CREATINGANEXPLOSION

Thistutorialwillwalkyouthroughthestepsincreatinganexplodingobjectandhowtosetitup foringameactivities.ThistutorialexpectsyoutoknowhowtouseUT3,Kismet,anda3D modelingpackage(Iuse3DSMaxand/orMaya). Thewayexplosionsworkisthis: Rememberthateverythingisfakedinavideogame.So,wearenotgoingtoblow anythingup.Wearegoingtosimulateit.Thismeansthatwhenweshootthe3Dmodel,itwill swapthemodelwithadifferentBrokenorDamagedmodel,andwhenthathappens,we willshootsparks,akaparticles,intotheair. So,openyour3DpackageandUT3. Inyour3Dpackage: Create1sphereandgiveaquiteafewpolygons Copy/Duplicatethesphere3moretimes,changingthespheretothefollowing3 settingsBroken,Damaged,andBlownUp.Thesearejustbasicideasandyoucanhave asmanystatesofdamagedasyoulike. Youshouldhavethis:

YoucanseethatIhaveprogressionuntilaholeisformed,thentheentirespherewill disappear. Afterward,youshouldhavethis:

Youwillnoticethatall4spheresareat0,0,0sittingonthegrid.Every3Dmodelor staticmeshshouldbeplacedatthe0,0,0spotsowhenyoupointandrightclickin UT3,theobjectshowsuprightwhereyouclickedespeciallysincetheobjectisnot goingtomove,justblowup. BesuretoUNWRAPeachthisdoesntmeantoactuallyunwrapitjustaddthe modifier.Youcandoagoodunwrapwhenyouareready. BesuretoaddaTEXTUREtoeachthisdoesntmeantoactuallytextureitjust addthegraymaterial.Youcandoabettertexturewhenyouareready. o SIDENOTEIfastaticmeshdoesNOThaveanUNWRAPandTEXTURE, itWILLNOTimportintoUT3. OnebyoneExportSelectedeachasa.ASEfile Besuretocheckthebottomleft3boxes.

 Makeatextureina2DEditingPackage(IusePhotoshop). o SIDENOTETexturesshouldbeinperfectsquaresandatleast300 resolution(512x512at300minimum).Ifitisasquare,youcantileit andmakeitseamlessmucheasier.

OpenUT3andOpentheGenericBrowser. WeneedtoImportall4Spheres WeneedtoimportallTexturesyouonlyneedoneforthisimaginewearecreatinga boulderthatwillbreakintosmallerboulderswithapuffofsmoke. Weneedtocreateamaterialtoputourtextureon.Justincase: o RightclickintheGenericBrowser o NewMaterial o DoubleClickonit o LookinthelisttotherightandfindTextureSample o AddyourTexturetotheSample(HittheGreenArrowonTextureSample) o DragblacksquarefromdiffuseonmaterialtoblacksquareonTextureSample

Addyourmaterialtothemeshes.Justincase: o DoubleclickonyourmeshintheGenericBrowser

o OpenLODsectionuntilyouseeagreenarrow,addyourmaterialinthere. NextweneedtocreateanewPhysicalMaterial o Thiswilltellourobjecthowtomoveifwedonotuseit,theobjectwillmove underadefaultsettingwhichisnice,butyoushouldneverusedefaultsettings. NextweneedtocreateanewParticleSystem o Thiswillspawnsmokeandsmallerpiecesofrock/spheres. So,again,inyourGenericBrowseryoushouldhave: o 4meshes o Atleast1Texture o Atleast1Material o 1PhysicalMaterial o 1ParticleSystem Wewillduplicateoursettingstogetasecondonelateroneforsmoke, oneforsmallerrocks.

SIDENOTEMakesurethatwhenyouimportedyour3Dmodels,yougavethemcollisionso wedonotwalkthroughthem.Todothis,doubleclickonthemeshintheGenericBrowser andgotothecollisionbuttonatthetopmenu.Istartatthetopandworkmywaydownthe listuntilIfindtherightonemostofthetimeIendupwithAutoConvexturneduptofull blastonall3options.YoucanalsocreateyourownCollisionModel.Todothis,youuseyour 3Dpackage.Forexample,ifIbuildarockandwanttobuildarockcollisionforit,Iwillputan identicalrockwithfewerpolygonsinsideofthehighpolygon,coollookingrock.NextIwould namethecoolrockST_nameofrockandthelowpolycollisionmodelinsideUCX_nameofrock. Iwouldthenselectbothofthematthesametimeandexportthemas.ASE.Whenyou importthemtoUT3,theUCXmodelwillbethecollisionmodelautomatically.

