summer tide]

Oh i'm using BP

[gleaming vector]

then you cannot set it to repnotify always

[unique wave]

Korvax: Sounds like you are setting the variable based on a player choice in your GameInstance. Likely on your client version of the Game Instance.

if you want other players to be able to see your choice, this needs to be replicated to the server.

One place you could make this happen is in your PlayerController class. On its BeginPlay once the game has started you can replicate to the server (RunOnServer) what the players choice was. Set it to your RepNotify variable on the server for your pawn/playercontroller.

[summer tide]

My lobby player controller is diff than my gameplay PC

That's why I kept it in GI

Since I have two diff PC for lobby and gameplay, if they both have the same parent PC, would I be able to pass data

[unique wave]

You can look up your GI in your gameplay PC on its beginplay @summer tide

[summer tide]

So are you saying to store the selection settings in GI then access that from gameplay PC. I'm already doing that but accessting in my player BP

[past sonnet]

Hi, i'm New on net working and
I am a little confused

These are my questions :v

Does the character that I control on the server is the same as the client just replicated?

I mean is the same gamemode and player contoller?

But if it is, ¿How could I change the client appearance?(this is my main question xd)

[unique wave]

Yes but the key here is to tell the server what your players choice was. @summer tide Otherwise no one else will get to know about your choice.

You can do it through your pawn if you want, but playercontroller is the first real player-related point you can do it. Before the pawn is even created.

[summer tide]

Ok thanks let me try that

So I have a lobby character and gameplay character. Lobby and gameplay have their own GM and PC. In my lobby I can customize my player which updates the lobby character. THen I pass the info.

[past sonnet]

Hi, i'm New on net working and
I am a little confused

These are my questions :v

Does the character that I control on the server is the same as the client just replicated?

I mean is the same gamemode and player contoller?

But if it is, ¿How could I change the client appearance?(this is my main question xd)

[sinful tree]

1. For simplicity sake, yes. Your character that you control on your client is the same as the character on the server, and references to your character can be thought of as such.
2. No. Game mode is only part of the server and is not replicated to clients. Player controllers are clients that join into the server. Player controllers cannot interface with the Game Mode of the server.
3. You need to set any variables for appearance and the like on the server, and those variables should be set to RepNotify so that a function is created and gets run when the variable replicates - you can then do any logic you need to do to set the appearance of the character based on that replicated value in that newly created function.

If you want a client to be able to control their appearance, then you need to do an RPC to the server on the player controller, then the server can handle changing whatever variable needs to change to cause the replication event, and then update the appropriate characters.

[austere snow]

Quick question, is the default character/pawn ran on server and client?

[past sonnet]

Thanks!!! I feel better now

[gloomy tiger]

Hello, y'all! What NetUpdateFrequency are you using in your AI Characters?

Some context: I have AICharacters moving with CharacterMovement (AIMoveTo). Since it's a zombie game, I have lots of these actors at the same time. That said, having lower UpdateNetFrequency is giving us better network results, but sometimes clients are noticing some delays/not consistent behaviours and according to my tests, this is occurring due to the low UpdateNetFrequency I've set.

I'm quite lost on how I can overcome these issues more appropriately.

Ideas? Suggestions?

(The amount of AICharacters I have at the same time is something ranging from 50-100)

[lucid vault]

My Steam dedicated server won't allow clients that use Steam to connect. My server says:

LogSteamShared: Warning: Steam Dedicated Server API failed to initialize.
LogOnline: STEAM: [AppId: 0] Game Server API initialized 0
LogOnline: Warning: STEAM: Failed to initialize Steam, this could be due to a Steam server and client running on the same machine. Try running with -NOSTEAM on the cmdline to disable.
LogOnline: Display: STEAM: OnlineSubsystemSteam::Shutdown()
LogOnline: Warning: STEAM: Steam API failed to initialize!
LogOnline: Display: STEAM: OnlineSubsystemSteam::Shutdown()

I don't see any specific warnings to help me debug this issue. The above warnings seem pretty general, and I haven't been able to figure out the solution based off of them

[gloomy tiger]

LogOnline: Warning: STEAM: Failed to initialize Steam, this could be due to a Steam server and client running on the same machine. Try running with -NOSTEAM on the cmdline to disable.

I guess you're running the game in the editor where both the server and the client are invoked.

Steam doesn't allow that at all.

If you want to test that locally you'd need to either play with a second machine or setup a virtual machine to be your host.

[lucid vault]

No, I am running the server by itself on an AWS instance

Hence the world 'could' I guess. Not sure what else would be causing this problem

[gleaming vector]

you can also use the force steamclient link command line arg

to link to your steam client

[lucid vault]

Interesting, could you elaborate a bit on that?

It seems I've pretty much hit a dead end on debugging this. There aren't any good resources on these errors and what causes them. Seems like a complete mystery :\

[gusty slate]

Hello everyone,
I have been researching the available solutions to creating a party system similar to Rocket league/Borderlands/Fortnite and I just wanted to ask if I should delve deeper into Beacons or Lobbies? Considering that my aim here is for it to work on Steam

[rich ridge]

What you want is OSS.

[gusty slate]

Online subsystem?

I know how the regular session flow works (hosting/joining) etc but im talking pre-game/matchmaking parties

[soft shell]

I switched over to the SteamSockets net driver as I wanted to have pings working on listen servers. This worked and I no longer see the 9999ms ping; however it broke the dedicated servers (complaining about "Ignoring P2P Signal, invalid connection") - I found that if I build the game with bAllowP2PPacketRelay=true, then listen server's work fine.. and if I build my windows dedicated server with bAllowP2PPacketRelay=false it still accepts connections via "FindSessions/JoinSession" and via direct IP connections.. Is this to be expected? Or am I doing something wrong here?

[heady python]

I use advanced sessions plugin for my steam game, and in testing, matchmaking works perfectly fine. After putting my build on steam and testing through steamworks, the matchmaking doesnt work at all. Is there any 'easy fix' to this or do i have to recreate matchmaking until it works?

[rich ridge]

OSS does that too, Please check IOnlineLobbyInterface, or IOnlibePartyInterface

[chrome bay]

None of the existing OSS's have any implementation for those

If you want a party, it's probably best to use beacons - but beacons are inherently part of the session system as well, you can't really use one and not the other

[peak sentinel]

"interpolation" just means FMath::VInterpTo(CurrentLoc, ServerLoc, delta, 1.0f) right?

[chrome bay]

Well that's one way of interpolating

You should only interpolate the visual elements though

[peak sentinel]

Whats the other way? You're the only one replying to pawn replication threads as I see 😅

[peak sentinel]

I guess this is the CMC way then, right? Teleporting capsule and interpolating mesh to capsule on client

[chrome bay]

yeah

Only the non-owning clients though

It doesn't interpolate the player who is controlling it obviously

Since that player is predicted locally

That post is from a younger less-wiser me but it's mostly right. The player controlling the pawn has to predict it's movement locally, that's the only way to have it smooth

You can't interpolate the controlling players' pawn, that will always still result in snapping.

And jittery movement

[peak sentinel]

I am using CMC on player-controlled pawns (characters) and using FloatingPawnMovement on AIs

[chrome bay]

CMC will "just work" so long as all you're doing is adding movement input

Floating Pawn Movement has no such prediction or smoothing AFAIK

[peak sentinel]

Yeah it doesnt, it just teleports/corrects over time. I tried using PostNetReceiveLocationAndRotation() override and interping on Tick as I mentioned above, but didnt worked. Now I will try the mesh to capsule interpolation. Should I do it on Tick too?

