Physics Asset update on dedicated server not working

[elvince]

Hi,

I did a lot of test and it seems that the Physics Asset of a Pawn is not updated on a dedicated server even if we force it to do.

How to test:
1- Set the sample code that you can find at the end of the post
2 - Create a game server dedicated
3- Connect 2 client onto hit
4 - Run the exec "NXVIS Collsion" to see the physics asset
5 - Try to hit the Head Box

The gun is an instantfire, only performing a trace to know if we are hitting or not the pawn. You will see that the pawn is never hitten.

I tried also to force the SkeletalMesh update by ForceSkelUpdate(). I did it during the tick, before doing the trace without any change in the behaviour.
But this should not be needed due to bUpdateSkelWhenNotRendered=True.

I did some test on a listened server and it works.

If you need more information, please ask. If it's working on your end, I will apreciate your feedback on how you get it working.

I'm based on the latest UDK, with UT asset.

Thanks,

Sample Code to Highlight the issue:

class TestGame extends UTGame;

DefaultProperties
{
	DefaultPawnClass=class'TestPawn';
	DefaultInventory(0)=class'TestWeapon'
}

class TestPawn extends UTPawn;

DefaultProperties
{
	Begin Object class=SkeletalMeshComponent Name=SkeletalMeshComponent0
		bHasPhysicsAssetInstance=true
		bPerBoneMotionBlur=true
		BlockZeroExtent=true
		BlockRigidBody=true
		CollideActors=true
		PhysicsAsset=PhysicsAsset'CH_AnimCorrupt.Mesh.SK_CH_Corrupt_Male_Physics'
		AnimSets(0)=AnimSet'CH_AnimHuman.Anims.K_AnimHuman_BaseMale'
		AnimTreeTemplate=AnimTree'CH_AnimHuman_Tree.AT_CH_Human'
		SkeletalMesh=SkeletalMesh'CH_IronGuard_Male.Mesh.SK_CH_IronGuard_MaleA'
		// WARNING: Make sure this is NEVER false!
        // Otherwise, stuff won't work right on dedicated servers.
        bUpdateSkelWhenNotRendered=True
	End Object
	Mesh=SkeletalMeshComponent0
	Components.Add(SkeletalMeshComponent0)

	// Cylinder
	Begin Object Name=CollisionCylinder
		CollisionRadius=40.0
		CollisionHeight=100.0
		BlockZeroExtent=false
	End Object
	CylinderComponent=CollisionCylinder
	CollisionComponent=CollisionCylinder

}

class TestWeapon extends UTWeapon;

DefaultProperties
{
	WeaponColor=(R=255,G=255,B=0,A=255)
	PlayerViewOffset=(X=16.0,Y=-18,Z=-18.0) // PlayerViewOffset=(X=0,Y=0,Z=-0)

	Begin Object class=AnimNodeSequence Name=MeshSequenceA
		bCauseActorAnimEnd=true
	End Object

	Begin Object Name=FirstPersonMesh
		SkeletalMesh=SkeletalMesh'WP_LinkGun.Mesh.SK_WP_Linkgun_1P'
		AnimSets(0)=AnimSet'WP_LinkGun.Anims.K_WP_LinkGun_1P_Base'
		Animations=MeshSequenceA
		Scale=0.9
		FOV=60.0
	End Object

	AttachmentClass=class'UTAttachment_ShockRifle'

	// Pickup staticmesh
	Begin Object Name=PickupMesh
		SkeletalMesh=SkeletalMesh'WP_LinkGun.Mesh.SK_WP_LinkGun_3P'
	End Object

	FireOffset=(X=0,Y=0,Z=0)

	InstantHitDamageTypes(0)=class'UTDmgType_LinkPlasma'
	InstantHitDamageTypes(1)=class'UTDmgType_LinkPlasma'
	WeaponFireTypes(0)=EWFT_InstantHit
	WeaponFireTypes(1)=EWFT_InstantHit
	InstantHitDamage(0)=60
	InstantHitDamage(1)=60
	InstantHitMomentum(0)=10000.0

