Help making inventory menu.

[frankit]

@Gaffney
I hate to say it, but I feel compelled to, learn Unity or UE4 instead,. Read the other recent threads related to UE4 vs UDK before deciding....

[EPD Gaffney]

Well, Frankit, I've thought about it and googled a bit, and with these 'easier' engines I don't see how I can do everything I want without learning to script. If I'm wrong do tell me, but infinite customisability seems nearly impossible in a visual scripting language, knowing that the visual scripting langauge is made of proper code itself. I just don't see how they could have accounted for everything. But I'd love to be wrong, given how difficult it seems to find any way to get started on this.
Then there's the instability some people have mentioned. I do have a powerful system but I don't know that it's powerful enough for UE4. Unity just seems worse according to what I read before choosing UDK.
My last consideration is just that it feels a bit like cheating. Maybe that's from the attitude a lot of experienced coders have presented, but whatever the cause I got into this hoping to learn to script properly.

Thanks for the link, Neongho. Is it a problem that it was written in 2011? As I've said, a fair few scripts I've tried don't seem to work now, and I have found places where people explain that things used to work. I talked to Marko Permanto, actually, and some of his advice was outdated even. I told him it wasn't working and he wasn't surprised.
Where am I stuck? I haven't begun my inventory as I don't know where to start. I'm shocked that there is no tutorial on this. I've worked some in Flash and AS2. I have a main menu that can start or exit the game and I understand what I did to make it, rather proud of that. I'd like to make an inventory menu that resembles the classic Resident Evils. My game will be a lot like them. In fact, for my purposes now, just think of it as me making one of them from scratch here. I suppose what I need first is likely to understand the way the inventory menu would call to the visual fore what it knows the player has, and how would it know what image or mesh or word to call.
If you've never played the games, here's aYouTube clip that starts off with someone mucking about in one of the inventories: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3gb32-7P_M

Thanks for the help and if someone's willing to walk me through this step by step I can send files and things, to show my progress. I just don't want to be too forward I suppose. But I'm quite grateful for whatever help I receive here; no-one's obligated.

[frankit]

-UC doesn't offer the 'infinite customisability' you crave, because a lot of the engine isn't exposed. So you won't be able to fix fundamental bugs or customize everything. Whereas with UE4 / C++ you definitely can do anything and everything, in principle anyway, because the source is included!

-The kind of apprenticeship you seek works best in project collaborations. So why not sign-up to one of the teams on here looking for volunteers... Otherwise keep learning abstract programming / scripting, but remember this won't necessarily teach you everything about game design.

-By the way, you can also extend Kismet by scripting your own custom nodes, and Blueprints offers far more power... So with problem solving and a little imagination, the sky is the limit here.

-Its easy to get lost in technology... But what are your goals? Do you want to build games or learn to code? It sounds like its coding, so I suggest learning Unity C# scripting to begin... Then C++ in UE4... Whereas if its game design then focus on originality and visual storytelling and learn to code on the side as you bump up against walls in Kismet or Blueprints. i.e. Learn to code incrementally.

[EPD Gaffney]

I suppose, really thinking about it, it would be game design. I'm just a very thorough sort of person so I hadn't separated the two. At least in UDK it seems they're fairly connected. Your suggestion to learn the coding as I go, using UE4 mostly visually, does make sense. Maybe I will.
I'll tell you, the real reason I got into this is that my girlfriend and I are obsessed with the classic Resident Evils and feared we'd never see the likes of them again. So eventually after years of talking about what I'd do if I were to make one, I decided I'd do it. Coding was never considered until I seen it was needed. That seems to make my goal game design.

If I switch to UE4, is it easier to make an inventory menu? Would I use Flash still?
What's with the subscription? Can I really just pay one month and unsubscribe with no great hinderance? I wouldn't say I have much money but I could afford the price of one month.

Thanks again. You're sound, Frankit.

[frankit]

Yes, Scaleform is available but there's a new native interface and a couple of other options too.

If you join an accredited college program you can get UE4 for free.
Other options: buy one month (yes Epic appear to honor that).
Other 'darker' options: There are some UE4 Torrents allegedly, but I'd go with a free version of Unity long before that.

[EPD Gaffney]

Edit: Long post for no reason. In summation, will my old Acer AL1717 support DirectX11?

It just feels odd to switch after putting so much time and effort into this, you know? No more Flash, no more Scaleform, no more of lots of stuff. I suppose the experience was probably good.
So, I'm trying to switch. There's one thing that I'm not seeing mentioned and that's is there a limitation of my hardware to support DirectX11. I have a sinfully powerful PC that I built myself, but the monitor is fair old, and lots of stuff my graphics card wants to do just gives me a black screen until I find a way to undo it. High resolutions and '3D' graphics (not really sure what that means here) have done it. I'm googling it and not finding it. If either of ye (or anyone else) happens to know do tell. I'll keep googling on my end, rewording the search and such. The monitor is an Acer AL1717. Everything else is miles better than the UE4 requirements.
Thanks, lads.

[EPD Gaffney]

Downloaded and installed UE4, ran the ReflectionsSubway as a test and it worked great. Thanks for the help but I'm very probably finished with the old UDK. I can-not tell you how excited I am to work with UE4, just from seeing the options to start. Have to wait till later, though.