Creating Bow And Arrow Mechanics

Introduction

• Learn to create Bow and Arrow mechanics from scratch.
• Covers beginner and intermediate levels.
• Focus on blending animations, aiming, dynamic widgets, physics collisions, trajectory, VFX, sounds, etc.
• Full project files available on Patreon.

Part 1: Setting Up The Player

Initial Setup

• Using third-person template.
• Steps to equip the bow:
  1. Set up player animations and locomotion blend space.
  2. Create an aim camera.

Character Setup

• Copy third-person character blueprint, create BP_Player and move it to the player folder.
• Set BP_Player as the default Pawn in third-person game mode.
• Changed mesh color to make the player character unique.

Controls

• Focus on character movement component settings:
  • Use Controller Desired Rotation for precise camera control.
  • Orient Rotation to Movement for following the camera direction.
• Custom settings for aiming: change these articulations dynamically when aiming.

Animations

• Create a new Animation Blueprint (ABP_Player) based on existing mannequin animation.
• Setting up blend space for animation blending based on direction and speed.
• New blend space for bow mechanics: defines animation states for idle, moving forward, left, right, and backward.
• Using calculated direction to update animations.

Mesh and Skeletal Attachment

• Attach bow to the player using a socket on left hand.
• Skeletal mesh for bow created and animated in Blender.
• Preview bow placement using animation blueprint, then attach in blueprint class.
• Moves spawning and attachment of the bow into an actor component (AC_BowMechanics).

Actor Component for Bow Mechanics

• AC_BowMechanics handles bow-related functionalities modularly:
  • Equip bow with configurable class and socket name.
  • Reference character mesh and setup variables.

Aiming Mechanics

• Input actions set up for aiming (IA_BowAim with hold and release triggers).
• Custom events for handling aim begin and end states.
• Changes to character movement component and camera during aim mode:
  • Adjust Field of View (FOV) and camera boom offsets for aiming.
  • Smooth transition using timeline.
  • Modify rotation rate for responsive aiming.

Conclusion

• Recap: character, controls, camera setups for bow aim mechanics.
• Next steps: focus on bow mechanics—aim animations, arrow shooting, etc.
• Project files available on Patreon.
• Encourages users to subscribe and support via Patreon.