Master Unreal Engine 5: Blueprint Melee Combat AI from Scratch - A Complete Guide for Beginners

Unreal Engine 5: How to Create Blueprint Melee Combat AI from Scratch

Unreal Engine 5 is a powerful tool for creating realistic and immersive games, but it can also be used for other types of projects, such as product design, architecture, and more. In this tutorial, we will learn how to use Unreal Engine 5's blueprint visual scripting system to create a melee combat AI from scratch. We will cover the basics of setting up the project, importing the assets, creating the character and AI blueprints, setting up the animations and behavior tree, adding combat logic and damage system, and testing and debugging the AI. By the end of this tutorial, you will have a working melee combat AI that can attack, dodge, block, stun, jump, and die.

Introduction

What is Unreal Engine 5 and why use it for melee combat AI?

Unreal Engine 5 is a real-time 3D creation tool that can be used for game development, product design, architecture, and more. It has many features that enable photorealistic worlds, such as nanite (a virtualized micropolygon geometry system that allows for billions of triangles) and lumen (a fully dynamic global illumination solution that reacts to scene changes). It also has a rich asset store where you can find and import resources for your project.

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One of the advantages of using Unreal Engine 5 for melee combat AI is that it has a powerful visual scripting tool called blueprint. Blueprint allows you to create logic without writing code, by using nodes that represent functions, variables, events, etc. You can easily create complex behaviors by connecting nodes in a graph. Blueprint also has a built-in debugger that lets you see what is happening in your script at runtime.

What are the benefits and features of blueprint visual scripting?

Blueprint visual scripting has many benefits and features that make it ideal for creating melee combat AI. Some of them are:

• It is easy to learn and use. You don't need any prior programming knowledge or experience. You can simply drag-and-drop nodes from the palette or context menu, set their properties in the details panel, and connect them in the graph.

• It is fast and efficient. You can see the results of your script immediately in the viewport or the game mode. You can also use hot-reload and live-edit features to make changes without restarting the game.

• It is flexible and modular. You can create reusable functions, macros, and variables that can be shared across different blueprints. You can also use inheritance and interfaces to create hierarchies and interactions between blueprints.

• It is integrated and compatible. You can use blueprint to access and manipulate any aspect of the Unreal Engine 5 framework, such as physics, audio, animation, UI, etc. You can also use blueprint to call C++ functions or vice versa, if you need more control or performance.

What are the best practices and examples of melee combat AI design?

Melee combat AI design is a challenging and rewarding task that requires careful planning and testing. Some of the best practices and examples of melee combat AI design are:

• Define the goals and personality of your AI. What is the motivation and behavior of your AI? Is it aggressive, defensive, stealthy, or something else? How does it react to different situations and stimuli? How does it communicate with other AI or the player?

• Use a finite state machine or a behavior tree to model your AI logic. A finite state machine is a system that has a set of states and transitions between them based on conditions. A behavior tree is a hierarchical structure that has a set of nodes that represent tasks, services, and decorators. Both systems can help you create clear and modular AI logic that can be easily modified and debugged.

• Use perception and decision systems to make your AI aware and adaptive. Perception systems are used to detect stimuli from the environment, such as sight, sound, touch, etc. Decision systems are used to evaluate the stimuli and choose the best action based on some criteria, such as distance, health, priority, etc.

• Use animation blending and montages to make your AI smooth and responsive. Animation blending is used to transition between different animations seamlessly, such as idle, walk, run, etc. Animation montages are used to play specific animations for certain actions, such as attack, dodge, block, etc.

• Use collision detection and damage system to make your AI realistic and interactive. Collision detection is used to determine if two objects are overlapping or touching each other, such as a sword and a body. Damage system is used to calculate the amount of damage inflicted by an attack and apply the effects, such as hit reaction, health reduction, stun, etc.

Some examples of melee combat AI design in games are:

• The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - The game features a variety of enemies with different abilities and behaviors that require different strategies to defeat. The enemies can also cooperate with each other or flee from danger.

• God of War - The game features a dynamic combat system that allows the player to use different weapons, skills, and environmental objects to fight against enemies. The enemies can also react to the player's actions and change their tactics accordingly.

• Assassin's Creed Valhalla - The game features a visceral combat system that allows the player to use different weapons, shields, axes, bows, etc. to fight against enemies. The enemies can also use different weapons, formations, and abilities to challenge the player.

