"Implementing a Respawn Mechanism and UI in Unreal Engine"

Author: Miguel Martinez Olivares

Posted on: 9/21/2023

Blog Entry Part 1: The Problem

During this week's development cycle, I faced a challenge related to the respawn mechanism for our hero unit, the Architect of Caelum, in our multiplayer RTS game. The problem was twofold: First, how to handle the unit's death and respawn in a seamless and non-disruptive way to gameplay. Second, effectively communicating the respawn timer to the player through the UI. This was crucial because if a player's hero unit is down, it significantly impacts their gameplay experience and strategy. Therefore, addressing this issue was of high importance to ensure a smooth and engaging user experience.

Image of death architect

Blog Entry Part 2: Problem Solution

The root cause of the issue was the lack of a respawn system that could handle the hero unit's death and revival while updating the UI in real time. To solve this, I implemented a respawn function in Unreal Engine using C++. This function hides the hero unit upon death, turns off its collision, and sets a timer for its respawn.

To link this with the UI, I created a widget that displays the respawn timer. This widget is added to the viewport when the hero unit dies and is removed when the unit respawns. I made sure to synchronize the UI with the backend logic to ensure accurate timing.

By implementing this respawn mechanism and UI, the player is now well-informed about the hero unit's respawn time, allowing them to make strategic decisions during the downtime. This significantly improves the end-user experience, making the gameplay more engaging and less frustrating.