Notify the character that a footstep is happening

[epcau]

I am trying to understand what is a good way to add character-relative sounds to my characters' footsteps.
Unless I am missing something, I understand that the FES data asset that is referenced in the footstep notify is the only config available for footsteps sounds. I am finding it hard to override that programmatically in a clean way, to do things like playing different sounds based on the character state (e.g. I equip an armor and I want to add chain mail ringing to my footsteps instead of cloth movement).

I understand the FES data asset is about more than just sound, I am starting with this example to better give the idea of what I'd like to achieve (and I am a sound designer, heh).

In the following pull request draft (I couldn't think of a neater way to show my idea) I trigger an implementable function from the notify to the character owning the mesh playing the notify. This way I can grab the rest of my inventory sounds configs and play them at will.
#643

Is this the best way (with code sorted out in a better way, of course) or did I really miss something and there already is something that allows for footsteps to be more detailed based on character, without having to package redirect or intercept the notify at runtime?

[ameaninglessname]

It's not sustainable to put things on character.

I would recommend adding two interface:

• IGetFootStepEffectHandlerInterface : for finding the object providing concrete implementation of IFootStepEffectHandlerInterface
• IFootStepEffectHandlerInterface : for providing interfaces needed for handling footsteps effect

Let UAlsAnimNotify_FootstepEffects implement these two interfaces, to provide simple, default functionality.

It might need a UAlsAnimNotify_FootstepEffectsBase type to only interacting with these two interfaces. So that we are able to replace all the anim notify with some custom derived class which does the state based effect functionality.

Another way might be sending out footsteps event, and let listener handle it. (Messaging / Event based)

[epcau]

It's not sustainable to put things on character.

Could you expand on why? Not that I am against the Idea, just trying to learn!

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll take it into consideration. Will take some time before I do anything, I am well familiar to the project but it's the first time actually putting any C++ into it.

[ameaninglessname]

Could you expand on why

It's just a better software design principle --- "High cohesion Low coupling",
you can refer to the SOLID and design patterns

[luochuanyuewu]

Hey, Looks like you want a context based footstep solution without referencing assets directly from animations. Here is how I handle this:

https://www.yuewu.dev/en/wiki/OSmcu3XpzAiAae6GxFlSq

I will convert the character's state into tags, and play vfx/sfx based on tags selection.

[Deltalo]

Hi, all the footstep logic is inside the notify called UAlsAnimNotify_FootstepEffects, and as you mentioned, it’s not just sounds, since it also covers SFX, VFX, and decals. I would recommend the following: based on the logic of that notify, create your own to implement the behavior you need for your game.

In this notify, there are many examples of how @Sixze uses data assets to keep information easily editable. Notifies are a very powerful tool, and I think this is the right path for what you’re aiming for.

Now, the issue is that if you’re not very comfortable with C++, it’s going to be difficult to achieve a more customizable result for your game.

If you can provide more detail on your intended gameplay behavior, I can assist with designing and implementing the new notify

[epcau]

Hey there! Took more time than I thought but I now have a POC of how my things work. Still using the little hack I proposed, but for the rest I have what's needed to make things sound the way I want.
Here's a video with a quick demo of what I managed to get done until now:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BboIjeA0R9s

So in short, what I have is:

• The same temporary hack from the PR where I call a method from the footstep notify back into character (to be refactored, of course).
• A "CharacterSound" component on my character, where I define my methods for playing Footsteps sounds based on material, equipment sounds based on what mix the equip plays on a footstep or other locomotion actions/abilities, some parameters that I use to modulate character interaction with water based on depth, etc.
• A (currently) monolithic but very lightweight metasound with everything footsteps related, and some functionality for their mix:
  • Base footsteps sounds
  • Physical layer relative footsteps sounds
  • Water/fluids layer to complement character moving water together with wet and water footsteps
  • Note: the metasound is basically a mixer of all layers together. I check which layers are at volume 0 and block them from playing uselessly. In total it is using something less than 10 MB in memory for all character footsteps. It is not a oneshot either. I use a trigger interface in the metasound source together with some other inputs to update gait, surface etc. This helps with mixing/interpolating/making sure that I don't get any interruption in sound). The audiocomponent holding the metasound is snapped on a socket location close to root that footsteps sound would always come from a position relatively close to where they're supposed to be.
• Temporarily muted dedicated metasounds in FES in order to only have my own metasounds playing

I am trying interpolating footstep layers sounds between similar surfaces for fun.
For example with stepping on dirt and then grass: I get they mix (basically an array that tells me which sounds to play in the metasound) and interpolate them in x numbers of steps, to make it a smoother transition over multiple steps. This clearly doesn't work with sudden transitions like from Dirt to Deep Water or from Dirt to Wood.

Now, to me this is working (sounding) pretty great! Samples are absolutely temporary, this is more the implementation than the actual final mix, as the master material in the project is still a placeholder.
I wouldn't mind just refactoring the way I call back to my base character and use this until I feel I have more time or a need to refactor, but I'd be super happy to refactor to contribute to ALS if you felt any of this might be nice to have in the plugin.
Let me know what you think and I'm happy to discuss more if I can help with contributing