lyra animation

Struggling with Lyra animation framework

by | Devlog

Hey all,

I’ve been trying to work on an animation framework which I later want to use as an foundation for a complete combat system.

I’ve been searching for best practices online and have been learning a lot in the past month. I think I am quite known now with animation blueprints and perfect ways to set it up!

But there is a problem. I’ve also stumbled upon the Lyra project of Epic Games. Lyra has an amazing animation framework but it is quite complex. I could throw nearly all my animation knowledge out of the window and needed to start new.

I do understand the most of it now though and I think it is setup quite well. You can really build upon it well if you understand all the details and make efficient and performant next gen animation frameworks.
I love the BlueprintThreadSadeUpdateAnimation function and am learning about motion and stride warping to prevent foot sliding. Also am loving the modularity with the anim layers.

Blueprint Thread Safe Update Animation

How can I let this awesome framework just sit there? It is definitely how you would want your games to be setup in the future. So I have no choice, I need to learn it all and make it my own.

By doing so I’ve stumbled upon a couple of problems for my own use.

  • It is not easy to adapt it to your own system.
  • The Lyra project itself has many dependencies and is very hard to migrate to your own project. I was not able to take simple pieces to be used in mu blueprint only project.
  • So to prevent a big headache you probably want to use the Lyra StarterGame as a base. Migrating is extremely hard.
    • But I don’t want this. I am making assets for the Unreal Community and they desire blueprint only project which are modular of nature.

So what to do? I don’t see where to start. Nevertheless I need to. I am going to implement Lyra’s animation framework piece by piece and will improve on it wherever I can.

The improvements may not been seen as improvements by everyone. I will try to make it easier to understand and therefore probably also skip a couple of things which makes it a bit less next gen, but better to follow for most of the unreal community. I also will focus on more documentation and comment with focus on the why, how and what.

Wish me luck! If anyone has any tips or own experiences to share. Please let me know.

With kind regards,

Eric
Hyper

Eric Ruts

Eric Ruts

Hey! My name is Eric. I am from Games by Hyper. I am the core creator of the Games by Hyper Assets for Unreal Engine. In the past, I created and published games like Evolvation, but also had many different roles. For instance, I am a Teacher of Game Development at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences. Before and during my gaming adventures, I have a history in C-Level Strategic advisory, Program, and Project Management for coporates and governments. I am a graduated Engineer but I also have a master's in Information Sciences with Game Studies specialization. Personally, I am married, have two children, and can be characterized as a passionate person. I am also passionate about helping others. With the courses and modular components I am offering, I hope to be able to help people achieve their dreams within the gaming industry.

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2 Comments

  1. Dave

    Hi – how is your progress going on this? I’m in a similar position whereby I want to implement the ideal solution from the outset on my project…

    Reply
    • User Avatar

      Hey! I missed this message! I have fixed it but only with workarounds and go into depth. It took me months… It was one of my hardest learning curves in the past years. Eventually, I published all my work in my combat framework.

      Reply

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