Creating multiple custom local aligned grids within the editor

General Feedback & Requests
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1

Hi guys,

I was wondering if there was a possibility to integrate custom local aligned grids within the ue4 editor. This is a common practice used by many games utilizing modular grid based environment assets. (like Fallout/Skyrim or Alien Isolation).

This is how a skyrim dev article on gamasutra described it:

One of the key technologies that let us start building more complicated kits was something called “Snap to Reference”. With snap to reference the editor can treat any object as the origin for things to snap for. This way, things don’t have to be aligned to rigid 90 degree angles. You can rotate a piece and then use that as the new grid, so new pieces will snap together with this rotated piece. This obviously creates gaps between pieces rotated at different angles, but we bridge those gaps in a lot of ways.

123423-websnaprefdiagram.jpg
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A simple alternate approach to having objects serving as references for custom grids would simply be to have additional separate grids that could be setup with separate angles and toggled between via a button or shortcut. Like having the default 90 degree grid on grid1 and on grid2 a 30 or 45 degree rotated grid

I think this would be an awesome addition to create more sophisticated levels and reduce the pain of placing things without the help of the grid

2

As far as I know, there is no such functionality built it. I’ve used an equally spaced plane mesh as grid and abused vertex snapping when I needed this.

3

That skyrim post on Gamasutra is what introduced me to the entire modular workflow aproach, and I worshiped it for the entire last year of my game design course.
It works wonders, and is super easy to set up in Unreal Engine:

https://i.imgur.com/hWoP1Y1.gif

https://i.imgur.com/v5IT3RQ.gif

it would be nice for the grid in the viewport to update to the local transform mode, but even if it doesn’t the functionality is all there.

4

This is awesome! I totally neglected checking out local transform as I assumed it would derive the snapping from the default grid

As you suggested already it would be great to have an option where the grid display updates if you have local transform active. Maybe a different colored grid could be displayed on top the default grid once you select an object with local transform which isn’t at the default 90 degree angle