	WeaponFireSnd[0]=SoundCue'PF_SR_TUT.Sound.Fire4'
	WeaponFireSnd[1]=SoundCue'PF_SR_TUT.Sound.Fire4'

	WeaponEquipSnd=SoundCue'A_Weapon_Link.Cue.A_Weapon_Link_RaiseCue'
	WeaponPutDownSnd=SoundCue'A_Weapon_Link.Cue.A_Weapon_Link_LowerCue'
	//WeaponFireSnd(0)=SoundCue'A_Weapon_Link.Cue.A_Weapon_Link_FireCue'

	ZoomOutSound=SoundCue'A_Weapon_Sniper.Sniper.A_Weapon_Sniper_ZoomOut_Cue'
	ZoomInSound=SoundCue'A_Weapon_Sniper.Sniper.A_Weapon_Sniper_ZoomIn_Cue'
	//ZoomLoopCue=SoundCue'A_Pickups_Powerups.PowerUps.A_Powerup_JumpBoots_GroundLoopCue'

	MaxDesireability=0.7
	AIRating=+0.3
	CurrentRating=+0.3
	bFastRepeater=false
	bInstantHit=true
	bSplashJump=false
	bRecommendSplashDamage=false
	bSniping=true
	ShouldFireOnRelease(0)=0
	ShouldFireOnRelease(1)=0
	InventoryGroup=1
	GroupWeight=0.5

	PickupSound=SoundCue'A_Pickups.Weapons.Cue.A_Pickup_Weapons_Link_Cue'

	EffectSockets(0)=MuzzleFlashSocket

	MuzzleFlashSocket=MuzzleFlashSocket  
	MuzzleFlashPSCTemplate=ParticleSystem'PF_SR_TUT.Particles.P_SniperRifle_MuzzleFlash'
	MuzzleFlashLightClass=class'UTGame.UTRocketMuzzleFlashLight'

	bShowAltMuzzlePSCWhenWeaponHidden=TRUE

	MuzzleFlashColor=(R=120,G=255,B=120,A=255)
	MuzzleFlashDuration=0.33;

	IconX=451
	IconY=448
	IconWidth=54
	IconHeight=51

	CrossHairCoordinates=(U=384,V=0,UL=64,VL=64)

	LockerRotation=(pitch=0,yaw=0,roll=-16384)
	IconCoordinates=(U=453,V=467,UL=147,VL=41)

	AmmoCount=100
	LockerAmmoCount=100
	MaxAmmoCount=6



	WeaponRange=3000

	// Configure the zoom

	bZoomedFireMode(0)=0
	bZoomedFireMode(1)=0
	//Fire Mode 2 = Zoom
	bZoomedFireMode(2) = 1
	ZoomedTargetFOV=12.0
	ZoomedRate=30.0

}

[elvince]

I also test CheckHitInfo, and again it's not working on dedicated server.
It was to "TraceComponent" to see if I can get a better result.

Thanks,

[elvince]

Hi,

I used Pawn(HitActor).Mesh.GetBoneLocation('b_Head') to see how the position differs on Server and on Client. On the server, I'm doing a ForceSkelUpdate() just in case.
I got discrepancies up to 10uu in X and Y axis and about 4 to 8 in the Z axis.
This is clearly highlighting my issue.

This technique was used in UT3 for the function IsLocationOnHead.

I hope this helps.

Thanks,

[elvince]

Hi,

I'm still looking for the root issue and I'm getting that the HeadBones is about 6uu under on the server side. The X and Y axis are ok. My first tests were wrong.
I will try to track down the HeadBox Coordinates if I can find how to get the values.

Thanks,

[elvince]

Final Conclusion:
All the issues are coming from UTScript and not UDK Engine
After discussion with some people I understand that for every one that was working, they were based on UDK classes and not UT so I finally set a test project based on UDK classes and everything was working as expected!

If someone know why, I will be please to learn... but I spend enough hours on this to dig more

Thanks