[chrome bay]

the interpolation should be ticked yeah

The actual position or the object should be hard-set since you don't want collision etc. to be out of date

Then the movement component should tick, and interpolate the mesh to the capsule

CMC has a maximum smoothing distance, beyond which it will just snap anyway

Since too much interpolation can look just as crap

BTW

Projectile Movement has an implementation of smoothing now IIRC

You might be able to look at that for a super-basic example

It's not quite the same though since projectile movement is simulated locally too, and I don't think the flying movement is

[peak sentinel]

Great, thanks for the guidance 🙂

[final rover]

Hey, so I'm working on a directional gravity system, and I'm trying to figure out how to network the player's rotation. I want clientside rotation calculation with an authoritative server to verify the clients action. How would it be best to go about this? Are there any good tutorials that cover doing stuff on the client but confirming the actions on the server, and rolling back if necessary? If someone could point me in the right direction that'd be awesome!

[rich ridge]

I was saying it's party handling is handled by OSS, so if your OSS provider supports party then OSS will function and use respective interfaces

And Epic OSS will definately support that in near future

Engine do have abstract implementation done.. it's only that the OSS providers will have to write real implementation

[chrome bay]

Well the OSS provider provides the Service, but it's up to either Epic or you to fill out the abstract implementation on the engine side

The Steam OSS implementation is pretty dire, but I wouldn't count on any updates to it unless they accept huge PR's from the community. At least they're plugins now so you don't need to work from source to do so.

The abstract implementation for parties doesn't exist for steam is what I'm getting at, so you'd have to fill that out yourself. But then again Steam doesn't really have "parties" as such, you just have to leverage lobbies.

[rich ridge]

The developer or studio need to wisely choose the correct OSS provider

[chrome bay]

yep for sure

[gusty slate]

@chrome bay I wouldn't mind using sessions for the game and beacons for party making. I already have implemented a game fully using sessions and a regular Server host/join flow

[chrome bay]

What I mean is you need both

You need a "session" for the beacons to work

[gusty slate]

the Party session?

[chrome bay]

It depends on the OSS. On Steam you can only be part of one lobby at a time IIRC (could be wrong there)

So party host would create a game session as usual, players join via beacons, then you travel with the host, then re-create the party when all players have joined

Parties are a very abstract thing

[gusty slate]

I assume it's basically sharing data without joining an actual "game session" and then being able to join the same game session

[chrome bay]

Beacons still require you to "join", it's just that they allow you to communicate before you commit to loading the level, so you can "reserve" space before joining or something

I mean you can use them in many ways, but ultimately the beacon "host" still needs to create a "session" that other beacons can find

[gusty slate]

I see

[chrome bay]

There is a steam party plugin on marketplace, I think that has a pretty decent implementation using beacons

[gusty slate]

I will try and have a look. Thing is, I already had a plugin called SteamCore which I used for leaderboards and it has functionality for Steam Lobbies

I have been experimenting yesterday and it seems that they could work but as far as I know, after you join a hosted game (level) the lobby is destroyed, so it might be tricky and annoying at the end of that map or after leaving to recreate the party

[chrome bay]

Almost every Steam plugin on Marketplace has it's own ideas on how the interfacing with Steam should work tbh

[gusty slate]

And I read somewhere that using beacons you could retain the people who joined after a game session has ended?

[chrome bay]

I doubt any of them are really compatible with each other

[gusty slate]

It's basically interfacing directly with Steam's lobby functions

https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/features/multiplayer/matchmaking

[chrome bay]

Beacons are actors so their connections are ultimately destroyed between level transitions, but if you wanted to retain the members, you'd keep details of the party somewhere and attempt to reconnected afterwards

[winged badger]

lobbies don't need to be destroyed when you join the game

[chrome bay]

ahh good

I wasn't sure

[winged badger]

making that action implicit is just bad

[chrome bay]

Can you be in two lobbies at once on Steam? i.e. a listen server and somebody elses "party" lobby?

[winged badger]

steam lobby is completely independent of unreal ingame connection

and no for 2 lobbies

[chrome bay]

rgr. always wondered...

[gusty slate]

you can be on multiple party lobbies I think

[chrome bay]

well a lobby is just a lobby, I don't think there's any kind of differentiation on Steam

[rich ridge]

Same is true for Epic online services

[chrome bay]

Listen Servers in UE are done via Lobbies

[winged badger]

didn't have time to dig into EOS

but coupling that with ingame sessions would be crazy

[gusty slate]

I guess it's just a lobby with a map loaded as listen

[winged badger]

just limits your options

[chrome bay]

So yeah, the TL;DR is.. "it's complicated" 😄

[gusty slate]

It is indeed x)

and it doesn't help that to properly test lobbies, it needs multiple steam accounts, ie not possible with a single PC

except with some way of vm

[rich ridge]

@Shinzo - Ed#8762 to be simple OSS is UE4 term which provides c++ APIs for your game.

OSS is nothing but a frontend wrapper above your game backend service

[chrome bay]

tbh for multiplayer dev having more than one machine is essential

Even if it's just a crummy laptop you use to host a session

[gusty slate]

Yeah that's what i was doing to test Steam on a previous game

[chrome bay]

You might be able to use a VM for some stuff.. but there's no substitute for "really" testing on two different machines, and ideally on two different networks too

[gusty slate]

True yes

I am still hesitant on whether to go for Steam lobbies only or try to work with Beacons though

[chrome bay]

Essentially beacons require steam lobbies

If of course, you wanna use steam solely

[rich ridge]

@gusty slate Engine already have production level party beacon actors

It should be inside OnlineSubsystemUtils module

Not sure though

[chrome bay]

But you really can use them for allsorts. We use them in HLL for a server queue

[gusty slate]

how much is the Steam OSS handling that though?

[chrome bay]

If you want one machine to connect to another, be it via beacon or the usual hard-travel route, you need to advertise a session of some kind

and AFAIK on Steam, you can be in one session at a time

[gusty slate]

I read some of your comments above Jambax and posts on forum from 2017 about beacons and Steam, how advanced or handled is it currently?
Because as beacons are based on lobbies (sessions are lobbies basically as wel) and lots of functionality is there, I might research and experiment before working solely with Steam lobbies

[chrome bay]

Beacons aren't based on anything, they're just actors with a net connection that doesn't need you to load a UWorld

The actual online implementation of them is entirely up to you

[gusty slate]

The Party beacons I meant sorry

I know there was already a client and host beacons supposed to be aimed at parties

[chrome bay]

The UPartyBeacon classes are designed to work with IOnlinePartyInterface - and currently there is no implementation of that for Steam

(And there probably won't ever be)

[gusty slate]

I see what you mean. There is initial abstract implementation of it but it isn't implemented with Steam's backend interface, API and how steam handles itself.
I might look into implementing it with lobbies then, because my current target right now is Steam alone

Because, I won't have the time to implement that on my own

might as well implement it on top of lobbies directly

[chrome bay]

That's basically what you need to do on Steam

Or you host some kind of other server outside of steam, like an XMPP server, and people connect to parties like through that

[mortal kernel]

Hey Guys... I have a Animation blueprint which needs variables from the player character but whatever I do they won't apply for some reason

[sinful tree]

This is probably not the issue, but it's bad form to pin items across paths like this. It makes it difficult to follow, and may cause you problems if you're not careful with what you're pinning. You're better off calling a reference to the variables you need when you need to use them on separate paths.

[fast arrow]

it seems you are not updating value. you cant just take the value out of other execution chain.

this set blocks just sets value on begin play then returns the value you've just set. that mean on next frame you wont get data out of it if i correct

[sinful tree]

The Input X and Input Z values should not be set to replicated if they are being fed in by player input.

[fast arrow]

you need to use get for that

[mortal kernel]

@sinful tree I don't really get what you're trying to tell me tbh because... it is the place where I need them to be... inside the animation blueprint so I can change the animation being played

[sinful tree]

Disconnect and get the variable instead of pinning across execution paths

[fast arrow]

yup)

im bad at explaining things)

[mortal kernel]

still the same problem

[sinful tree]

Better 😄

Your PCT_Master is the player controller?

[mortal kernel]

Yes it's the controller

I have all movement logic in there

[sinful tree]

That variable should not be marked as replicated.

[mortal kernel]

was probably just me... trying to get it working well

what about the other variables ?

[sinful tree]

So this too is in the AnimBP?

