A Few Questions About the Modular Pawn System

[thedarkwolf333]

Forgive my ignorance, but I am inexperienced with certain aspects of the UDK. I'm curious about certain elements of the modular pawn system.

*When importing the pawn, is the pawn itself physically separated into several meshes? Are the different parts of the pawn defined entirely in Unrealscript? Does it have something to do with the rig's bone naming conventions?

*This ties in with the question above. How are the different options for the modular pawn then imported to be used with the rig and animation data?

We are attempting to use the modular pawn system to display the main character wearing different pieces of armor, and this is something in which we have no experience.

Thank you for your time.

[Chosker]

*When importing the pawn, is the pawn itself physically separated into several meshes? Are the different parts of the pawn defined entirely in Unrealscript? Does it have something to do with the rig's bone naming conventions?

yes, physically separated into several meshes. exported and imported into UDK separately.
yes. the parts of the Pawn are defined in Unrealscript
No, it has nothing to do with the bone naming conventions. the body parts use the same rig regardless of the bone's names

*This ties in with the question above. How are the different options for the modular pawn then imported to be used with the rig and animation data?

with "imported" I assume you mean "merged into the same Pawn" right?.
if you use 3ds max, your body parts will be separate meshes but they will all use the same skeleton. In-game the theory is the same, for each mesh you want you add code for the pawn to load it and use the same skeleton+animations.
I don't understand what you mean with "the different options" though

*We are attempting to use the modular pawn system to display the main character wearing different pieces of armor, and this is something in which we have no experience.

good, this is a good way to go.

I myself do it in a different way: picture in your head how a weapon is loaded into a Pawn (it's attached to the pawn via a socket). Now imagine that the weapon is actually an armor piece. Now imagine that instead of attaching it to a socket, you just attach it to the base of the Pawn, and then tell the armor part to use the same animations as the Pawn.
It's a whole different way with its advantages and disadvantages, but it suits me better. If you have no experience though, the modular Pawn is probably a good idea for you, since it's well documented

[thedarkwolf333]

By "different options" I meant the various meshes that can be swapped to make the character look different.

Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions. We do already have our main character separated into multiple meshes, so we have the right idea. I just needed some confirmation that we were headed in the right direction. Now, if I can find a rigger/animator. We have several 3D artists and only one animator. He's getting a little overwhelmed. However, that is a discussion for another thread.

Thanks again.

[Chaosnet]

yes, physically separated into several meshes. exported and imported into UDK separately.
yes. the parts of the Pawn are defined in Unrealscript
No, it has nothing to do with the bone naming conventions. the body parts use the same rig regardless of the bone's names


with "imported" I assume you mean "merged into the same Pawn" right?.
if you use 3ds max, your body parts will be separate meshes but they will all use the same skeleton. In-game the theory is the same, for each mesh you want you add code for the pawn to load it and use the same skeleton+animations.
I don't understand what you mean with "the different options" though


good, this is a good way to go.

I myself do it in a different way: picture in your head how a weapon is loaded into a Pawn (it's attached to the pawn via a socket). Now imagine that the weapon is actually an armor piece. Now imagine that instead of attaching it to a socket, you just attach it to the base of the Pawn, and then tell the armor part to use the same animations as the Pawn.
It's a whole different way with its advantages and disadvantages, but it suits me better. If you have no experience though, the modular Pawn is probably a good idea for you, since it's well documented

Exactly which function of which class to use it to attach the skeletal mesh to the base of the pawn? I found SetBase() function but it didn't help. Should the parts be SkeletalMesh or SkeletalMeshComponent or SkeletalMeshActor and do we have to create objects for the parts in default properties (like Begin Object Class=SkeletalMeshActor Name=MeshPart1)?