LOCK-ON TARGETING SYSTEM

1. HOW IT WORKS

When activating the lock-on (in the template project, pressing tab, middle button mouse or the gamepad right thumbstick button), the system initially searches for the closest enemy to the center of the screen. The "LockOnCenterTolerance" variable defines precision, that is, it defines how close to the center of the screen the target must be for this algorithm to capture the target.

If there is no enemy close to the center, the system searches for the nearest enemy in the sphere radius.

For a target to be considered an "enemy", it must have the "TargetInformationsInterface" interface and have the "isTarget?" boolean variable marked as true. It is worth mentioning that the lock-on ignores the character itself, so don't worry about selecting yourself.

2. DYNAMIC TARGET SWAP

The target swap can be done using keyboard (keys selected by the user - default keys: i, j, k and L -- weird I know, but just for testing), mouse (mouse up, down, left and right) and gamepad (using the right thumbstick axis). You can change the target swap mouse sensitivity in “SwapTargetMouseSensitivity”  variable (in my tests I used ~2500DPI mouse for the default value).

When an target is locked-on, the swap occur in relation to the angle of enemy in relation to the player, that is: a part of the target that points towards the player corresponds to the angle of 0º / "- 0º", his left at 90º , his back at 180º / -180º, his right at -90º. Thus, it is possible to move out of the enemy swap pattern from left to right and vice versa to also switch between targets ahead and targets behind the currently selected target (you can see this angles in the 3 images below).

3. LOCK-ON DISTANCE

You can change the lock-on distance by changing the value of the “MaximumLockOnDistance” variable (the default lock-on distance is 2500).This lock-on distance determines the distance the lock-on can be activated and when it is disabled (if the “CheckEnemyDistance?” variable is marked as true).

4. OBSTACLES DETECTION

The lock-on targeting system also has obstacle detection between the player and the enemy: if there are any obstacles, the lock-on is automatically disabled. But you can turn this system off by checking the "IgnoreObstaclesWhenLockedOn?" as true. You can also combine this option with the "LockOnThroughObstacles" variable, which allows you to lock-on a target through obstacles.

5. LOOK AT THE ENEMY (CHARACTER ROTATION)

You can enable the function of always looking at the enemy, that is, not only does the camera rotate towards the enemy, but also the character. By default, this option is disabled, but to activate it, just check the boolean variable “LookAtTheTargetWhenLockedOn” as true (or press "N" on the template project).

6. FREE LOOK UP AXIS/BLOCK LOOK TURN AXIS

You can activate the option to make the look up axis free. This means that even though the lock-on is activated, you can move the camera freely on the look up axis. This can be done by marking the boolean variable “FreeLookUpAxis?” as true. By default, this variable is marked as false. You can also make the Look Turn Axis move by checking the "BlockTurnAxis?" as false. 

7. SWAP TARGET WHEN THE CURRENT DIES

It is possible to enable automatic target swap when the current target dies. To do this, simply change the boolean variable “SwapTargetWhenTheCurrentDies?” to true or false. By default the variable is marked as true. When you are fighting an enemy and he dies, just call on the enemy's blueprint (in any event that you created for the character's "death"), the two nodes from installation tutorial step 12.