WEBVTT 00:00.110 --> 00:05.150 Welcome to the Ultimate course on the Unreal Engine five Gameplay Ability system. 00:05.150 --> 00:12.380 In this comprehensive course, we will create a fully functional top down RPG, complete with attributes, 00:12.410 --> 00:18.230 abilities, experience points and leveling up upgrading abilities and different ability levels. 00:18.260 --> 00:25.040 AI driven enemies, each with their own character classes and abilities, all in a data driven, scalable 00:25.040 --> 00:32.660 and expertly coded system designed to withstand a serious RPG style game and coded for multiplayer. 00:32.690 --> 00:39.260 Unreal Engine's gameplay Ability system is a code base inside of Unreal Engine designed to help architect 00:39.260 --> 00:45.590 game projects that require the management of attributes, abilities and effects, each of which have 00:45.590 --> 00:49.580 close relationships to the gameplay mechanics such as combat. 00:49.610 --> 00:57.290 This is how you manage a game such as an RPG, a multiplayer online battle arena shooter games, or 00:57.290 --> 01:03.600 any game project that involves a complex web of values related to gameplay games that might require 01:03.600 --> 01:10.080 experience points and leveling up, gaining new abilities and strengths as the player progresses, impacting 01:10.080 --> 01:16.470 important gameplay mechanics with attributes such as critical hit chance damage type resistances or 01:16.470 --> 01:18.060 block chance in combat. 01:18.060 --> 01:20.850 All can benefit from the gameplay ability system. 01:20.850 --> 01:26.300 When you enroll in this course, you will get an asset pack created specifically for this course. 01:26.310 --> 01:32.700 This way you won't have to go looking for free assets online or worry about retargeting animations to 01:32.700 --> 01:35.160 your characters that you're using in your game. 01:35.160 --> 01:40.290 Everything you need for this course will be provided, and it's all been designed with a consistent 01:40.290 --> 01:45.510 art style to fit this top down RPG called Aura Master of the Elements. 01:45.510 --> 01:49.980 We'll start this course by opening the asset pack and creating our code base. 01:50.010 --> 01:55.200 We'll make a base character class that will share all the functionality that the player controlled character, 01:55.200 --> 01:57.960 Aura and the enemies will have in common. 01:57.960 --> 02:03.900 We'll set up basic inputs and top down movement with the enhanced input system and get a targeting system 02:03.900 --> 02:08.370 in place so we can hover over our enemies and highlight them with a red outline. 02:08.370 --> 02:13.710 We'll then start on the gameplay ability system theory, learning the core parts of the gameplay ability 02:13.710 --> 02:15.900 system and how they work with each other. 02:15.900 --> 02:22.290 After a high level overview, we'll create our own ability system component and attribute set classes 02:22.320 --> 02:28.170 and assign them to aura and the enemy base class and show the different ways to handle these classes. 02:28.170 --> 02:32.490 Storing them on the player state for aura and on the character class for enemies. 02:32.490 --> 02:38.280 We'll then learn about attributes creating our four primary attributes for the basic character in this 02:38.310 --> 02:43.380 RPG strength, intelligence, resilience and vigor. 02:43.410 --> 02:47.550 These will indirectly affect all other attributes in this game project. 02:47.550 --> 02:53.520 Later on, we learn various ways to initialize these attributes and discuss the best way to set these 02:53.520 --> 02:54.150 values. 02:54.150 --> 02:55.710 Using gameplay effects. 02:55.710 --> 02:59.130 We then dive deep into gameplay effects and how they work. 02:59.130 --> 03:04.730 Modifying attributes with the use of modifiers, and we cover in depth all of the different types of 03:04.730 --> 03:09.320 modifiers, including arbitrarily complex custom calculations. 03:09.320 --> 03:15.050 We'll create an attribute menu which will show the player's current attributes as well as implement 03:15.050 --> 03:18.650 attribute points which will be awarded upon leveling up. 03:18.650 --> 03:24.800 These can be spent to upgrade attributes, making the character stronger as the other attributes which 03:24.830 --> 03:26.120 affect combat are. 03:26.120 --> 03:32.540 Based on these primary attributes, we'll learn about the usefulness of gameplay tags and how they are 03:32.540 --> 03:38.030 used all throughout the gameplay ability system and how gameplay effects can add and remove them. 03:38.030 --> 03:44.240 How abilities can be activated by the use of gameplay effects and will associate all of our attributes 03:44.240 --> 03:48.380 with gameplay tags so we can identify them in a well coded manner. 