While mucking around in the editor, I thought it would be cool to make each bullet a player fires (from a gun) an actor, that will have physics and collision etc.
Would this be practical to put inside the game? Programming it would be simple enough but whether it would be fun in an actual game in another story.
Thought and opinions?
Well there nothing much that can alter the course of bullet, but even so you don’t need to simulate those physics on each frame when the bullet files (which is usally invisible fo human eye), you could just simulate the more realistic result (delay between gun and target hit, wind effect?, gun shake).
As for fun, it sounds like interesting idea and I think best way here is to try to prototype it first and see if it’s “fun”. Also if you want to play with this, it would be good if you study real world gun physics, anything then typical in gams straight instant damage
You’re right about the physics in it’s self, but it would be more of a aesthetic choice rather than a gameplay one. Imagine: wouldn’t it be cool if I could fire a gun at a wall, then see the capped-off bullet sticking out the end of it? And what about if I’m firing a .50 calibre bullet point blanc into someone’s chest? Instead of the enemy flopping about ragdoll style into the floor they should, in reality, fly into one of the seven kingdoms. So many realistic scenarios could happen if I have each bullet physics. I’m surprised DICE hasn’t implemented such a thing into on of their series.
I’ll start fiddling around with Blueprint and the source code to see If I can implement this.
P.S: Are there any Epic staff who have experience with game design willing to comment on the idea?
Well you can a projectles, but it might be too wasteful for something so small, think if it’s so important for your game. DICE didn’t do it since they create gams with large numb of players, simulating physics and replicating each bullet would quite heavy
For standard bullets my opinion would be to stick with projectile collision. For strange weapons, think BioShock 2’s spear gun, better physics would be a good idea.
You can always spawn a impacted bullet actor at the point of collision with the wall.
If you shot someone in the chest with a 50 cal, they would only take a small step back.
So what did you end up doing? Just came across this. I can think of a few games that used actual bullets with physics: STALKER, GRAW, Operation Flashpoint and ARMA of course. Arma 2 ballistics - ARMA 2 & OA - GENERAL - Bohemia Interactive Forums
It depends on what you want to do in your projectile.
If you are firing a pistol or rifle you might considering doing a trace, and using a beam to connect your muzzle flash to an impact effect.
In reality a bullet will barely move you… You wouldn’t fly away if someone shot you with a .50 calibre point blank, you would probably get a big hole in your stomach and then fall straigth down dead, but you wouldn’t fly.