Step 1: Setting up the project and importing the assets

How to download and install Unreal Engine 5

To download and install Unreal Engine 5, you need to follow these steps:

• Create an Epic Games account or sign in with an existing one on https://www.epicgames.com/.

• Download and install the Epic Games Launcher from https://www.epicgames.com/store/en-US/download.

• Open the Epic Games Launcher and go to the Unreal Engine tab.

• Select Library from the left menu and click on the + button next to Engine Versions.

• Select Unreal Engine 5 Early Access from the list and click on Install.

• Wait for the installation process to complete.

How to create a new project and choose a template

To create a new project and choose a template, you need to follow these steps:

• Open the Epic Games Launcher and go to the Unreal Engine tab.

• Select Launch from the Unreal Engine 5 Early Access section.

• Select Games from the New Project Category window and click on Next.

• Select Third Person from the Choose Your Project Template window and click on Next.

• Enter a name for your project, such as MeleeCombatAI, and choose a location to save it.

• Click on Create Project and wait for the project to load.

How to import the character model and animations

To import the character model and animations, you need to have some assets ready. For this tutorial, we will use a free asset pack from the Unreal Engine Marketplace called Paragon: Wukong. You can download it from https://www.unrealengine.com/marketplace/en-US/product/paragon-wukong. To import the character model and animations, you need to follow these steps:

• Open the Epic Games Launcher and go to the Unreal Engine tab.

• Select Marketplace from the left menu and search for Paragon: Wukong.

• Click on Add to Project and select your project from the list.

• Wait for the asset pack to download and install.

• Open your project and go to the Content Browser.

• Navigate to Content > ParagonWukong > Characters > Heroes > Wukong > Meshes.

• Right-click on Wukong_BaseMesh and select Asset Actions > Migrate.

• Click on OK and select your project folder as the destination.

• Repeat steps 7 and 8 for Wukong_Skeleton and Wukong_AnimBP.

You have now imported the character model and animations for your melee combat AI.

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Step 2: Creating the character blueprint and setting up the animations

How to create a character blueprint and add components

A character blueprint is a blueprint that inherits from the Character class, which provides basic functionality for a playable character, such as movement, collision, camera, etc. To create a character blueprint and add components, you need to follow these steps:

• Go to the Content Browser and right-click on an empty space.

• Select Blueprint Class from the menu and search for Character in the All Classes window.

• Select Character and click on Select.

• Enter a name for your character blueprint, such as BP_MeleeCharacter, and click on OK.

• Double-click on your character blueprint to open it in the Blueprint Editor.

• In the Components tab, click on Add Component and search for Skeletal Mesh.

• Select Skeletal Mesh and rename it to Mesh in the Details panel.

• In the Details panel, under Skeletal Mesh, click on the dropdown menu and select Wukong_BaseMesh.

You have now created a character blueprint and added a skeletal mesh component for your melee combat AI.

How to set up the movement and input logic

To set up the movement and input logic for your character blueprint, you need to use some nodes from the Character Movement Component, which handles the physics-based movement of a character. You also need to use some nodes from the Input System, which allows you to bind keys, mouse buttons, gamepad buttons, etc. to events or actions. To set up the movement and input logic for your character blueprint, you need to follow these steps:

• In the Blueprint Editor, go to the Event Graph tab.

• Right-click on an empty space and search for Event BeginPlay.

• Select Event BeginPlay and drag a wire from its execution pin (the white triangle).

• Search for Set Max Walk Speed in Crouched in the context menu and select it.

• In the Details panel, under New Max Walk Speed in Crouched, enter 300 as the value. This will set the maximum speed of your character when crouching.

• Right-click on an empty space and search for Axis Events > InputAxis MoveForward.

• Select InputAxis MoveForward and drag a wire from its execution pin.

• Search for Add Movement Input in the context menu and select it.

• In the Details panel, under World Direction, click on the dropdown menu and select Get Actor Forward Vector. This will set the direction of your character's movement based on its forward vector.

• In the Details panel, under Scale Value, click on the dropdown menu and select Axis Value. This will set the scale of your character's movement based on the input value.

• Repeat steps 6 to 10 for InputAxis MoveRight, but use Get Actor Right Vector instead of Get Actor Forward Vector in step 9. This will set the direction of your character's movement based on its right vector.

• Right-click on an empty space and search for Action Events > InputAction Jump.

• Select InputAction Jump and drag a wire from its pressed execution pin.

• Search for Jump in the context menu and select it. This will make your character jump when the jump action is pressed.

