Skip to main content
Version: 1.1.1

Using Interact Active

Create Interact Active Ability​

To create an Interact Active ability, simply right-click in the Content Browser and select TwistedBytes | Abilities | Interact Active as shown in the image below.

Name the newly created asset InteractActive.

Create Interact Active Ability

Open the Ability you just created and set the Trace Channel to Interactable 1.

We want the player character to be able to interact with interactable objects that are in front of the character and within a range of 3 meters. Since the camera's arm length is also set to 3 meters (but sitting behind our player character), we need to compensate for the additional 3 meters by setting the Max Range property to 600 cm 2.

For easier debugging of the Interact Active Ability, enable Show Debug and set Debug Show Duration to 2.0 seconds 3.

Ability Settings

info

The property Trace Start Location Type allows you to choose the start location for when executing an interaction line trace:

  • Center of Camera Location
  • Socket on Character's Mesh

Using Socket on Character's Mesh is only useful when you have stabilized head movement, or if you want to make a socket from root and set its position next to the head bone.

In general, it is preferred to use Center of Camera Location for stable line traces.

Setup input​

In order to bind the input with Interact Active Ability, right-click in the Content Browser and select TwistedBytes | Data Assets | GAS Input Mapping as shown in the image below.

Input Mapping

Open the data asset and add a new Ability Mapping. Select Interact 1 and set the Interact Active 2 that we created as a value for the Interact key.

Input Interact

Now, select Edit | Project Settings .... In the Input section under Engine, create a new Action Mapping. The name needs to be exactly written as TBIA_Interact. Lastly, specify any number of inputs (keys, buttons) that you want to use to trigger interactions in your game like, for example, the E key on a keyboard.

Input Settings

Setup Player Character​

Open the ThirdPersonCharacter Blueprint and select TBIA Interaction Component in the Components tab. In the Details tab, add your Interact Active ability to the Granted Abilities property 1. Next, set the input mapping data asset you created earlier 2 as shown in the image below.

Character Active

Finally, override the Get Character Context interface function. Click and drag the Return Value pin of the Return node and select Make TBIA_CharacterContext. Then, set the reference of the third-person skeletal mesh component (Mesh) as Primary Mesh in the struct that is going to be returned.

Chracter Context

Interactable Actor​

Open the GASActorBase Blueprint and override On Pre Interact, On Post Interact, On Cancel Interact and print their results to see them in action.

GAS Actor Events

Press Play in the Unreal Editor, look at the cube and press the interaction button you have configured. In our example case we set it to the E key. You should now see the same debug messages as shown in the image below.

Events