03:48.380 --> 03:54.110 We'll learn about the use of the model view controller architecture and utilize this pattern to handle 03:54.140 --> 04:02.180 our UI as RPGs often involve complex UI and a solid structure is necessary to handle all of the RPG 04:02.280 --> 04:03.000 data. 04:03.000 --> 04:09.630 Everything in this project is data driven and scalable, so the system can be expanded with little effort 04:09.630 --> 04:12.900 as we've created such a solid foundational framework. 04:12.900 --> 04:18.840 Well then learn about gameplay abilities and how these lie at the heart of the gameplay ability system. 04:18.840 --> 04:24.540 Gameplay abilities are classes that encapsulate the details of actions that a character performs in 04:24.540 --> 04:28.050 a game such as melee attacks and spell casting. 04:28.050 --> 04:34.890 Aura is an elementalist, so auras, offensive and passive abilities are magic based, but aura fights 04:34.890 --> 04:41.670 enemies of different character class types, including warrior and ranger, as well as other elementalists. 04:41.670 --> 04:45.780 So we will give aura magical spells such as Firebolt. 05:03.270 --> 05:04.530 Electrocute. 05:10.860 --> 05:12.360 Arcane shards. 05:27.740 --> 05:29.150 Fire blast. 05:45.360 --> 05:50.790 All of which devastate enemies that swarm and try to stab aura with spears. 05:50.820 --> 05:55.290 Shoot aura with slingshots and launch fireballs of their own. 05:55.350 --> 06:02.880 The Goblin Shaman class is an elementalist like aura, so it is capable of casting magical spells as 06:02.880 --> 06:08.040 well as summoning minions, little demons that can be assigned different classes themselves. 06:08.070 --> 06:14.040 Thanks to our code framework being data driven, it's a simple matter to spawn in a daemon and assign 06:14.040 --> 06:20.160 them the class of ranger or warrior and the attribute values, abilities and gameplay effects that they 06:20.160 --> 06:23.760 spawn in at, as well as the amount of damage they can cause. 06:23.790 --> 06:29.340 Scales depending on their character level, using curved trends that we can tweak with the click of 06:29.340 --> 06:35.670 a mouse, we'll implement the enemy AI behavior with behavior trees and the environment query system 06:35.670 --> 06:41.650 linking the behavior tree to the gameplay ability system, triggering the activation of gameplay abilities 06:41.650 --> 06:43.630 from behavior tree tasks. 06:43.660 --> 06:52.090 Our AI enemies will include goblin warriors with spears, Goblin rangers with slingshots, the Ghoul, 06:52.360 --> 06:59.170 the Goblin Shaman, which casts spells, including summoning demons, and of course, the demons themselves, 06:59.170 --> 07:04.360 which use their tails for melee attacks and also throw rocks for ranged attacks. 07:04.510 --> 07:11.140 After completing the AI for our enemies, we then finish up the rest of Ora's magical spells and create 07:11.140 --> 07:16.310 a fully functional spell menu with spell trees for offensive and passive spells. 07:16.330 --> 07:22.270 We award Ora with spell points when leveling up, which can be spent on spells to upgrade them. 07:22.270 --> 07:28.390 And we create a spell tier system where each spell has a level requirement and appears locked in the 07:28.390 --> 07:32.380 spell menu until a spell point has been spent to unlock it. 07:32.680 --> 07:38.830 When leveling up, if Ora is now eligible and meets a spell's level requirement, it can now be unlocked 07:38.830 --> 07:42.430 with a spell point and equipped in Ora's equipped spell row. 07:42.460 --> 07:48.160 The spell row assigns spells to different inputs such as the left and right mouse buttons, as well 07:48.160 --> 07:49.420 as the number keys. 07:49.450 --> 07:55.240 Again, we take a data driven approach here, creating a system where abilities can be swapped out and 07:55.240 --> 07:57.190 reassigned to different inputs. 07:57.220 --> 08:02.290 Want your firebolt assigned to the right mouse button and electrocute assigned to the one key. 08:02.320 --> 08:03.760 Just swap them out. 08:03.790 --> 08:07.030 Want arcane shards assigned to the left mouse button? 08:07.030 --> 08:11.770 Or maybe you don't want to use the mouse, but just want to use number keys to activate abilities. 08:11.800 --> 08:15.520 The player has the choice because our system is designed to be flexible. 08:15.550 --> 08:21.580 We then create a passive spell system where passive spells are activated as soon as they are equipped 08:21.580 --> 08:22.780 and deactivated. 