[mortal kernel]

That's in player controller

it makes the character move

pretty much the "third person example" logic with some validation and debug stuff

[sinful tree]

Why couldn't you just call those in the character instead of from the controller?

[mortal kernel]

Because I may add functionality to swap characters ingame later on

[sinful tree]

That's fine, those characters can inherit from your main character if they use the same control scheme, otherwise they can have their own controls.

I'm not seeing anything else particularly suspect. Perhaps verify using print strings on the cast failure and valid checks just for debugging. There may be something not getting set somewhere correctly.

[mortal kernel]

Already done that it's getting all variables on the server too but it just won't apply the animation

it stays with idle

on Both
Server to Client
Client to Server

The local character is working just fine

[fast arrow]

so the local character is moving but from other client - it doesnt?

[mortal kernel]

it moves but it's not animated

[fast arrow]

is it not animated on both side ?

[fast arrow]

i thought about it) So basically you pressing the button on the client and information about it doesnt send to the server

it seems

[gloomy sedge]

@mortal kernel is the Character's class defaults set to replicate ?

[mortal kernel]

It's the same if I move with the server btw... the client also doesn't see's it's animation aswell

[fast arrow]

ahhh im bad at explaining))

[mortal kernel]

@gloomy sedge

[fast arrow]

so movement component receive input and moves pawn on server BUT you sets the variable on the cient side so the server doesnt know about it

your debug shows input x on the cilent = 1 but on the server = 0

[mortal kernel]

yea because the server is the player I don't move :o

[fast arrow]

is far as i remember debug shows value on server and same value on client

if you replicate it

[gloomy sedge]

Don't think it would show on server as the variables aren't being sent to the server. (I think)

[mortal kernel]

I've tried adding smth like this

problem is still there

[sinful tree]

The Input X and Input Z values should not be set to replicated. If they're being set by the client, the replication thing does nothing.
Out of curiosity, is your character inheriting from Character or Pawn?

[mortal kernel]

I've created it from the ThirdPersonCharacter Example

so it should be a Character ?

[sinful tree]

Yep, that's good.

[ember needle]

Are there any known issues with replicated Child Actors?

I have a replicated actor that has two Child Actor component ("hatches"), themselves also replicated.

When I use this setup in multiplayer, the "Child Actor" of these two components is... None.

is this a known behavior?

I am avoiding this by spawning on server on begin play, which works, but this is unexpected to me.

Can some kind soul please confirm?

[fast arrow]

@mortal kernel Mb i wasnt very useful here, but maybe the problem was that Player controller doesnt replicate to other clients. coz they dont

[mortal kernel]

Well.. I can't get it to work

[lucid vault]

I asked this question earlier, but it has since gotten buried, and I have yet to figure out a solution. Let me know if anyone has any ideas

Creating online subsystem instance for: Steam
Warning: Steam Dedicated Server API failed to initialize.
STEAM: [AppId: 0] Game Server API initialized 0
Warning: STEAM: Failed to initialize Steam, this could be due to a Steam server and client running on the same machine. Try running with -NOSTEAM on the cmdline to disable.
Display: STEAM: OnlineSubsystemSteam::Shutdown()
Warning: STEAM: Steam API failed to initialize!
Display: STEAM: OnlineSubsystemSteam::Shutdown()
Login request: ?Name=CubedMango userId: Steam:111111111111111111 platform: Steam
PreLogin failure: incompatible_unique_net_id

I receive the above errors when launching my dedicated server (on an EC2 instance). I've followed the documentation when setting up a dedicated server with Steam multiple times. Steam initializes for clients (clients can use the Steam overlay, for instance), but the dedicated server throws these errors and refuses clients that are running Steam

[meager spade]

this is normally cause the appid text file is missing from the binary folder on the executable

can you verify if the text file is there?

should see something like this

[lucid vault]

In my packaged game with the server as build target, the file should be in Engine/Binaries or ProjectName/Binaries? I assume the latter, regardless, the file is missing from both

[meager spade]

without that, it wont find the id

try creating the file and put your app id in it

just the appid

[sinful tree]

that's crazy XD

[lucid vault]

Should I put the file in /ProjectName/Binaries/Win64?

[meager spade]

yes

https://www.thegames.dev/snaps/explorer_metJTysvUZ.png like ths

[twin juniper]

Hello. I'm in a huge bind that's been frying my brain and agitating me for 4 days straight. Any chance I could ask for some help?

[lucid vault]

I'm still getting the same error in the dedi server

I do notice that the error only occurs when the client tries to join

[meager spade]

interesting, and you have the steam api stuff ?

there is additional stuff iirc (steam client files)

[lucid vault]

That doesn't get added automatically when packaging?

[meager spade]

though i have not done dedicated server with steam, just from what i have heard

no

its not part of the SDK

its part of steam

[lucid vault]

That's strange. I haven't heard of that before

[twin juniper]

you have to download it yourself and even add code into the engine.ini file

ill link a video for the advanced sessions plug in for ue4 that helped me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ke3kmK6bvT0&t=5s

then the code would be creating and getting advanced sessions and can get ids from that stuff

[lucid vault]

I'll check it out. One other thing, is that I attempt to connect to the Steam server via the open ipaddress command, not sure if that matters

[meager spade]

noo

actually

maybe

i am not sure how steam dedi's work

but yeah you probably need IP for steam dedi's

[twin juniper]

also the steam interface sometimes doesnt work if its just hitting play, u wanna stand alone game, or if that doesnt work launch the game itself from the folder ur making it in

[meager spade]

i thought the steam dedi's used an ID

https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/api/ISteamMatchmakingServers#PingServer

[twin juniper]

im not sure what that means, but thats how i got it to work on mine

[meager spade]

this returns the result that you connect to

[twin juniper]

while hes trying that is there a chance i could ask for some help?

[fast arrow]

@mortal kernel so the problem is that this variables wont replicate. you made this in player controller but they wont replicate. Every player has its own PC and server ,in this case is the host, has its own PC as well. Try to make RPC from PC to owning pawn with 1 flaot param(speed or sthm) and set it in the pawn with replication on. and then use pawn value in your BP_Anim.
To sum up it will be smth like this Client(PC owner (doesnot replicate)) -> To Owning Pawn on the server (which replicates) -> to BP_Anim. Hope this will work for you

[meager spade]

why would you send the input every tick

to the server?

btw @fast arrow that will not work, Replicated variables have to be set on server to replicate, client will never replicate, and the inputs are always local.

[fast arrow]

thats what i've said. damn i need to learn how to explain stuff to ppl)))

this pic in not mine btw

it's his

[meager spade]

ah lol

[mortal kernel]

@meager spade I have tried setting it on server but it doesn't work

[meager spade]

you were sending a RPC every tick btw

[mortal kernel]

Right now i don't really care... because I wanna have it working first but welll I can't seem to do it

[meager spade]

well send a unrealiable RPC to the server

with the input vector

[fast arrow]

But it is not how it should be done)

[meager spade]

btw yours will fail

and i really want you to understand why

@mortal kernel https://www.thegames.dev/snaps/UE4Editor-Win64-DebugGame_cqMppi6H2p.png

do you understand what this is doing?

[meager spade]

this is wrong btw

shoosh

@fast arrow

[ember needle]

@lucid vault which documentation BTW?

[meager spade]

trying to teach here

[fast arrow]

ok)

[sinful tree]

XD

[meager spade]

😄

@mortal kernel you with us ?

[mortal kernel]

Here

[meager spade]

right

https://www.thegames.dev/snaps/UE4Editor-Win64-DebugGame_cqMppi6H2p.png this is wrong

[mortal kernel]

Why?

[fast arrow]

nope sry) got 10 min then have to go)

[meager spade]

let me explain, this function is being run on the server

so what would the value of My Var be on the server?

