AFM_Abilities

Description

This is the plugin to understand first. It defines no gameplay of its own — it defines the contract everything else follows.

Four component base classes cover the possible places an interaction can originate or land. BPC_PawnAbility sits on the pawn and represents something the player can do as a whole. BPC_ControllerAbility sits on a motion controller and represents something one hand can do. BPC_ActorAbility covers abilities on non-player actors. BPC_Interaction sits on the target and declares what may be done to it.

The design goal is that a target object never knows what kind of player is acting on it. It receives ST_SourceInfo — pawn, component, identifier — and that is enough to distinguish left hand from right, or one ability from another, without referencing a single pawn or controller class. That one decision is what makes the same content work in VR, on desktop and on mobile.

Activation is managed through blockers rather than booleans. See The blocker system for why, and for the pitfalls.

Setup

This plugin is a dependency rather than something you configure. It is enabled by every UX plugin and by the pawns.

1. Enable AFM_Abilities alongside AFS_Libraries.
2. Nothing else is required — the base classes become available to derive from and the libraries appear in the node palette.

Usage

Suppressing an ability

Call SetActiveWithBlocker (controller and actor abilities) or SetBlockerAndCheckActive (pawn abilities) with a reason name. Call again with the same reason and false to release.

Suppressing a whole class of abilities

Call setAbilityRestriction on the pawn with a component tag. Every ability on the pawn and on both motion controllers carrying that tag is suppressed under your reason, in one call. This is how the menu disables movement while it is open.

Giving one ability exclusive use of a hand

Call MC_SetFocusControllerAbility on the motion controller with the ability that should keep running. Everything else on that hand is blocked with the reason Unfocussed.

Playing haptics

Call FL_Haptics.Haptics_Effect with the Source Info you received. It resolves the correct hand itself, and does nothing on platforms without haptics — no branching required.

Reading who acted on you

Every interaction call gives you Source Info. getSidesFromAbility turns it into one hand or both; the Identifier field distinguishes abilities of the same type.

Key properties

Extending

Derive from BPC_Interaction to add a new interaction type, and pair it with an interface exposing a CanBe… function that returns an override flag and an answer. Call TickHighlight while hovering and highlighting works for free.

Derive from BPC_PawnAbility or BPC_ControllerAbility for new abilities. Override ComponentActivated and ComponentDeactivated to add and remove your input mapping context — doing it there means the blocker system manages your input automatically.

See Extending the framework for the full pattern.

Example map

No dedicated map — every UX example map exercises this plugin. Map_Examples_Select is the smallest complete demonstration.

Troubleshooting

An ability stopped responding and nothing changed. A blocker was added and never removed, almost always because the release call used a different reason name. Inspect the ability's Blockers array at runtime; it lists exactly what is holding it down.

My interaction never highlights. Highlight Class is empty, or the actor's meshes do not carry Highlight Tag. Leave the tag empty to highlight everything.