08:22.780 --> 08:27.910 If they're unequipped and they remain active the whole time while they're equipped, much like passive 08:27.910 --> 08:32.110 abilities in most RPGs that give you buffs that are always active. 08:32.140 --> 08:38.290 Our combat system dives deep into the inner workings of gas and takes advantage of all its major features. 08:38.290 --> 08:45.190 We will have multiple damage types fire, lightning, arcane and physical, and you'll have enough examples 08:45.190 --> 08:48.550 of ways to use them that you can make any damage type you want. 08:48.580 --> 08:52.300 Each damage type is associated with a type of debuff. 08:52.330 --> 08:54.810 Fire damage has a chance to burn. 08:54.820 --> 08:57.160 Lightning damage has a chance to stun. 08:57.160 --> 08:57.900 ET cetera. 08:57.910 --> 09:03.850 We implement combat features such as Knockback, where damage has a chance to launch the receiver of 09:03.850 --> 09:10.300 damage into the air and Death impulse, where the receiver of damage is blown away upon receiving fatal 09:10.300 --> 09:11.020 damage. 09:11.050 --> 09:16.750 We'll learn about gameplay cues and the different types built into the ability system and how they can 09:16.750 --> 09:23.200 be used to easily achieve producing effects such as particle systems and sounds and how these have multiplayer 09:23.200 --> 09:28.000 replication built in and when it's appropriate to use them and when you shouldn't. 09:28.030 --> 09:32.720 We learn how to replicate target data, sending it to and from the server. 09:32.740 --> 09:39.160 We learn how to create custom gameplay effect contexts which can carry important combat data through 09:39.160 --> 09:42.340 our combat pipeline, including weather damage. 09:42.340 --> 09:48.430 Was a successful block or a critical hit, allowing us to show various messages to the screen, like 09:48.430 --> 09:54.340 floating damage numbers and animated text that informs the user of a block or a critical hit. 09:54.370 --> 10:00.790 We create our own asset manager ability system globals class and Blueprint function library. 10:00.820 --> 10:08.050 We learn how gameplay tasks and async blueprint tasks work, creating our own C Cplusplus and exposing 10:08.050 --> 10:10.240 Cplusplus utilities to blueprint. 10:10.240 --> 10:16.090 And we use these to listen for cooldown tags so we can show a spell's cooldown in the HUD. 10:16.120 --> 10:18.730 Spells will have both cost and cooldown. 10:18.760 --> 10:22.240 Their cost using up the resource of mana. 10:22.270 --> 10:27.820 Everything we do in this course follows best practices used in the industry, and the game project is 10:27.820 --> 10:29.530 made to be scalable. 10:29.560 --> 10:33.580 This is the foundation you can use to create a serious RPG. 10:33.970 --> 10:39.970 We'll wrap up the course by creating a save game system, implementing checkpoints that save our progress. 10:40.230 --> 10:46.380 Including all of the ability system info such as attributes and spells as well as world state. 10:46.410 --> 10:51.960 We'll create beacons that can be reached throughout our dungeons and they will remain lit up so you'll 10:51.960 --> 10:54.670 know where you've already reached in any given level. 10:54.690 --> 11:00.240 We'll create level entrances that can be configured to transport the player to any destination and any 11:00.240 --> 11:04.050 map allowing for easy travel between worlds in the game. 11:04.050 --> 11:10.950 And we'll create a robust load screen menu with multiple slots that can save progress and load the player 11:10.950 --> 11:14.280 back in to their last checkpoint in the level they were in. 11:14.340 --> 11:18.660 I haven't even mentioned half of the game features that we'll implement in this course. 11:18.690 --> 11:22.050 I'd keep listing them off, but there's just no time, I'm afraid. 11:22.050 --> 11:28.320 I've got some dungeons to crawl through, some enemy creatures to slay, some experience, to gain, 11:28.320 --> 11:32.010 some leveling up to do, and some spells to upgrade. 11:32.160 --> 11:38.010 Join my party and take on this epic quest to learn the Unreal Engine gameplay ability system. 11:38.130 --> 11:42.780 This course assumes that you have the basics of Unreal Engine C plus plus down already. 11:42.790 --> 11:46.480 I highly recommend that you take my course that teaches you these basics. 11:46.510 --> 11:48.160 It's called Unreal Engine five. 11:48.190 --> 11:51.120 C plus plus the ultimate game developer course. 11:51.130 --> 11:56.410 If you've taken this course or have equivalent knowledge, you're ready to embark on one of the most 11:56.410 --> 11:59.350 exciting adventures of your game development life. 11:59.890 --> 12:01.210 See you in battle.