Areyousureyouarereadyforthis?????? OK ChoosetheSphere#1(theundamagedsphere) RightclickinyourlevelandAddActor>AddBreakableActor HitF4Toopenitsproperties OpenupGameBreakableActor YouwillseeBreakableStepsthisiswhereyouloadinyourstaticmeshes,INORDER Insideeachstaticmesh,youcanplaceaParticlesystem.Wewillusethesamesmoke particlesystemforeach,untilthelastone.Thelastonewillhaveastaticmeshparticle systeminitinsteadofasmokeone. o BelowIopenedupthefirstandlastonetoshowwheretheparticlesare attacheditsprettyeasy.

YouwillnoticethatmystepsstartatZEROandgotoFOURequaling5totalbutI onlyhave4models?????Iaddedanextrasteptoshowthe4thmeshlongerfor somereasononmycomputer,itskipsitordeletesitbeforeIcanseeit,soIjust addedanotherone. Ialsosetthedamagethresholdat20foreachifyouareusingahandgunusethe 3roundaltfirebursttocyclethroughthestatesquickly. SOyouaddthebreakableactor,createstates,andaddinyourmeshesand particlestoeachstate.

Nowtotheparticles: DoubleclickontheparticlesystemintheGenericBrowser

 Rightclicktoaddanemitter(toprightbox)

 Hitthewireframebutton Youshouldseetheabovepicture. YouwillnoticethatbyclickingonParticleEmitter,Lifetime,IntitialSize,orInitial Velocity,youwillgetdifferentproperties.duh,right.Justtomakesure: o ClickonParticleEmittertoaddamaterial o ClickonLifetimetochangehowlongtheparticlesshowup o ClickonSizetoadjustthesize o ClickonVelocitytoadjustthespeed.

o SIDENOTEThelifetimeandvelocityarethemostimportantingettingthe particlestodowhatyouwantthemtodo. o SIDENOTEAfteryouplaceamaterialontheparticleemitterifitdoesnot showuprightclickundertheparticleemitterinthelightgrayboxandadda COLOR>COLOROVERLIFE.Thismeanstoshowthecolors..akamaterialover thelifeoftheparticles. Justincaseyoudontfigureitout.afterapplyingthematerialyou willnotseethematerialunlessyouTURNOFFTHEWIREFRAME BUTTON. Ifyoudonotseethematerialbeforeaddingcoloroverlifeandyoudo notseethematerialafteraddingcoloroverlifepickadifferent material.Ifyouareusingtheonesfromtheengine,someofthemdo notworkforsomereason.Iknowthat Envy_Effects.Explosion.Materials.M_EFX_Explo_01works,justincase youaretryingitoutforthefirsttime. Ok,sojustmesswiththepropertiesuntilyougetthesmokelookingthewayyouwantit toittakesalongtime. Whenyouaredone,addittoeachoftheparticlessectionsinyourbreakableactor properties. o SIDENOTEThedefaultsettingforparticlesistoLOOP,whichisgoodnormally, butwedonotwantittoloop...justplaywhenweshootit.SoclickonParticle EmitteranddropdowninthepropertiestoEmitterLoopsandEmitter Duration.Youwillneedtoplaywiththosesettingsrolloverandlookatthe tooltip. o Imessedwithitforhoursandtheydidnotwork,butfinallyUT3kickedinand startedworkingformeonEmitterLoops,Zeromakesitloopandanyother numbermakesitloopthatnumberoftimes.IendedupwithLoopto5and Durationto1butagain,itonlyworkedbecauseitwantedtoafterafew hours. Nowthatyouvetesteditanditworkstoyourliking,rightclickonyourparticleemitter andselectEmitter>DuplicateandShareItstimetocreateastaticmeshemitter. YoullseebelowthatIcreatedmyparticlesseparate,butifyouarecopyingthesame settingswhyhave2particlesystemswhenyoucanonlyhave1.YouwillseethatI addedaMeshMaterialfortheMaterialoftheMeshesandMeshDatatomakethe Meshesshowup.

 OK,soyouhavemeshesthatswapouttolookliketheyarebeingdamaged.Theyspawn particlesthatmakeitlooklikeithasdustflyingintheairandsmallerpiecesarebreakingoff ofthelargeronessonowwhat????WellImassumingyouknowhowtousetriggersand Kismetsohavefun!!!! Oh,anddontforget,thePhysicalMaterial. ClickonyourBreakableObjectandhitF4. OpenuptheCOLLISIONtabandlookforthePHYSICStabinsideit YoushouldseeaPhysicalMaterialOverridesection. AddyournewPhysicalMaterialinthereandthenmesswiththenumbersuntilyou getitthewayyouwantit.