Mover Project and Character Setup

To get started, you need a project and a character with a moveset that allows them to smoothly maneuver through a parkour-style obstacle course. 

You’ll base your character off an existing example Pawn provided in the Mover plugin. This sample demonstrates several traversal abilities such as vaulting, dashing, double jumping, and crouching, and includes Blueprint logic that connects player input to those movement behaviors. You’ll use the sample Pawn as a foundation, using some of its included actions as well as building new actions from scratch with the Mover system.

Create a Project and Add the Mover Plugin

To prepare a new project, create a new C++ project based on the First-Person Template, add the Mover plugin in Unreal Editor, and then add Mover to your code source.

To create a new game project from a template, follow these steps:

1. Open Unreal Engine and click New Project.

2. In the Unreal Project Browser, go to the Games project category, and select the First Person template.

3. In the Project Defaults, change the project type to C++. Keep all other defaults.

   

4. Name your project. This tutorial uses ParkourGame as the project name.

5. Click Create.

To add Mover to your project, follow these steps:

1. When your project opens in Unreal Editor, go to Edit > Plugins.

2. In the search bar, search for Mover.

3. Enable the Mover and Mover Examples plugins.

   

4. Restart Unreal Engine to finish adding the plugins to your project.

To add the Mover plugin to your .Build.cs file, follow these steps:

1. In Visual Studio, in the solution’s Games > ProjectName > Source > ProjectName folder, open your project’s .Build.cs file. It should be in Games > ProjectName > Source > ProjectName.

2. In PublicDependencyModuleNames, add:

   1. Mover

   2. CableComponent (used in the Grappling Hook Movement Mode)

   3. GameplayTags (UCommonLegacyMovementsettings uses Gameplay Tags internally)

   C++

   		PublicDependencyModuleNames.AddRange(new string[] {
   			"Core",
   			"CoreUObject",
   			"Engine",
   			"InputCore",
   			"EnhancedInput",
   			"AIModule",
   			"StateTreeModule",
   			"GameplayStateTreeModule",
   			"UMG",
   
   Expand code Copy full snippet(15 lines long)

3. Save the file and close Visual Studio (VS).

4. In Unreal Editor, go to Tools > Refresh Visual Studio Project.

5. Open your project in Visual Studio again and rebuild the project. 

Set Up a Pawn with a First-Person Camera

For this project, you’ll modify a character that is packaged with the Mover Examples plugin. 

Instead of duplicating a sample Character Blueprint Class, you’ll duplicate a Pawn Blueprint Class. A Character is a subclass of Pawn that includes a CapsuleComponent and CharacterMovementComponent. A plain Pawn is more lightweight and requires you to implement your own movement logic, which you’ll do with the Mover plugin. The example Pawn has a third-person camera, so for this project, you'll create a first-person variation of the sample Pawn.

To create a new Pawn based from Mover’s AnimatedMannyPawnExtended Pawn, follow these steps:

1. In the Content Browser, in the Content folder, create a new folder named Parkour (or the name of your project) to store assets for your game.

2. In the Parkour folder, create another new folder named Blueprints.

   

3. Navigate to All > Engine > Plugins > Mover Examples > Pawns.

4. Right-click AnimatedMannyPawnExtended and select Duplicate. Name the copy BP_ParkourPawn.

5. Move the copy to your Content > Parkour > Blueprints folder. 

   

6. Double-click the Pawn to open it in the Blueprint Editor.

To modify the Pawn to be first-person, follow these steps:

1. In the Components panel, keep BP_ParkourPawn selected.

2. In the Details panel, turn on these settings to enable strafing:

   1. In the Aiming section, enable Should Strafe to prevent the Pawn from rotating to match its direction of movement.

      

   2. In the Pawn section, enable Use Controller Rotation Yaw to make the character always face the camera’s direction.

3. In the Component panel, select SpringArm.

   

   A Spring Arm Component is an adjustable, collision-aware camera boom that maintains a set distance between the camera and mesh.

