Unreal Engine 4 - Making a 2D Platformer in UE4 - Player Animations

Introduction

In this tutorial, you'll learn how to implement player animations for a 2D platformer using Unreal Engine 4's Paper2D flipbook system. This guide will walk you through the process step-by-step, allowing you to create smooth character animations that enhance your game's visual appeal.

Step 1: Setting Up Your Flipbook Animation

• Open your Unreal Engine 4 project.
• Navigate to the Content Browser and create a new folder for your animations.
• Import your sprite sheet or individual sprites into the project.
• Right-click in your animations folder, go to Animation, and select Paper Flipbook.
• Name your flipbook (e.g., "PlayerIdleFlipbook").
• Open the flipbook editor and:
  • Drag and drop your sprites into the timeline in the order you want them to animate.
  • Adjust the frames per second (FPS) to control the speed of the animation.
• Save the flipbook.

Step 2: Adding the Animation to the Player Character

• Open your player character's blueprint.
• In the Components tab, locate your Sprite component.
• In the Details panel, find the Animation section.
• Set the Flipbook property to the flipbook you created in Step 1 (e.g., "PlayerIdleFlipbook").
• Compile and save the blueprint.

Step 3: Creating Animation States

• In your player character blueprint, create a new variable called IsMoving (Boolean type).
• Create an Event Tick node and connect it to a Branch node.
• Connect the IsMoving variable to the condition of the branch.
• For the true output:
  • Set the flipbook to the running animation flipbook (e.g., "PlayerRunFlipbook").
• For the false output:
  • Set the flipbook to the idle animation flipbook.
• Compile and save the blueprint.

Step 4: Implementing Player Movement

• In the player character blueprint, set up your movement controls:
  • Use the Input Axis nodes for horizontal movement (e.g., "MoveRight").
  • Adjust the character’s velocity based on input to move left or right.
• Update the IsMoving variable based on whether there's any input:
  • Set IsMoving to true if the input value is not zero.
  • Set IsMoving to false if the input value is zero.

Step 5: Adding Player Rotation

• In the player character blueprint, use the Input Axis node for rotation (e.g., "Turn").
• Create a new float variable called PlayerRotation.
• Update the PlayerRotation based on the input value.
• Use the Set Actor Rotation node to rotate the player character based on the PlayerRotation variable.
• Ensure that the rotation aligns with the direction of movement.

Conclusion

You have successfully set up player animations in Unreal Engine 4 using the Paper2D flipbook system. By following these steps, you've created an animated character that responds to movement and rotation input. As a next step, consider exploring additional animations (like jumping or attacking) and integrating them into your player character's behavior for a more dynamic gameplay experience. Happy developing!