[lucid vault]

@ember needle https://docs.unrealengine.com/en-US/InteractiveExperiences/Networking/HowTo/DedicatedServers/index.html

[meager spade]

(hint: it would be the value on the server)

😄

[ember needle]

@lucid vault just checking there are so many

[mortal kernel]

I think I know why my stuff isn't working already but I'm not home anymore So I gotta wait

[meager spade]

so why would it not work?

[mortal kernel]

Maybe it's because my Movement logic (with its variables) is inside the player controller

Which doesn't really replicate at all

[meager spade]

nope

its like i said, your server RPC is wrong

you are telling the server to sets it X and Y axis to the values it already has!

not the client values

[mortal kernel]

What even means Rpc in the first place

[meager spade]

http://cedric-neukirchen.net/2017/02/14/multiplayer-network-compendium/

please read this

and this is what you need to do. https://www.thegames.dev/snaps/UE4Editor-Win64-DebugGame_rGHwftw1Ge.png

[twin juniper]

why u giving her the run around, just tell her

[meager spade]

hope you can understand.

@twin juniper cause people never learn by spoonfeeding

i can easily just give someone some code or a bp screenshot

but will they understand it? no.

[fast arrow]

Remote Procedure Calls

[twin juniper]

you teach them why as you show them how to do it. not ask them why it wont work when they already dont know why it wont work

thats why there here for answers

[fast arrow]

call from serve to client or all the way around

[meager spade]

@mortal kernel btw, running that RPC on tick is not very performant

in sense of network traffic

thats 8 bytes being sent every frame (though some maybe dropped cause its unreliable)

[mortal kernel]

Yea I know but I can't seem to figure out a proper way of calcuting my 8 way walking Animation :o

[meager spade]

you can do that without needing a RPC of input values

[mortal kernel]

If theres some way to get this... I'm in

[meager spade]

you can calculate deltas between the last movement velocity

and work out if they are moving left right, backward, forwards, or diagonally

Blend spaces do this automatically

[mortal kernel]

My main issue is... by using the vector length i always get the max movement speed... no matter if I'm walking left or right or backwards

So I tried getting this input variable to do it for me

Which leads to me being here right now

[meager spade]

vector length is just speed

you need direction

[peak sentinel]

Are you trying to determine the where your input points? like "right side of character" or "forward of character"? There are too many messages I couldnt catch up but if you are trying to do this I can send some examples

[mortal kernel]

@peak sentinel
Basically I have an 8 direction blend space which needs speed and direction...
But the normal vector length is giving me the max speed all the time no matter what my character actually walks

Thus I used the input variable for this which didn't replicate which brings us where we are :o

[ember needle]

I would like to show a blank screen in MP when the level boots up. I create a blank UMG on BeginPlay of the PC and add it to the viewport.
This works nicely on the listening server, but due to latency on the clients you can see the workd for a blip of a second. My understanding is that this is due to PC being created later on the clients, and the world may already be up (ths character often is, actually).

What is the best way to avoid this?

I would like to avoid the hack of setting exposure to -9999 on the map or so

[peak sentinel]

There should be a "Calculate Direction" node in anim bps

You plug direction and velocity and it gives you direction with an output of float

You use it as Direction variable

And use velocity as speed

[meager spade]

@ember needle clients will know when they are travelling

(if you use travel)

[ember needle]

i do

but the PC is the owner of the UMG

[meager spade]

does it matter?

[ember needle]

ah you're right

maybe it doesn't

[meager spade]

you can spawn widgets on the GameInstance btw

[ember needle]

wat?

really?

[meager spade]

in c++ at least

[ember needle]

create widget takes a PC

[meager spade]

not sure in BP

[mortal kernel]

@peak sentinel but velocity only gives me a postive value not a negative one... means I won't be able to walk backward

[ember needle]

yep the node asks for a player owner

hey since this got buried before...

Are there any known issues with replicated Child Actors?

I have a replicated actor that has two Child Actor component ("hatches"), themselves also replicated.

When I use this setup in multiplayer, the "Child Actor" of these two components is... None.

[mortal kernel]

Also... it starts at the back with -180 goes up to 0 which is front and then goes 180 back on the other side

[peak sentinel]

I am just working with anim bps and blendscapes at basic level but I am pretty sure you cant (shouldnt actually) go for negative values

[mortal kernel]

This means -179 is back and 179 is also back

[peak sentinel]

These are my settings, I can go back and forward

[rose egret]

given the assumption I am making a FPS game like COD Warzone.
is it better to statically place loot boxes and active them randomly when begin play called.
or make something like spawn point that spawn the real loot boxes ?

[peak sentinel]

And its working on Listen-Server

[mortal kernel]

Yes... I may see if that does

May I DM you once I get back to it ? :o

[peak sentinel]

Yeah, but you should add me friend first to access the DMs, its blocked

[rose egret]

I guess if I place them statically, whenever clients reference them , their Full path must be resolved to NetGUID which is not good

[mortal kernel]

@peak sentinel Apparently im not allowed to send you friends requests lol

You gotta add me first

[sharp kestrel]

Can anyone help me figure out how to properly close a server when a match finishes?
I'm using the AdvancedSessions plugin and can handle hosting, search and joining fine, but for some reason Destroy Session doesn't execute.

[gusty slate]

it needs to be executed by the server and players need to call it as well (When they leave)

You need to handle players logging off otherwise they don't properly exit the sessions and you'll have problems

[sharp kestrel]

I figured it would cause problems, can't host a new match if they just open level to the main menu again.

So what, would that be a custom event with multicast going straight into Destroy Session node?

[winged badger]

i find it easier to just execute it from BeginPlay in MainMenuLevel

[sharp kestrel]

Wait, that works?

That actually works.

[austere snow]

In the default networked character, how do they replicate movement from server to client? Is it just by tick? or is there a different way?

[gleaming viper]

Hello everyone 👋 . I have an issue which I struggle with for 2 days. My character is set up, but something is wrong with head rotation replication. Could you help me? Client character is rotating the head in Server character eyes but Server character doesn't rotate it's head. Every variable used for this is set as replicated.

[vestal compass]

Can ChildActorComponents be used inside multiplayer, can they be replicated?

[whole urchin]

can Unreal handle 3 buttons at the same time?

i'm trying to make my characters walk when i aim+fire+move

[regal sand]

What would cause unexpected breakpoints when building a dedicated server for a blueprint project? The breakpoints never appear in Visual Studio, unless it is built as a "development server"?

Here is the error log I get in Visual Studio

[unkempt tiger]

Does a client know the class of the current gamemode? Say if I need the gamemode to have its own pause menu widget?

[meager spade]

it says what the issue is

@unkempt tiger client cant access gamemod

gamemode, so no

[unkempt tiger]

Alright, thanks 👍

[meager spade]

gamemode can tell all clients to pause those

(via GameState)

[unkempt tiger]

Yeah, though I'm talking about a per-client pause menu

I think what I'll do is place it on the gamestate? Hmm

Actually not even a pause menu, just a basic score screen

[meager spade]

a score screen is just local

what does that have to do with gamestate or gamemode?

when play presses say tab, you create a widget, that pulls in the scores from GameState (and possibly all player states)

[lucid vault]

I've redone the Steam dedicated server setup so many times at this point, but I can never get it to work

[fast arrow]

try to lunch it on other machine)

[eternal canyon]

Does anyone here use playfab?

[fast arrow]

or try to lunch your game via command line with -NOSTEAM

[vivid seal]

so the CMC prediction works basically like this?

• client generates a "move" that has input information and some kind of ID
• client performs the move, saving the last authoritative state and a list of all moves performed since
• client sends the move to the server
• server checks the move is valid, edits it (?) if necessary
• server performs the move
• server replicates its new state, including the ID of the last move it got from the client
• client updates its authoritative state, discards all moves up to and including the ID of the last replicated move
• client performs all remaining moves again, on top of its new authoritative state

i know there's probably a lot more going on under the hood, but im trying to copy the basics over to another non-movement system and support server correction, resimulation, and rollback.

