Creating a follow player AI in Unreal Engine 4 can enhance the immersive experience of a game by providing dynamic and interactive non-player characters. By implementing AI that understands how to follow the player, developers can introduce new gameplay elements and challenge the players in unique ways. In this article, we will delve into the process of creating a follow player AI in UE4.
Before we start creating our follow player AI, it’s essential to have a basic understanding of Blueprint visual scripting in UE4. Blueprint is a powerful tool that allows developers to create complex behaviors and interactions without the need for traditional programming. With that in mind, let’s begin building our follow player AI.
First, we need to create a new Blueprint class for our AI character. This can be done by right-clicking in the Content Browser, selecting ‘Blueprint Class,’ and choosing ‘AIController’ as the parent class. Once the Blueprint is created, we can open it and start adding the necessary logic for the follow player behavior.
In the Blueprint Editor, we need to define the behavior of the AI character’s movement. We can use a combination of nodes such as ‘Find Player Character,’ ‘Move To Location,’ and ‘Get Player Character’ to set up the AI’s movement towards the player. The ‘Find Player Character’ node allows the AI to locate the player character in the game world, while the ‘Move To Location’ node determines the path the AI will take to reach the player. By connecting these nodes and setting the appropriate parameters, we can create a simple follow player behavior for our AI.
To add more depth to the follow player AI, we can introduce additional features such as obstacle avoidance, dynamic pathfinding, and customizable tracking distance. For obstacle avoidance, UE4 provides built-in functions such as ‘Simple Move to Location’ and ‘Find Path to Location Synchronously’ that can be utilized to enable the AI to navigate around obstacles in the environment. This ensures that the AI can smoothly follow the player even in complex and cluttered spaces.
Dynamic pathfinding is another important aspect of creating a robust follow player AI. By implementing dynamic pathfinding algorithms such as A* or behavior tree-based navigation, the AI can adapt its movement to changing environmental conditions and player actions, resulting in a more realistic and engaging experience for the players.
Additionally, allowing developers to customize the tracking distance of the AI character can provide more control over the behavior of the follow player AI. By introducing parameters that define the maximum and minimum distances at which the AI will start and stop following the player, developers can tailor the AI behavior to suit the specific requirements of their game.
In summary, creating a follow player AI in UE4 involves utilizing Blueprint visual scripting to define the AI character’s movement towards the player. By incorporating features such as obstacle avoidance, dynamic pathfinding, and customizable tracking distance, developers can create a dynamic and engaging AI that seamlessly follows the player in a variety of game scenarios.
In conclusion, implementing a follow player AI in Unreal Engine 4 can greatly enhance the overall gameplay experience by providing dynamic and interactive non-player characters. By leveraging the powerful tools and features of UE4, developers can create AI characters that intelligently follow the player, adding new dimensions of challenge and immersion to their games.
