Hi there,
i want to create a moving platforming which moves along fixed points with fixed speed forward and backward, but the first and last point must contain some sort of delay before continue.
Every point is a non-collidable actor placed in the world - each one know its next and prev point - building up a vector path of some sort.
How do i do that using a blueprint? I rather do not want to use matinee or timelines except it can link to the existing actor points - which i do not know.
Timelines are your friends. Create a new vector track within one and set the desired positions for each axis at your desired times. You then hook up the output of the time line to Set Actor Location. You could also do offsets instead.
An alternative is to use a Timeline with a float track and use that to lerp the actor position from point 1 to point 2. When it reaches point 2, replace the reference of point 1 with point 2 and point 2 to point 3. Restart the timeline. Repeat.
At this point I recommend you start looking into Manitee. It is how this type of system is done in the professional environment.
I know timelines, but its pretty hard to create timelines for every moving thing. I dont see the resulting positions in the timeline in my level directly - i just build a timeline with 2 tracks, one for X and one for Z. But what i totally dont like about this: i dont want to have “fixed” times - i want to have just a fixed speed and fixed delays - not time.
Right now, i can use timelines just fine, cause i have just a single moving platform but in my next level i have tons of moving things… so timelines will have to be replaced but my own movement system which i need to create then.
Wait a sec, i cant copy keyframes from one track to another???
Ok i need to really create my system - this is really frustating.
I solved it by making a simple but powerful blueprint system which uses the actor points to move between them. Works perfectly. Each point has a prev and a next actor reference and i keep track of the current and previous points used in the platform, as move states as well. Moving is done using a lerp with distance calculation to estimate the alpha based on time - this ensures that it moves with fixed speed regardless of the distance.