[bitter oriole]

The only thing I'd add is - server needs something more subtle than "performs the move"

Client and server have different framerates so the server needs to merge or cut client moves

A client's 60fps incoming moves would be played two by two on a 30fps server

[vivid seal]

okay, so server performs any moves it received in the last frame by merging them, or performs the last move received again if no new move was received this frame?

[bitter oriole]

When I implemented a custom movement component, I was sending the client deltatime as part of the move

Server would play as much of the move as its own deltatime, keep the rest of the packet if it's too large, move to the next one if too little

I also added a variable speed modifier that would allow a 10% speedup or slowdown to compensate network changes

[vivid seal]

was your custom movement component basically a full replacement for the CMC?

[bitter oriole]

Yeah, except way simpler, it was a flying movement

[vivid seal]

any resources on doing something like that? i hate the CMC but I don't have a lot of knowledge on where to start with coding movement from scratch

[bitter oriole]

Not really, this was a trial and error thing over a few months

You have the thing clearly understood

Implement slowly with a lot of logging, some debugging tools - I had a tool to plot client(s) and server transform over time to compare discrepancies and understand when rollbacks had to happen (resetting to server state brutally, on owning client)

[shut hinge]

I want to eventually learn how to make a multiplayer so that I may play games I make with my friends. Is it easy to rent a cheap server for like 20 dollars per month and connect us all to that? Or is that not really a thing, and we will be forced to still try to connect to a host players IP address? I’m completely new to this and clueless sorry lmao

[bitter oriole]

My advice is to avoid servers entirely

UE4 has a listen server setup where one player hosts

Use that + Steam matchmaking and you'll be inviting your friend to your session once both of you have started the game

(using the default Steam ID, no fee or Steam setup required)

[tidal crown]

Howdy, I'm attempting to debug a server crash of my dedicated server binary...it seems to only fail in my PlayFab server container (restricted windows env), I looks like maybe a DLL error but not sure...I can see all the DLLs referenced in my package that is being deployed, and ListDlls says they should all be accessible I believe...OTOH, I'm wondering if the mistake is more basic...We're using FMOD for sound events, and I wonder, do I need to guard triggering sound events to be remote only w/ a has authority switch in a dedicated server env?

I've tested this just running locally and everything runs fine client/server standalone...its when I move it to the hermetic env that it seems to fail which is weird.

[hollow eagle]

Per FMOD, it sounds (haha) like they already disable FMOD from actually outputting sound on dedicated servers: https://qa.fmod.com/t/disabling-fmod-on-dedicated-server/16017/2

[tidal crown]

that was my expectation as well!

[hollow eagle]

Your best bet is probably to make a clean VM or something on a local computer and see if you can repro the issue.

playfab does have some local debugging tools you could use but I doubt an fmod crash has anything to do with the playfab stack - just running the server manually on a clean windows vm is probably enough.

[tidal crown]

yeah it could be the difference between regular windows and server core

which is what playfab requires

[lucid vault]

@fast arrow What does -NOSTEAM do? It got the warning to go away by using it, however, when a client connects with the open ipaddress, I get a PreLogin failure: incompatible_unique_net_id error.
Does Steam even work when launching with -NOSTEAM? Or perhaps I should not be using the open command

[fast arrow]

https://www.reddit.com/r/unrealengine/comments/dwa6fz/how_to_test_dedicated_server_and_client_with/

[lucid vault]

What I don't understand is that I was never running both on the server, only the server exe

[lucid vault]

It says IpNetDriver listening on port 7777. If I'm not mistaken, it should be SteamNetDriver instead. It seems like -NOSTEAM prevents the dedi from even trying to use Steam

[gleaming vector]

i think the cli argument -force_steamclient_link will work

lemme double check that that is the actual argument

the issue is not with UE4

it's with steam

you cannot link to the steam server dlls while a client is running

so you have to force the link to the steamclient stuff

yeah

-force_steamclient_link

run that in your command line

@lucid vault

the code for it is SteamSharedModule.cpp line 192

if you are running a dedicated server, it'll use the steamclient link rather than the steam dedicated server link

you'll still ahve issues because you are putting two apps in the same steam space, but it should let you connect

If you are having issues running a steam dedicated server and a client on the same machine, try launching the server with the -force_steamclient_link command line parameter

[lucid vault]

@gleaming vector My issue is that I'm not running a client. I'm only running the Server exe on a remote machine

[gleaming vector]

oh

i had similar issues

I ended up updating steamworks

[lucid vault]

Does UE4 not bundle the right version of steamworks when packaging?

[gleaming vector]

it's a few versions out of date i think

1.48 iirc. I updated to 1.49, but 1.50 is most recent

it's pretty trivial to update it

[lucid vault]

My packaged game only has 1 steam dll. steam_api64.dll. I assume that's what needs updating

[gleaming vector]

also, in steam, you have to enable the steam binaries

for dedicated servers

and it dumps them into the root folder, i copy them into same folder as the exe (Game/Binaries/WIn64)

I have a task in my backlog for my game to fix this

but, i do it every time i create a new dedi

[lucid vault]

Where do you enable the steam binaries? Do you have a resource for that?

[gleaming vector]

it's in the steamworks config

in the steam backend

where you select the dependencies for your app

yeah

in your dedicated server's app config

Steamworks Settings -> Installation -> Redistributables

your app has to be a linked Dedicated Server tool app to your main appid

[lucid vault]

Ok, I think my confusion is coming from the fact that I am just testing with the spacewar id 480. I have yet to set up my own app with Steams backend

Did you receive the same Steam error, about Steam failing to initialize?

[gleaming vector]

i did, but i never used 480

the two things I had to do to fix it were update steamworks, and put those binaries in the executable directory

[lucid vault]

Yeah, my steamsworks folder shows v147, which is 1.47 i assume

[gleaming vector]

yeah

it's really trivial to update steamworks if you are using a source build of the engine

[lucid vault]

I guess I can just download the latest from online and drop it in there

Yeah, I do have a source build

[gleaming vector]

just copy the updated steamworks into a v150 or whatever the version you use is

and then change the steamworks.build.cs to use that version number on the first line of the module build class

it's super easy

[lucid vault]

I made the version change in the Steamworks class to 1.50, but I'm still confused as to what i do with the downloaded 1.50 sdk files. Do I replace them in the packaged project, or somewhere in the source build?

Of course, the packaged project only contains a single steam dll, so I assume I need to make the file replacements somewhere in the source build

Ah ok, I found the location

[gleaming vector]

you want to do this in your source

it's like ThirdParty/Steamworks/

i think

[lucid vault]

Yeah, I just added that folder and files

[gleaming vector]

in the engine

yeah

i did this like 6-7 months ago

so im going off of memory

and updating steamworks is kind of the thing you only do once lol

[twin juniper]

how do we make a coop game?

[gleaming vector]

that is a big question, and probably none that can be answered for you easily

I often say those are the wrong types of questions. How do you make a coop game? by making one

i recommend looking at some samples

and tutorials

[lucid vault]

I don't have access to the Steam back end as I have yet to setup my own app there, I assume that's necessary for the steam binaries step

[gleaming vector]

it is

unfortunately it's $100 to get a steam app id for the first time

which is kind of annoying

[twin juniper]

@gleaming vector i mean a drop in drop out co op

[lucid vault]

Yeah, I don't mind paying the fee

[twin juniper]

where the other player can go and load another area

and not drag the host with them

[gleaming vector]

that is a very complicated question

with a very complicated technical solution

[twin juniper]

https://tenor.com/view/modern-problems-solutions-dave-chapelle-gif-13450651

[gleaming vector]

there are some GDC videos on how Bungie did it for Destiny

[twin juniper]

destiny was butchered

[gleaming vector]

you'll struggle with it in UE4 though, since it doesn't do peer to peer

[twin juniper]

oh?

I thought UE4 does have multiplayer

Gears of war and all

Gears of war 3 had P2P

on UE3

[lucid vault]

Hmm, I wonder if I will be able to access the binaries before the 30 day waiting period

[hollow eagle]

Definitely watch the GDC videos on what bungie did because they're interesting, but definitely don't try to copy them for a real game unless you're a AAA because their hybrid p2p/dedicated bubble system is insanely complex.

