Unreal Engine 4’s pathfinding and navigation system gives all users a robust and easy to use system for adding AI controlled characters into their games. With the default settings, navigation is static preventing changes at runtime.
Dynamically generating the nav mesh (Navigation Mesh) and adjusting it during runtime has very little documentation which is why this guide has been created.
In this guide we will be working through how to enable runtime navmesh generation and how to affect the navmesh with navigation modifiers.

1. Unreal Engine 4 Player Character
2. Unreal Engine 4 Poker Video Poker
3. Unreal Engine 4 Ports

Unreal Engine is the world’s most open and advanced real-time 3D creation tool. Continuously evolving to serve not only its original purpose as a state-of-the-art game engine, today it gives creators across industries the freedom and control to deliver cutting-edge content, interactive experiences, and immersive virtual worlds. Unreal Engine 4 is a collection of game development tools capable of producing everything from 2D mobile games to AAA console titles. It is the engine behind titles such as ARK: Survival Evolved, Tekken 7 and Kingdom Hearts III. Developing in Unreal Engine 4 is very simple for beginners.

Switching to Runtime Generation

Firstly, to enable this feature open up your Project Settings.

From here find and click the Navigation Mesh tab under the Engine category.

In the Navigation Mesh settings set the Runtime Generation setting to Dynamic.

Adding Navigation Modifiers

Any actor component that has collision can be setup to cut holes inside the navigation mesh.

To enable this feature, I created a new actor named NavigationBlocker.
This actor stops AI controlled actors from moving in the red area that the collision occupies.
Furthermore, the NavigationBlocker moves around the level, regenerating the navmesh to reflect the changed environment.
To keep it simple, this actor only has a Box Collision.

Click the box collision component from the components list (shown above) and find the navigation category in the details panel on the left.
Tick the Dynamic Obstacle checkbox and set the area class to obstacle.

Area Class

The area class determines how AI controlled actors will react to the modifier.

• None will not affect the navigation.
  
• Default will act like a normal area of navmesh.
  
• LowHeight blocks all AI from navigating through it due to the height restriction.
  
• Null blocks all navigation inside it.
  
• Obstacle tells the AI that this area can be navigated through but only if there are no other possible ways to move to the target.

Example

The AI actor now dynamically adjusts to walk around the box.
To download the project files for this tutorial click below:

Conclusion

With this setup your AI controlled actors will now react to the changing environments.
This system is essential for creating city building or strategy games.
A few examples of games that would use an equivalent system would be Age of Empires, Starcraft and Command and Conquer.

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Unreal Engine 4 Player Character

Ripstone Games today announced its brand new IP Poker Club, which will be launching this year for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC and Nintendo Switch. Leveraging the power of Unreal Engine 4 and ray tracing technology, Poker Club will offer players the most immersive and social poker simulation ever on next-generation and current platforms when it launches later this year.

Poker Club is designed as a social experience. In line with the increasing online community-led nature of the gaming landscape; Poker Club will connect players with friends and poker fans around the world, featuring tournaments for over 200 players. Players can create or join a club, complete with leaderboards, exclusive tournaments, daily chip bonuses whilst working towards shared goals that unlock rewards. Some customisable gear and events are club-specific, meaning the best way to play is together, connected with others from around the world. Poker Club will also offer cross-platform and cross-generation play, meaning players will be able to play together on PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation and Xbox platforms.

Poker Club offers players more ways to play than ever before with a full house of Texas Hold’em online tournament modes and ring-games. Players are invited to take on the challenge of the PCC Poker Tour, an immersive online career mode that takes players on a journey from back-room games to big-money main events. From Single-Table and Multi-Table tournaments to Freezeouts, Shootouts, Turbos, Super Turbos, Bounties and more, Poker Club offers a variety of online multiplayer modes featuring customisable private games, open tables and full-scale tournaments. With an advanced Poker 101 tutorial system featuring advice for beginners and advanced players alike, Poker Club offers a jackpot of poker fun for all.

On PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X Poker Club has been engineered to make the most of next-generation hardware and features. Poker Club boasts 4K visuals at 60fps, with advanced rendering techniques including hardware-accelerated ray tracing across PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. On PlayStation 5, Poker Club will utilise the advanced haptics in the DualSense controller to immerse players on the poker table like never before. The game also offers Cross-Buy between PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5, and Smart Delivery on Xbox One and Xbox Series X, so players only have to buy Poker Club once to get the game on both generations of consoles.

“Poker Club is going to be the ultimate poker experience when it launches this year. Not only will it fully leverage the power of next-gen PC and console technology, but more importantly it will offer players a highly immersive social experience,” said Phil Gaskell of Ripstone Games. “We’ve included everything we’ve ever wanted to see in a poker game, so that players can enjoy the fantasy of living the life of a poker pro, touring the incredible locations you might see in TV and films. The in-game Clubs and huge range of events combine to create a refreshing new poker experience, bringing players from around the world together and offering more ways to play than ever before on PC and console.”

Unreal Engine 4 Poker Video Poker

Poker Club has been built from the ground up to offer an immersive play experience on all platforms. With a first-person viewpoint in gameplay, along with top-down cameras and cinematic angles, Poker Club delivers the true feeling of sitting at the card table like never before. There are 7 meticulously detailed arenas to play in, ranging from the grungy basement of Ralph’s Pizzeria to the glitz and glamour of Casino d’Oro, whilst advancing through the ranks to become a high roller opens up access to high-stakes tournaments at the Intensity Arena, where the big money can be won. With deep player customisation options ranging from unlockable apparel to exclusive table items, the journey from back-room card shark to poker pro has never looked this good. Poker Club will launch on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch and current-gen consoles in 2020.

Unreal Engine 4 Ports

Visit the Poker Club website: https://pokerclubgame.com
Join the Poker Club Discord server: https://discord.gg/w2xQmwr
Follow Poker Club on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PokerClubGame
Follow Ripstone Games on Twitter: https://twitter.com/RipstoneGames