Pighaus Games Docs

Overlays

An effect held on screen for as long as you need: a flashback's old film, a security camera's tape, a dream's haze. In, held, and gone when you say.

An overlay comes in over the effect's Cover Time and stays until it's taken off, then goes over its Reveal Time. It's held at the effect's Overlay Amount: old film fully worn, a fade at half, an iris part-closed round the player.

Overlay_OldFilm: the picture wears into old film, grain, dust, scratches and flicker, for as long as it's shown.

Show Overlay shows one and gives back a handle. Hide Overlay with that handle lets it go over its Reveal Time, or takes it off at once with At Once ticked. Hide All Overlays clears every overlay and impact the player has.

  • Amount.

    Below 0 uses the effect's own Overlay Amount; 0 to 1 is your own.

  • For.

    0 holds it until it's hidden; a number of seconds lets it go by itself after that long.

  • Get Effect Amount.

    How far it's got, 0 to 1: for fading the music with it, say.

  • Overlay

    Videotape

    in over 0.35 s, held at 65%

  • Overlay

    Glitch

    in over 0.35 s, held at 25%

  • Overlay

    Halftone

    in over 0.35 s, held at 50%

  • Overlay

    Neon Outline

    in over 0.35 s, held at 60%

  • Overlay

    Glass Lens

    in over 0.5 s, held at 100%

  • Overlay

    Red Duotone

    Invert, in over 0.35 s, held at 100%

Overlays stack. A security camera's tape and a glitch as it's hacked can both be up at once, each taken off by its own handle.

Place Effect At and Place Effect On centre an overlay already showing on a point in the world, or an actor as it moves, for an effect centred Where It's Played: a glass lens held over a clue as the player walks round it.

Driven by the game#

An effect's Drivers, on its Driven By band, let a number from the game drive it while it plays, with no Blueprint keeping it in step. Each reads a variable by name, such as Health, from the player's pawn, controller, player state or the game state, or from one of their components. A gameplay attribute's current value works, and so does a function that takes nothing and gives back a number.

  • Drives.

    Amount, how far it's on screen; Strength; or any of its look's own settings, such as a heartbeat's Beats A Minute.

  • Reads

    and As A Share Of. The number, and another to read it as a share of: Health as a share of MaxHealth runs from 0 to 1.

  • Starts At

    and Full At. Where the setting starts to move from rest, and where it's full: Starts At 0.5 and Full At 0.1 rise as health falls from half to a tenth.

  • At Rest

    and At Full. What the setting is at each end: for Amount, 0 and 1; for a heartbeat, 70 and 140.

  • Shape.

    Straight, eased in or out, smooth, or a curve of your own between them.

  • Follow Time.

    How long it takes to follow a change, so a sudden drop eases in.

Overlay_VeinsLowHealth comes with two: the veins creep in as Health falls below half of MaxHealth, and the heartbeat quickens with them. With no such numbers on your pawn, it plays as shown. Drivers of the amount multiply, so health and stamina can both thin it.

From Blueprint, Drive Effect adds a driver to an overlay or impact already playing, reading from an object of your own if you like, and Stop Driving Effect stops them. Set Playing Effect Setting sets one of its settings directly. A playing effect whose settings change plays its own copy, so the effect asset is never changed. Set Effect Amount moves how far it's held.

A mask's breath#

A Worn Mask fogs with breath the way a cold visor does: fine droplets settle thickest low on the glass and round its rim, spread up and in as the breath goes out, and clear from the top and middle first, in patches. The world behind is veiled, its lights bloom through, and beads of water gather where the fog is thickest. Fog is how far it fogs at its worst, Fog Clears how long it takes to clear, Fog Grain how grainy it looks close to, and Beads how many beads gather.

The breath and its sound keep time either way round. Breath From says what sets the breath: Its Own Clock, at Breaths A Minute; The Game, with Breathe Out or Set Mask Breath; or A Sound, with Breathe With Sound, following its loudness (switch on Enable Amplitude Envelope Analysis on its wave). Whichever it is, the mask plays its Breath Out Sound and Breath In Sound as it breathes, and On Breath Out and On Breath In fire on the player's Blendable FX, for a sound or animation of your own in time with the fog.

Where next#

  • Starter effects: a hundred and seventy-nine overlays.
  • Layers: keeping an overlay inside a shape, or stronger towards the edges.