[gleaming vector]

dont bother answering him, i banned him for being racist in other channels

[hollow eagle]

Oh, rip.

[lucid vault]

Yeah, the process looks slow for Steamworks. I'm stuck on the tax info section until my identity verifies (2-7 days). I guess I will try and launch my server with the updated steamworks sdk and see what happens

[tidal crown]

Still working through this: https://qa.fmod.com/t/ue4-25-dedicated-server-binary-crashing-after-integrating-basic-fmod-events/16572

I managed to detect that the DLLs are not being loaded, even though they are present after packaging :/

not sure what to do about that.

they are in my $PROJECT/Plugins/FMODStudio/Binaries/Win64 folder...do they need to be copied elsewhere perhaps?

maybe they need to be in $PROJECT/Binaries/Win64?

but its weird they are attempting to load ../../../ ?

starting to wonder if its Msacm32.dll is missing from Windows Server Core

[summer tide]

So I created a steam connection. I invited my other account through my game invite. The account accepts the invitation. We are both in the same game. When the other party choose join game , he doesnt see the server.

[winged badger]

as in doesn't detect the server on the list of available games to join?

check how many players you're allowing per game if so

[summer tide]

Allowing 2 and still using the default steam id spacewr if that;s not an issue

[winged badger]

if you're allowing 2

your game is full

and is filtered out of available game list

3rd player wouldn't see it

[summer tide]

So to create a party of 2 i have to allow 3

[winged badger]

no to have 3 you need to allow 3

[lucid vault]

This may be a silly question, but, how do I build the binaries for the new Steamworks SDK that I pointed my Steamworks.build.cs to? I built with both Development Editor and Development Server, but the \Engine\Binaries\ThirdParty\Steamworks\Steamv15\ folder was never created

[rapid bronze]

https://docs.unrealengine.com/en-US/ProgrammingAndScripting/Online/Steam/index.html

[lucid vault]

@rapid bronze I appears that the compiling UE4 section is outdated. OnlineSubsystemSteamPrivatePCH.h does not exist. Rather, OnlineSubsystemSteamPrivate.h. However, it does not contain #define STEAM_SDK_ROOT_PATH TEXT("Binaries/ThirdParty/Steamworks")

[rapid bronze]

I think the step is not longer needed

If you're building on 4.25 and have the newest version of the SDK if it's giving errors be sure to get into SteamSocket.cpp and replace ReceiveMessagesOnListenSocket with ReceiveMessagesOnConnection.

[lucid vault]

@rapid bronze I already did that an solved all of the errors. However, after both my Editor and Server builds completed successfully, the binaries for the Steamv15 were still not created

Is the editor development build supposed to build those binaries?

[rapid bronze]

You mean Binaries in the sdk folder?

[lucid vault]

\Engine\Binaries\ThirdParty\Steamworks

The binaries in that folder

There is supposed to be a Steamv15

[rapid bronze]

Oh no no

[lucid vault]

I have the Steamv15 folder in \Engine\Source\ThirdParty\Steamworks\Steamv15. But, when I package my game in UE4, I get an error because the binary version is missing

[rapid bronze]

You literally need to copy them from your Steam to the Engine

The compiled Binaries

You actually need to put them in yourself, i think half are included in the skd, half from actual Steam folder

[lucid vault]

I will attempt to do that. Am I not supposed to have the SDK in \Engine\Source\ThirdParty\Steamworks\Steamv15 as well?

[rapid bronze]

Yep yep

[lucid vault]

I notice that the previous versions, such as 1.47, only contain the steam_api64.dll and none of the others

Are the other files no longer needed perhaps?

[rapid bronze]

i think depends on the platforms you want to built it on too

but in theory i think they just go for win64 and linux64 in the sdk that's already there

i kept everything just in case

[lucid vault]

Question is, are the files from my Steam directory the latest (ie compatible with the 1.5 SDK) ?

[rapid bronze]

Should be yeh

Had no problems personally

[twin juniper]

quick replication question

i set my player up for on begin play it creates a widget hud and adds to viewport, as you may know when the clients join they also make one and add a second and third hud to the servers hud. so clients have one but server has 3. how can i make a hud widget just for clients and not make another one on top of servers

@everyone idk if that makes sense

[dark edge]

Branch on "is locally controlled" before spawning widget.

[twin juniper]

thank you , fixed

[vocal cargo]

is there any plugin available that actually helps replicating physics?

or rather, how would you go about it

just running into a ball or a cube for example causes a bunch of issues

[twin juniper]

I have a gamemode bp that I am trying to take a variable from and update it in a HUD. How would I do this for multiple players? I keep getting a null reference to the game mode for player 2

[lucid vault]

@vocal cargo Not really. The non deterministic nature of UE4 makes it super difficult. A solution that i have done before is to locally simulate physics for the nearest player, but that won't work if multiple players are interacting with something at once

@twin juniper use the GameState. GameMode isn't replicated

[vocal cargo]

thanks @lucid vault

any idea if this will be improved in UE5?

[lucid vault]

I wouldn't count on it. Although, apparently Chaos improves physics across the network. Haven't used it yet

[vocal cargo]

huh, interesting

what about things like physics constraints?

I have a character attached to a physics constraint so he can 'swing'

this work pretty damn well in the editor

[lucid vault]

simulate ping and test again

[vocal cargo]

but when I run that on a dedicated server..

[lucid vault]

net pktlag=150

[vocal cargo]

I tried that too

seems 'alright'

but when I run it on a dedicated server it blows up

but in your opinion - would something like this work?

If I multicast the attachment to the physics constraint technically it should work?

[vivid nymph]

So for my NPC Actors they have the ActorOnClicked event setup, but when they are clicked I need to get the Player that clicked it so I can RPC to the Server to update their Target. I was using Get Player Character with the index of 0, but that just gets the first player...

[final rover]

Would the ue4 character movement component need any changes if it were to be used in a competitive fps? I would assume games like fortnite and valorant customize it right? (specifically talking about the networking portion of the movement component)

[gleaming viper]

Hey, do you guys know why is pawn movement so jittery?

[meager spade]

🔮

nope, can't see anything in the crystal ball @gleaming viper

[gleaming viper]

I will send a video wait a sec

[meager spade]

@final rover change what exactly?

[gleaming viper]

^ you can see it on the left

[meager spade]

what is with that perspective, huring my eyes lol

hurting*

[gleaming viper]

100 FOV

[meager spade]

yeah i can tell 😄

you sure that jitter isn't animation jitter?

ie wrong values in your animgraph?

[gleaming viper]

no because in first person everything is okay

[meager spade]

does it happen in standalone (just server)

is your skeletal mesh replicated on the character?

[gleaming viper]

yes, I'm controlling client window now and in server's eyes everything is okay

you mean this one?

[meager spade]

ok good

it really does look like a animation glitch

rather than movement

[gleaming viper]

okay, so what could be an issue?

[thin stratus]

Yop

[gleaming viper]

because in everything is okay with client pawn

[thin stratus]

Can totally be that it's because you are using code that is more precise on the Autonomous end

Does that only happen if you walk backwards?

[gleaming viper]

from what I can see, nope

[meager spade]

how are you getting rotation

and speed

in the animbp

[gleaming viper]

(this is a Forward variable thing)

[meager spade]

this is in animbp?

why are you using replicated properties

in the animbp

you do know that it does not replicate?

[gleaming viper]

yes, but needed to try earlier for something else

[meager spade]

try what?

AnimBP is LOCAL only

nothing replicates

[gleaming viper]

nevermind, something for head rotation

[meager spade]

well make them all non replicated

cause the should not be replicated

i need to see more of the graph

[gleaming viper]

that's the rest

[meager spade]

why are you adding local rotation?

in the animbp?

why are you using GetPlayerCharacter 0?

do you understand what GetPlayerCharacter 0 is going to do?

honestly, that static is 90 percent of the causes of breaking in multiplayer games

what will GetPlayerCharacter 0 do on the server?

