Remote Control Feature

Document Summary: Explains the Remote Control feature.

Document Changelog: Edited by Richard Nalezynski for creation.

Overview

The Remote Control is a new feature that can be used to manipulate render options, inspect Actors, and view realtime stats.

Remote Control

Prior to the April 2007 QA-Approved Build, the Remote Control is enabled by default during non-editor play sessions.

NOTE: As of the April 2007 QA-Approved Build the engine was changed to not use wxWidgets when running the game as that's how Epic will ship its games. This means you no longer get the Remote Control window and editactor support, though you can pass -remotecontrol or -wxwindows on the command line to get the old behavior.

Rendering Page

The Rendering Page contains a list of varoius settings and stats which can be toggled or set.

On the toolbar is an icon to open up a level.

Settings

• Game Resolution - choose from a set of standard or fullscreen modes, or create a custom resolution
• Maximum Texture Size - choose from 32x32 through 4096x4096
• Maximum Shadow Size - choose from 32x32 through 512x512
• Enable Post Process Effects - choose either True or False
• View Mode - choose from Wireframe, BrushWireframe, Unlit, Lit, LightingOnly, LightComplexity, ShaderComplexity
• Slomo - set a value (1.0 is normal)
• FOV - set a value (typically 90.0)
• Showflags - select toggles for Bones, Bounds, BSP, Collision, Constraints, Decals, Decal Info, Fog, Foliage, Hit Proxies, Level Coloration, Mesh Edges, Missing Collision, Particles, Vertex Colors, Scene Capture Portals, Shadow Frustums, Skeletal Meshes, Skins, Sprites, Static Meshes, Terrain, Terrain Patches, Constraints
• Dynamic Shadows - toggle on or off
• Show HUD toggle HUD drawing on or off (this is different from UnrealUI scenes)
• Players Only - toggle on or off

Stats

• Frames Per Second - toggle on or off
• D3D Scene - Not used at this time
• Memory - toggle on or off

Actors Page

The Actors Page contains a tree list of all the Actors in the current level, as well as controls to filter the list.

On the toolbar are icons to toggle the display of dynamic Actors; refresh the Actor list; show the selected Actor's properties; show sub-objects with debug options; auto-expand the Actor tree; and show properties for the Actor under the crosshairs.

When showing properties for an Actor, you have the option of locking the selected Actor; copying the properties to the Clipboard; completly copying the properties to the Clipboard (including editinline Objects); and expanding and collapsing all categories.

NOTE: If are running a PIE session and you add an Actor to the level, the Actor will not be seen during that session, even with PIE propagation enabled. You must restart the PIE session to see the new actor.

Stats Page

The Stats Page contains a tree list of groups of stats that can be toggled either individually, or by group.

Groups

• Physics - dynamics, events, etc.
• Streaming - game and rendering threads, audio, loading times, etc.
• Engine - foliage, terrain, decals, input, HUD, shadows, etc.
• FaceFX - morphing, materials, bone blending, etc.
• Game - Actors, Components, Scripts, Kismet, garbage collection, etc.
• UI - scenes, widgets, etc.
• Audio - components, instances, etc.
• Anim - updates, blends, etc.
• Particles - sprites, meshes, etc.
• BeamParticles - spawn, render, etc.
• TrailParticles - spawn, render, etc.
• SceneUpdate - primitives, lights, etc.
• Net - packets, bunches, static object references, name references, etc.
• CharacterLighting - visibility, environment, etc.
• RHI - triangles, lines, primitives
• Octree - point and radius check; time and count
• SceneRendering - occlusion, shadows, lights, etc.
• Collision - Level, Terrain, BSP, Static Meshes, Actors; Single-Line and Multi-Line checks
• DefaultStatGroup - root
• StatSystem - per frame capture
• Object - properties, config, localization, name table, etc.
• Memory - virtual memory, physcal memory, etc.
• Threading - rendering and game threads
• AsyncIO - read counts and sizes (fulfilled, canceled, outstanding)

Console Commands

To toggle the Remote Control, enter REMOTECONTROL or RC at the Console.

NOTE: As of the April 2007 QA-Approved Build these console commands are only available when running the game executable with -remotecontrol or -wxwindows. These commands are always available when running from a Play In Editor session.

To suppress Remote Control when invoking game executable from the command line, specify -norc or -noremotecontrol.