Ship Controller
ShipController
is a SceneComponent
that manages other (child) ship SceneComponents
such as ShipEngine
and ShipRudder
.
Input
Ship Controller requires following binding to be set up under Project Settings ⇒ Input:
- EngineStartStop [action mapping]
- Throttle [axis]
- Rudder [axis]
Hierarchy
ShipController
is intended to be used together with WaterObject
, but this is not required.
Typical hierarchy would be:
- MyShip [
AShipController
] - ship controller pawn class.- Hull [
UStaticMeshComponent
] - a ship hull.- HullWaterObject [
UWaterObject
] - for simulating the ship hull/water interaction.
- ShipRudder [
UShipRudder
] - hadles rotation of the rudder with input.- ShipRudderWaterObject [
UWaterObject
] - for simulating the rudder/water interaction.
- ShipEngine [
UShipEngine
] - manages thrust, sound and propeller animation.- Propeller [
UStaticMeshComponent
][optional] - visual propeller rotation only, not used for simulation. It would be possible to use aWaterObject
as a propeller, but not as flexible as a simple AddForce approach. - Audio [
UAudioComponent
][optional] - engine audio that gets modified through volume and pitch.
- Keel [
UStaticMeshComponent
][optional]- KeelWaterObject [
UWaterObject
][optional]
- … other
WaterObject
s …
A few notes:
AShipController
should be placed as a root as it is a pawn class.- Usage of
UShipRudder
andUShipEngine
is optional. - Multiple rudders and/or engines can be present at the same time.
- To create an outboard engine where the direction of thrust changes with the rudder direction, parent the
UShipEngine
toUShipRudder
as the direction and position of the thrust of theUShipEngine
is equal to its transform position and forward direction.
UShipController
A simple ship controller script containing no optional fields.
UShipRudder
Rotates the child objects around its transform position.
UShipEngine
Handles engine thrust, sound, and propeller rotation. The latter two are optional.
- Thrust will be applied to the root
UPrimitiveComponent
. - To make the engine run on BeginPlay, tick
Is On
field. - To use sound attach
UAudioComponent
as a child ofUShipEngine
and assign a looping audio file. Sound settings can be adjusted through the Sound section in the Details panel. - To use propeller rotation (visual only) attach
UStaticMeshComponent
representing the propeller as a child ofUShipEngine
.- It is important that the mesh pivot of the propeller is at its center or otherwise the rotation will be offset.
- Propeller rotation speed in relation to the engine can be adjusted through
Propeller RPM Ratio
.