[gleaming viper]

okay, pinned it it to Try To Get Pawn Owner

[meager spade]

who will that return?

[gleaming viper]

I know, didn't notice

nothing changed anyway ¯_(ツ)_/¯

[meager spade]

also don't ever manip the pawns rotation in the animbp

[gleaming viper]

okay so what do I do instead?

[meager spade]

do it in the pawn if needed

what is that for anyway?

why are you doing that?

some hacky turn in place system?

[gleaming viper]

yes, for turn in place

[meager spade]

its wrong

you should never rotate like that

TIP is smoke and mirrors

what you do is, calculate the delta rotation, and counter rotate the root bone

[gleaming viper]

okay, I unpinned this part of code

it's not glitching anymore, but the head is behaving weirdly

[meager spade]

when threshold is reached (like say 90 degrees), you interp the root bone

what you mean the head is behaving weirdly?

[gleaming viper]

I wouldn't care about turn in place that much, but I want player to behave like that.

[meager spade]

right?

[gleaming viper]

so if you go left/right head stays in place

[meager spade]

you need a proper TIP system

give me a sec

ill make a BP version of C++ TIP system

[gleaming viper]

alright, thanks for helping me

[meager spade]

#animation ill go over it there

[gloomy sedge]

Hi, I'm using OSS.VoiceLoopback 1 to get the voice back, it seems to be slightly jittery and the threshold seems to be very high, I also set this to Set Mic Threshold -1 My father, who works for Nokia currently working on a VoIP system, mentioned that it could possibly be due to the fact too much is going over the port. Is there a way to change voice to a different port? if I understood him correctly..

My problem is the voice is only detected when the mic is literally on my mouth, and the voice coming back is jittery, anyone know which could be the problem ?

[lucid vault]

WOW

I think I solved my Steam dedi server issue

I had to install the steam client on the dedi for it to work

I believe this is necessary when using 480 (spacewar)

[sage creek]

hey, LaunchCharacter won't work at all in multiplayer even with these flags on

what's going on?

[kindred widget]

I don't know about messing with those two settings, but LaunchCharacter works fine if you just call it on the server as far as I remember.

[heady python]

When i move my client i get major rubberbanding. Im guessing that movement BP is made incorrectly, but how do i correct it?

[mighty zinc]

Why do u need launch char

If it's for dodging then u can just build a custom cmc

[sage creek]

how do i call it on server?

[sage creek]

i'm making the lil smash bros launching mechanic in 3d

[kindred widget]

From input, you just need to ServerRPC.

[vivid nymph]

in my multiplayer game, there are NPC Characters that fire the ActorOnClicked event when clicked. this all works fine in a standalone client or when running as a listen server client, but when you are a true client connected to a server and click on the Actor, my SetTargetOnServer RPC fails to call because LogNet: Warning: UNetDriver::ProcessRemoteFunction: No owning connection for actor NPCCharacter_2. Function SetTargetOnServer will not be processed.
Watching the debug on the blueprint, i see that its NPCCharacter (Client) that fires the event, which looks correct I think. But, I see the Self is actually NULL.

This is the basic event handle on the BP. The event fires but Self is always null so it can never call the server function.

I think if I understand correctly, I need to reroute this somehow through a Player Controller pawn, but how should that work? I normally cannot get the actual Player Character in this instance since its a Client and an NPC but I did come up with a fairly crazy method that accesses a Global client only object to get the Client instances real player character.

[kindred widget]

@vivid nymph You cannot RPC to server from an actor that the client doesn't own.

So yeah, generally you'd probably use something like an interface. On click, get local player controller, call server RPC, pass clicked actor through and then call an interface function on the Actor pointer.

[vivid nymph]

It feels dirty, but it seems maybe I can store the clicked NPC reference in a kind of QueuedVariable on the Player, and then on Tick check for a value and send it from the loop

[fringe dove]

is it valid to call a client rpc from a client? shooter game seems to call ClientSendRoundEndEvent from clients when they exit to main menu:

void UShooterGameInstance::EndPlayingState()
{
    [...]
    if (GameState)
    {
        // Send round end events for local players
        for (int i = 0; i < LocalPlayers.Num(); ++i)
        {
            AShooterPlayerController* ShooterPC = Cast<AShooterPlayerController>(LocalPlayers[i]->PlayerController);
            if (ShooterPC)
            {
                // Assuming you can't win if you quit early
                ShooterPC->ClientSendRoundEndEvent(false, GameState->ElapsedTime);
            }
        }```

[kindred widget]

@fringe dove Sure, It's not any different than calling a ServerRPC from a listenserver.

[lost inlet]

yeah, it won't use networking at all

[kindred widget]

It just won't go anywhere.

⬆️

[fringe dove]

thanks

is there a built in cleaner way to log out a client? stepping through it seems shooter game just relies on the main menu map load to shut down current net driver

more specifically I'd like to make sure any previously reliably sent RPCs from client are acknowledged before exiting (with a timeout if it takes too long)

or maybe the net driver shutdown call already does that

I can make my own ServerExitRequest RPC or something and do it manually, just didn't know if the gameplay framework already had something similar

one related thing I see in the code:

I guess that is for removing a splitscreen player usually

[unkempt tiger]

If the server spawns a brand new actor, and immediately after sends a client some reliable RPC with said actor's ptr as a parameter, is there any chance that for the client that actor would still be null?

[fringe dove]

@unkempt tiger I think it could be, which may be why pawn possess has a complicated acknowledgement flow

[unkempt tiger]

hmm I see, yeah it is indeed null for me, just checked

[vivid nymph]

So I moved the RPC call into my Player BP, and I am still getting LogNet: Warning: UNetDriver::ProcessRemoteFunction: No owning connection for actor ThirdPersonCharacter_C_1. Function SetTargetOnServer will not be processed.

[fringe dove]

@vivid nymph doesn't matter where the call is called, I think the actor channel it goes on is determined by on which actor it is defined

[vivid nymph]

not sure I follow, so what I did was store the clicked actor on a global variable available on the client, and inside my Player Character's BP OnTick, I check if that variable is set and then do the RPC call

[fringe dove]

@vivid nymph is the player character possessed?

it should fail I think until it is possessed and starts going I think through the player controller's connection as a result

[vivid nymph]

hmm, i mean i can walk around with it np in that window

[fringe dove]

did you only spawn it locally?

[vivid nymph]

its definitely replicated, I can see it moving around on the other clients and vice versa

[fringe dove]

I'm not sure then, it should have a working connection if it is able to do that

[grand lily]

Anyone have tips on finding fonts with licences that allow their use in marketplace assets?

[fringe dove]

wrong channel I think

[grand lily]

oops

clicked the channel starting with "m"

[gleaming vector]

ooo https://github.com/EpicGames/UnrealEngine/commit/e8ad1938cc1c8e1e2dee4b32b092c163fde580e2

network prediction work

character movement

[fringe dove]

did much change with NP plugin from 4.25 to 4.26?

[rich ridge]

Even if it's changed there is no point in using them

It's not documented at all

[fringe dove]

there are a couple youtube videos from the guy working on it but that's about all I've seen

[rich ridge]

NP is supposed to be CMC replacement, if you somehow managed to use NP , then you GAS will break

[fringe dove]

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2ihp5MxFcc0MFdth2SXyOw/videos

it is supposed to eventually integrate with GAS

[rich ridge]

This video I have seen.

[fringe dove]

can do more than CMC replacement with physics, vehicles, etc.

[rich ridge]

I have been patiently waiting for gas support from very long

[meager spade]

yeah but what kind of GAS support are you wanting?

like what would you want to do?

