The Heartlander #6 - Is this the AI? Is this just BP?

Hello there!

It is time for a big post!

Recently I've been working on an enemy prototype. It's a turret that shoots Poisonous Bullets.

The original Design idea was that it is some kind of Garden Sprinkler, but instead of watering plants, its purpose is to deal with "infestations", animals and, occasionally, Garden Gnomes.

2D

I've gathered some references and made a rough sketch that represents the idea behind this kind of enemy.

My idea is that this Sprinkler must be autonomous, so I gave it a power source, poison container, and a camera, that will track down unpoisoned entities.

3D

Then I brought it to Blender, where I've made a pretty simple 3D model and adjusted some parts. Then I've painted it and finally imported it to Unreal to see how materials look on my scene.

For an Eye, I use the standard eye shader that I've made. It's pretty simple and can be used on different Characters with some adjustments.

So when the model is ready I had to decide on how this enemy will work. Should I make an Animations and Behavior Tree or maybe I can handle this one as an Object with simple repetitive logic?

I've decided that I'll go with Blueprints. I rigged and reimported Sprinkler as Skeletal Mesh, made a Pawn with this Skeletal Mesh, and started working on Anim BP and logic.

Anim BP

The sprinkler has following States: 

• Idle (Rotates head slowly)
• Shooting (Enemy is followed by Head and Body Rotation, Parts are trembling to simulate recoil)
• Searching (Rotates Head and Body faster after losing Target)

The logic behind this Part is pretty simple. By switching States thru Main BP we adjust rotations. Body Rotator used in different situations for Head only or whole Body. Other parts are shaking in Random Values.

The state machine also has responding States with Modify Bone logic inside.

BP

Master Blueprint looks a bit messy, but I just need to turn repeating parts of it into Functions.

On an Event Tick we make Line Trace and when it collides with other Pawns - we switch State. Then again if Target has been lost.

All other logic is made thru Timers and Events, so using Event Tick here is not only necessary but also will not cause performance issues.

VFX

Then comes Niagara.

We need to tell the Player where Sprinkler is looking right now, so I've made a simple "laser beam" material with noise and masks and a Ring that indicates if Sprinkles has a Target.

I finished working on Sprinkler by creating Poison Projectile that deals damage on Hit and if it hits the floor - creates a small area of Poison.

Let's see a final result.

So here it is! Looks nice to me. All that is left is to create and implement some sounds.

Hey! I also have a Patreon now, so if you'd like to support Heartlander - you can subscribe there! I'm thinking about creating some Pateron Tiers, so if you have any ideas - be sure to comment!

See you soon!