1. Disappearing Platform on Loop

Platforms that appear and disappear periodically are a staple for platforming game modes like obstacle courses. They require players to time their jumps to make it to the next platform. If they miss, they’ll fall and have to start over.

Making Platforms Disappear

Follow these steps to create a disappearing platform using Scene Graph:

1. Add an entity to your scene named DisappearingPlatform. See Working with Entities and Components to learn more about adding entities and components to your scene.

2. Add the mesh_component to your disappearing platform entity, and set the mesh to cube. 

3. Create a new Verse component named disappear_on_loop_component, add the component to your disappearing platform entity and save the entity. To learn how to create your own component, see Creating Your Own Component Using Verse.

4. Open your disappear_on_loop_component in VS Code to edit it in the following steps.

5. Add an editable float property to the component named Duration. This determines how long the platform should be shown before it’s hidden, and how long it’s hidden before it appears again.

   Verse

        using { /Verse.org }
   using { /Verse.org/Native }
   using { /Verse.org/Simulation }
   using { /Verse.org/SceneGraph }
   
   
   # Loops between hiding and showing the entity by enabling and disabling
   # its static mesh and collision components.
   disappear_on_loop_component := class(component):
   
   
   Expand code Copy full snippet(14 lines long)

6. To hide a platform, you can make its static mesh invisible by turning off collision so a player can’t land on the platform. Add a new function that extends from entity named Hide() to your disappear_on_loop_component class, Inside this function, call GetComponents[] with the type you’re looking for, in this case mesh_component , returning the entity's static mesh. Then call Disable() on the static mesh.

   Verse

   # If the entity has a mesh or collision component, disable them.
   (Entity:entity).Hide():void=
       if:
           StaticMesh := Entity.GetComponent[mesh_component]
       then:
           StaticMesh.Disable()
   

   Copy full snippet(6 lines long)

7. Add another entity extension function named Show() to your disappear_on_loop_component class. The implementation is the same as Hide() but you’ll call Enable() instead on the static mesh components.

   Verse

       # If the entity has a mesh or collision component, enable them.
   (Entity:entity).Show():void=
       if:
           StaticMesh := Entity.GetComponent[mesh_component]
       then:
           StaticMesh.Enable()

   Copy full snippet(6 lines long)

8. Finally in OnSimulate() , use a loop expression to loop hiding and showing the platform , calling Sleep() each time. Your complete disappear_on_loop_component class should look like the following:.

   Verse

       using { /Verse.org }
   using { /Verse.org/Native }
   using { /Verse.org/Simulation }
   using { /Verse.org/SceneGraph }
   
   
   # Loops between hiding and showing the entity by enabling and disabling
   # its static mesh and collision components.
   disappear_on_loop_component := class<final_super>(component):
   
   
   Expand code Copy full snippet(30 lines long)

9. Save and compile your code.

10. In the UEFN Outliner, promote your DisappearingPlatform entity to a prefab named disappearing_platform_prefab. As a prefab, you can create more instances of your disappearing platform and update the look and base implementation for them all if you need to later. For how to promote entities to a prefab, see Prefabs and Prefab Instances.

Complete Script

Here is the complete code used in this section:

disappear_on_loop_component.verse

using { /Verse.org }
using { /Verse.org/Native }
using { /Verse.org/Simulation }
using { /Verse.org/SceneGraph }


# Loops between hiding and showing the entity by enabling and disabling
# its static mesh and collision components.
disappear_on_loop_component := class<final_super>(component):

Next Up

• 

  2. Moving Entities Using Animations

  Use Scene Graph to create a component that animates an entity to different targets.