[fringe dove]

I think their integration would be having GAS stuff that affects movement be integrated into the network prediction system rollbacks and stuff

they have stuff with their NP ability test scenes but it is their own ad-hoc ability system I think

[meager spade]

i didn't ask what they would have, i asked what you would want

like how would it be integrated into GAS?

cause they are making a new CMC based on it

which would handle movements, but this would also be external to GAS anyway

[fringe dove]

Dave Ratti in one of those videos said they would like to integrate it, I assume making one or the other a dependency or putting in some kind of api for optionally doing it

[meager spade]

they wouldn't make it rely on GAS

so GAS making it a dependency sure

but not the other way round

[hybrid crown]

Stupid ask but : What happen when you call a "Server, Reliable" function on the server ?

• This is treated as a simple function call ?
• is it a good practice to do this on every server function, to avoid calling them by mistake on the client ?

[meager spade]

its not a good practice really no

and yes it is treated as a simple function call

though you should strive to keep the logic known

why would a server call a server rpc?

why would a client call a client rpc?

seperate them.

[hybrid crown]

Thanks for the answer.

it's simply to avoid designer calling server function

[meager spade]

make a function

that is not a server rpc

then handle that internally

in BP though, you cant really hide stuff away

in C++, we only expose stuff to BP that should be called

[hybrid crown]

Yeah ofc.

Guess BlueprintAuthorityOnly is the way.

[meager spade]

well that would say this function should only be called on server

it doesnt force it tho

its more a cosmetic thing

client can still call it

[hybrid crown]

It's enough.

i mean beyond function commentary + visual logo, my job is done here.

(yeah, that retarded, but designer MUST have the possibility to call this function)

cause it's use in quests.

Also, i don't remember but... we agree than OnRepNotify aren't called on server in cpp, right ?

[meager spade]

in C++ no

in BP yes

BP hacks it

[hybrid crown]

yup, thanks

[vivid nymph]

Almost at my wits end trying to figure out why my ThirdPersonCharacter, which is now spawned and possessed by the player after OnPostLogin still cannot call an RPC to run on the server. The error is still "No owning connection for actor ThirdPersonCharacter_C_1. Function SetTargetOnServer will not be processed."

[winged badger]

because there are 2 of them

one owner one not

and both are sending the RPC

and 1 errors out

most likely

[vivid nymph]

Nah, i verified it is only a single client instance that is trying to fire it, as it should be

[winged badger]

when?

[vivid nymph]

watching the flow in BP, checked all instances in the Debug Filter

hold on, i noticed something that isn't right

both clients are giving the same error with the same "ThirdPersonCharacter_C_1" which should different per client

not certain how that is possible, given that the flag to send the RPC only exists on a single client

that variable is not replicated

[minor nova]

Is it good practice to tie user inputs like "Fire" into the movement component, and replicate them as compressed flags?

[winged badger]

actor names are not replicated

they are likely to have their own as _0 both

[vivid nymph]

yep

[winged badger]

@minor nova definitely not

[vivid nymph]

what I am doing is, when an NPC is clicked, they have a non-replicated bool on them called IWasClicked, on the client inside the ThirdPersonCharacter BP I get All Actors with the NPC class and check for that bool to be true

[winged badger]

how would you do about debugging a problem with fire then?

[vivid nymph]

so that bool should only be true on the client that clicked the npc?

[minor nova]

Hm, the same way I image you'd debug a problem with any of the character movement

[winged badger]

you gain nothing by doing that

you make your code more convoluted

you break encapsulation

[meager spade]

i mean what would the purpose be?

[winged badger]

you create tight coupling with the CMC

as if epic doesn't have you already covered there

[minor nova]

Well, I ask because this is how "fire" inputs were done in previous versions of the unreal engine if i remember correctly

they passed the bFired flag to server in ServerMove functions

[meager spade]

really?

[minor nova]

yep

[meager spade]

i don't see that in ShooterGame

nor in UT4

[minor nova]

I was wondering why there's nothing like that in current classes

I'd have to go back and check but I thought that was what I had seen in the past

[meager spade]

i defer shooting via the CMC

{
    Super::PlayerTick(DeltaTime);

    // if we have no UKaosMovementComp_Character, we need to apply firing here since it won't happen from the component
    if (GetPawn() == nullptr || Cast<UKaosCharacterMovementComponent>(GetPawn()->GetMovementComponent()) == nullptr)
    {
        ApplyDeferredFireInputs();
    }
}``` ```void UKaosCharacterMovementComponent::TickComponent(float DeltaTime, ELevelTick TickType, FActorComponentTickFunction* ThisTickFunction)
{
    Super::TickComponent(DeltaTime, TickType, ThisTickFunction);

    if (CharacterOwner)
    {
        AKaosPlayerController* PC = CharacterOwner->GetController<AKaosPlayerController>();
        if (PC && PC->PlayerInput)
        {
            PC->ApplyDeferredFireInputs();
        }
    }
}```  but that is it

🤷

[winged badger]

no K is super weird @meager spade

[meager spade]

lol

heh

[kind ember]

How vulnerable is direct IP connect instead of using Steam address?

[minor nova]

Is this following how they did it in the UE4 UT project?

[meager spade]

yeah basically

[minor nova]

i was looking at that briefly

[meager spade]

but i would not send fire as a compressed flag

then again i use Gameplay Abilities for weapon firing

[vivid nymph]

Legit having scope issues inside this thing. It loses the value of Self after the For Each Completed, I tried storing it in TempSelf variable, but it still doesn't like it...

[meager spade]

eww why you using getallchars of class

why not cache your NPC's into an array when spawned

so much cheaper 😄

[vivid nymph]

oh, i will later

once i see this work

[winged badger]

that is pretty bad

[vivid nymph]

i realize this is bad

but thats not my concern atm

[winged badger]

controller should have a good idea whats under its mouse at all times

so when you click it just sends that to server

[vivid nymph]

what do you mean? controller knows whats under the mouse?

[winged badger]

with the games where you click on stuff

controller should trace under the mouse on tick

[vivid nymph]

i am changing away from that OnClick event from Actor, and doing it with a line trace

[winged badger]

highlight whatever is under mouse via stencils or whatnot

and have a pointer to whatever is under the mouse in it at all times

[spare mortar]

Quick question here, somewhat new to network programming in UE4...

I want to make "switching weapons" smooth for the client. I intended to update a local replicated variable (on the client switching weapons), then make a reliable RPC to the server to tell it what i am doing. However, the docs warn against this because:

WARNING: Changing a replicated variable's value on the client is not recommended. The value will continue to differ from the server's value...

Is this a case where i can ignore the warning because the RPC is reliable so it will be eventually consistent? Is a there a better way to do this?

[meager spade]

i dont use replicated props

for switching weapons

all my weapon switches are client side

even if server wants to change a clients weapon, it calls a client rpc to switch the weapon (so all weapon swaps are client side)

issue is you need to do checks

server can reject the weapon swap

then you need to handle forcing the client back to the other weapon

[spare mortar]

all my weapon switches are client side
But the client would have to update the server at some point to tell other clients that they are now holding that weapon, no?

[eternal canyon]

Does anyone know if the Ping Variable in the player state is accurate?

cause when I use it

it doesnt seem to be

as I am USEast and my friend is USWest and he somehow has only 20 ping

[vivid nymph]

It works

[meager spade]

@spare mortar yes via a server rpc

but you still need to handle roll backs

also pending weapon swaps (incase weapon is still in firing state)

there is a better version of ping @eternal canyon

[eternal canyon]

wdym by that

|?

[meager spade]

you BP or C++?

ah

so GetPing does return ping

which is set

so..

i am really not sure how accurate that is

Ping is a replicated prop

[eternal canyon]

bp

but I can use c++

[winged badger]

its accurate enough for displaying ping for players on the UI

i would not run any gameplay logic off of it

[hollow eagle]

Make sure you multiply ping by 4.
From the source code...

/** Replicated compressed ping for this player (holds ping in msec divided by 4) */
UE_DEPRECATED(4.25, "This member will be made private. Use GetPing or SetPing instead.")
UPROPERTY(Replicated, BlueprintReadOnly, Category=PlayerState)
uint8 Ping;

[meager spade]

shit iwas meant to say that

i though i did