• Drag a wire from the released execution pin of InputAction Jump.

• Search for Stop Jumping in the context menu and select it. This will make your character stop jumping when the jump action is released.

• Right-click on an empty space and search for Action Events > InputAction Crouch.

• Select InputAction Crouch and drag a wire from its pressed execution pin.

• Search for Crouch in the context menu and select it. This will make your character crouch when the crouch action is pressed.

• Drag a wire from the released execution pin of InputAction Crouch.

• Search for UnCrouch in the context menu and select it. This will make your character stand up when the crouch action is released.

You have now set up the movement and input logic for your character blueprint.

How to create an animation blueprint and add state machines

An animation blueprint is a blueprint that controls the animation of a skeletal mesh. It has a set of nodes that represent animation assets, such as animations, blendspaces, montages, etc. It also has a set of nodes that represent logic, such as variables, events, functions, etc. To create an animation blueprint and add state machines, you need to follow these steps:

• Go to the Content Browser and right-click on an empty space.

• Select Animation > Animation Blueprint from the menu and choose Wukong_Skeleton as the parent class in the Pick Parent Class window.

• Enter a name for your animation blueprint, such as ABP_MeleeCharacter, and click on OK.

• Double-click on your animation blueprint to open it in the Animation Blueprint Editor.

• In the Anim Graph tab, right-click on an empty space and search for State Machine.

• Select State Machine and rename it to Base Pose in the Details panel.

• Double-click on Base Pose to open it in the State Machine Editor.

• Right-click on an empty space and search for Add State.

• Select Add State and rename it to Idle/Run in the Details panel.

• Double-click on Idle/Run to open it in the Graph Editor.

• In the Asset Browser, search for Wukong_IdleRun_BlendSpace1D and drag it to the graph.

• Connect its output pin (the green circle) to the Result node's input pin (the white triangle).

• In the My Blueprint tab, right-click on an empty space and search for Add Variable.

• Select Add Variable and rename it to Speed in the Details panel.

• In the Graph Editor, right-click on an empty space and search for Get Speed.

• Select Get Speed and connect its output pin to Wukong_IdleRun_BlendSpace1D's input pin (the blue circle).

You have now created an animation blueprint and added a state machine for your character's idle/run animation. You can add more states and transitions for other animations, such as jump, crouch, attack, etc.

Step 3: Creating the AI blueprint and setting up the behavior tree

How to create an AI blueprint and add components

An AI blueprint is a blueprint that inherits from the AI Controller class, which provides basic functionality for controlling an AI character, such as perception, navigation, decision making, etc. To create an AI blueprint and add components, you need to follow these steps:

• Go to the Content Browser and right-click on an empty space.

• Select Blueprint Class from the menu and search for AI Controller in the All Classes window.

• Select AI Controller and click on Select.

• Enter a name for your AI blueprint, such as BP_MeleeAIController, and click on OK.

• Double-click on your AI blueprint to open it in the Blueprint Editor.

• In the Components tab, click on Add Component and search for AI Perception.

• Select AI Perception and rename it to Perception in the Details panel.

• In the Details panel, under Senses Config, click on the + button and select AISense Sight from the dropdown menu.

• In the Details panel, under AISense Sight, adjust the parameters as you like. For example, you can set the Sight Radius to 1000, the Lose Sight Radius to 1200, the Peripheral Vision Angle Degrees to 90, etc. These parameters will determine how far and wide your AI can see.

• Repeat steps 7 and 8 for AISense Hearing and AISense Damage. These senses will allow your AI to hear sounds and detect damage from other sources.

You have now created an AI blueprint and added an AI perception component for your melee combat AI.

How to set up the perception and decision logic

To set up the perception and decision logic for your AI blueprint, you need to use some nodes from the AI Perception Component, which handles the detection of stimuli from the environment. You also need to use some nodes from the Behavior Tree System, which allows you to create a hierarchical structure of tasks, services, and decorators that define the AI behavior. To set up the perception and decision logic for your AI blueprint, you need to follow these steps:

• In the Blueprint Editor, go to the Event Graph tab.

• Right-click on an empty space and search for Event BeginPlay.

• Select Event BeginPlay and drag a wire from its execution pin (the white triangle).

• Search for Run Behavior Tree in the context menu and select it.

• In the Details panel, under Behavior Tree Asset, click on the dropdown menu and select None. We will create a behavior tree later and assign it here.

• Right-click on an empty space and search for Event Receive Perception Updated.

Select Even