Gameplay Framework Quick Reference
Short overview of classes for game rules, characters, controllers, user interfaces, etc., that make up the framework for the game.
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To show how the different pieces of game framework interlock, here is a simple example. Imagine a simple concept for a game, where a rabbit races a snail. The base of the game framework is the GameMode. The GameMode sets the rules for the game, like the rule that whichever player crosses the finish line first is the winner. It also handles spawning the players.
A player is set up in a PlayerController , which can possess a Pawn. The Pawn is the physical representation of a player in the game, while the Controller possesses the Pawn and can set rules for its behavior. In our example, there would be two Pawns, one for the snail and one for the rabbit. The rabbit would actually be a Character , a special subclass of Pawn which has built-in movement functionality including running and jumping. The snail, on the other hand, has a different style of movement, so it could extend directly from the Pawn class.
A Pawn can contain its own rules for movement and other game logic, but that functionality can also be included in a Controller. A Controller can either be a PlayerController taking input from a human player or an AIController with automated control by the computer. In this example, the player would be controlling the snail, so the snail Pawn would be possessed by a PlayerController. The rabbit would be controlled by AI, with rules for when it should stop, sprint, or nap all being set up in an AIController which possesses the rabbit Character. Only human players care about the view provided by a Camera, so only one CameraComponent in the snail Pawn would be used by the PlayerCamera.
During gameplay, input from the player would move the snail around the map, while the HUD was overlaid on the view provided by the Camera, showing information about who was currently in first place, and the race time that had elapsed.
For quick descriptions of the basic framework elements, and a chart of how they fit together, check out the Gameplay Framework Quick Reference . Otherwise, you can use the links below to jump directly to pages with overviews of each class and information about how they can be set up in Blueprints or with C++.
