- Paper2D -
Welcome! In this section we will be talking about Paper2D; a plugin that contains all the code for making a 2D game in Unreal Engine.
Once you download UF2D, you will see that the project has its own "Paper2D" folder. We actually use a modified version of Paper2D so expect to see different stuff if you are experienced with Unreal!
Now let's talk about the three Unreal file types that are related to Paper2D!
1- Textures
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We already talked about Textures in "Rendering" Section so we will keep it small here. Once you import a supported image into Unreal it will become a "Texture" that you can edit its properties to a degree.
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Another Paper2D file that is named "Sprite" uses Textures and gives even more options.
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We can drag and drop multiple Textures at once.
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It is extremely important to [RMB] click on the imported image files and choose "Sprite Actions -> Apply Paper2D Texture Settings" to make the texture pixelated to avoid artifacts and make sure Palette System works if it will ever be used.
2- Sprites
Sprites are the first main file type of Paper2D. Textures can't exist alone (aside from a few exceptions) so we create a "Sprite" to adjust positions, setting collisions boxes and adding Sockets to use in game.
There are -a lot- of properties a Sprite has to edit, but we will be taking care of the most important ones that are mentioned above. In most cases, they will be more enough. Let's start!
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The easiest way of making a Sprite is selecting a Texture (or group of them) and [RMB] click on it to choose "Sprite Actions -> Create Sprite". Unreal will do its best to put "_Sprite" in each created file so feel free to change the name!
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Sprite Editor has sub menus that mostly share the same properties and only add/remove a few from each other. So let's have a look!
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"View" is the most basic menu that is perfect to change the Pivot Point of the Sprite.
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It is suggested to have Pivot Point on Characters feet as if the point itself is the ground. Other objects such as Projectiles are free from this rule.
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Note for Mugen/Ikemen people: Axis Values are same with Pivot Values.
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In the same mode we can also define sockets for Sprites. They are very useful and easy to use when you want to grab a specific location with a name on the current active Sprite.
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"Spawning Projectile" Tutorial uses this method so feel free to check it later on!
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"Edit Collision" is where we handle all type of collisions including Guard and Hurtboxes.
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All type of shapes are supported but UF2D works properly only with Box shapes so avoid making odd shapes by moving the vertices!
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Pressing any Box Type above will spawn same type of that.
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Click on them to move around. If there are too many boxes around, double [LMB] click on a vertex or edge to select the box you wish to move.
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A box can be deleted by selecting and then pressing [DEL] button in your keyboard.
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Box Names are self explanatory. We will see how they are used especially in Fighter tutorials.
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We also did not talk about the "Default Material" as we will not be editing it (same goes for Flipbooks). UF2D automatically applies the material / palette for sprites that are used for Flipbooks. Speaking of which, let's talk about Flipbooks!
3- Flipbooks
Flipbook is the last type of Paper2D asset that contains Sprites so they can be used for animation. It can has a few properties so lets go through each of them!
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To create a Flipbook, select all the Sprites you want to get animated in one Flipbook, then [RMB] click and select "Create Flipbook."
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Unreal will do its best to order the sprites name-wise, but you can also order them later or just use one sprite to create a flipbook and add sprites later one by one.
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Default "Frames Per Second" is 15 but it is strongly recommended to use 60 for Fighters and Projectiles.
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We can always change the "Frame Run" to our needs for each sprite too!
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Editing / Adding / Removing a frame is easy as the video showcases! Just make sure that if you are using a Palette material, the sprite MUST have all the colors corresponding to it!
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By default, Collision is disabled. However we can have two other options to either only use first frame for collision, or use all sprite collisions!
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Using only first sprite collision is recommended for Fighter Idle animations and Projectiles with fixed shapes, however nothing is forced in this matter!
Note that we did not touch to Materials like we didn't on Sprites. UF2D gives the material / palette automatically so we don't need to worry about it. However you can still change the material just to see how it looks without going for a Test Play.
That's all for the Paper2D Plugin. Next section will be about the Fighters! Thanks for your time and reading!