/TrickyUtilities

Unreal Engine 5 plugin which provides a collection of useful actors and functions, which facilitate prototyping.

Primary LanguageC++MIT LicenseMIT

About

TrickyUtilities is a plugin for rapid prototyping in Unreal Engine 5.

It provides a collection of useful actors and functions, which facilitate prototyping.

Features

  • Utility Functions Library a library which provides a collection of helper functions.
  • Annotation Actor an actor which can be used to create annotations in levels.
  • Spline Actor an actor with SplineComponent as root.

Installation

  1. Copy the plugin folder into your project's Plugins directory.
  2. Open your Unreal Engine project.
  3. Enable the TrickyUtilities in the plugins menu.
  4. Restart the editor.

Content Overview

UTrickyUtilityLibrary

A powerful Blueprint Function Library with helper functions.

Time and Timeline Utilities

  • CalculateTimelinePlayRate: Automatically adjusts a Timeline component's play rate to achieve a specific duration
  • FormatTimeSeconds: Converts time values to formatted strings with multiple display options (MM:SS.MS, MM:SS, etc.)

Transform Pattern Generation

  • CalculateGridTransforms: Creates a 2D grid of transforms with customizable cell size
  • CalculateRingTransform: Generates points in a perfect circle with adjustable radius and point count
  • CalculateArcTransforms: Creates partial ring segments with customizable angle span
  • CalculateSunFlowerTransforms: Produces the classic sunflower pattern for optimal 2D point distribution
  • CalculateCubeTransforms: Builds a 3D grid (cube) of transforms with customizable dimensions
  • CalculateCylinderTransforms: Creates cylindrical arrangements with control over height and ring count
  • CalculateSphereTransforms: Distributes points on a sphere surface with latitude/longitude constraints
  • CalculateConcentricRingsTransforms: Creates multiple concentric rings with consistent point density
  • CalculateDynamicConcentricRingsTransforms: Creates rings where outer rings have proportionally more points
  • CalculateConcentricArcsTransforms: Generates multiple partial arcs with consistent point distribution
  • CalculateDynamicConcentricArcsTransforms: Creates partial arcs with increasing point count for outer arcs
  • CalculateArcCylinderTransforms: Builds a 3D cylindrical pattern using partial arcs

Spline Utilities

  • GetTransformsAlongSplineByPoints: Evenly distributes a specific number of points along a spline
  • GetLocationsAlongSplineByPoints: Retrieves evenly spaced locations along a spline
  • GetTransformsAlongSplineByDistance: Places transforms at regular distance intervals along a spline
  • GetLocationsAlongSplineByDistance: Gets locations at consistent distance spacing along a spline

ATrickyAnnotationActor

A customizable actor for adding visible text annotations to your levels:

  • Double-sided text rendering for visibility from any angle
  • Adjustable size, color, and alignment
  • Custom text materials support
  • Perfect for level design notes and documentation

ATrickySplineActor

A simple but effective spline-based actor for creating paths and object placement guides.