Chapter 7: Creating Screen UI Elements
At the core of any gaming experience is the method game designers use to communicate the goals and rules of the game to the player. One method of doing this, which is common across all forms of games, is using a Graphical User Interface (GUI) to display and broadcast important information to the player. In this chapter, we will set up a GUI that will track the player's health and stamina, and we will set up counters that display the targets eliminated and the ammo of the player. You will learn how to set up a basic User Interface (UI) using Unreal's GUI Editor and how to use Blueprints to tie that interface to gameplay values. We will create UI elements using the Unreal Motion Graphics (UMG) UI Designer.
In the process, we will cover the following topics:
- Creating simple UI meters with the UMG
- Connecting UI values to player variables
- Tracking the ammo and eliminated targets
By the end of the chapter, you will...