4. This Pawn is set up with a third-person camera, but the parkour game should be played in first person. In the Details panel, adjust the following settings to convert the setup from third-person to a first-person perspective:

   1. In the Transform section, set Location to -2.0, 30.0, 165.0.

   2. In the Camera section, set Target Arm Length to 0.0.

   3. In the Camera Settings section, enable Use Pawn Control Rotation so the camera follows the player’s look input instead of inheriting rotation from the parent component.

      

5. Save and compile your Blueprint.

Instead of a CharacterMovementComponent you may have worked with in other projects, this character uses an ExtendedCharacterMoverComponent which is part of the Mover plugin. 

• CharacterMovementComponent: Provides a built-in locomotion system that manages predefined movement modes like walking and falling. With this system, you can modify movement behavior with exposed properties like speed or friction, or by subclassing the component and overriding its underlying movement logic.

• ExtendedCharacterMoverComponent: Replaces the built-in movement component with the Mover plugin’s modular system, so you can customize and extend behavior more directly.

Create a Game Mode and Player Controller

Your C++ project comes with basic premade classes, including a GameMode class and PlayerController class. From these classes, you’ll derive Blueprints to use in your Parkour level.

To derive Game Mode and Player Controller Blueprints that you can use with your levels, follow these steps:

1. In the Content Browser, navigate to All > C++ Classes > ProjectName.

2. Right-click on your project’s GameMode class and select Create Blueprint class based on ParkourGameMode.

3. Name this new blueprint BP_ParkourGameMode.

   

4. For the Path, select your Content > Parkour > Blueprints folder, and then click the Create button.

5. Return to your C++ Classes > ProjectName folder and create a Blueprint class based on the provided PlayerController class.

6. Name the new Blueprint BP_ParkourPlayerController and create it in your Content > Parkour > Blueprints folder.

   

To set up your Game Mode and project settings with the correct default classes, follow these steps:

1. Open your new GameMode Blueprint. In the Details panel, in the Classes section, change the Player Controller Class to BP_ProjectNamePlayerController.

2. Set the Default Pawn Class to BP_ParkourPawn.

   

3. Compile your GameMode Blueprint, and save your GameMode and (unchanged) PlayerController Blueprints.

4. Return to the main level editor, go to Edit > Project Settings.

5. In the left panel, in the Project section, select Maps & Modes.

6. Set the Default GameMode to your new GameMode Blueprint. Ensure the asset you select has the BP prefix. Close Project Settings.

   

7. Next to the level’s Details panel, click the World Settings panel. In the Game Mode section, set the GameMode Override to None so the template level’s settings don’t override your default Game Mode.

   

   If you don’t see the World Setting panel, go to the Window menu and select World Settings.

8. Save your level.

Set Up Player Input

For the Parkour game, you’ll need the following moveset for your player:

• Forward, back, left, and right movement

• Look around (rotate the camera)

• Jump and double jump

• Sprint (make the character run faster while a key is continuously pressed)

• Dash (make the character quickly dash forward when a key is pressed)

• Use Grappling Hook (make the character fly towards grappling anchor point when a key is pressed)

Your character comes with some of these actions, and you’ll implement the rest.

Create Input Actions

First, you’ll set up Input Action assets for each move the player can perform in the game. 

To duplicate and modify existing Input Actions, follow these steps:

1. In the Content Browser, go to Content > Parkour and create a new folder named Input. In the Input folder, create another new folder named Actions.

2. Go to Content > Input > Actions. Duplicate IA_Jump, name it IA_ParkourJump, move it to your new Content > Parkour > Input > Actions folder, and open it.

3. In the Details panel, next to Triggers, click the bin icon to delete both triggers.

   

4. Save and close the Input Action.

5. In the Content Browser, in Content > Input > Actions, duplicate IA_Look, name it IA_ParkourLook, move it to your new Actions folder, and open it.

6. Next to Modifiers, click the plus icon (+) to add an element.

7. For the new modifier element, select Dead Zone.

   

8. Keep the Dead Zone’s default values, and save and close the Input Action.

9. In the Content Browser, in Content > Input > Actions, duplicate IA_Move, name it IA_ParkourMove, move it to your new Actions folder, and open it.

10. Change the Value Type to Axis3D (Vector), and save and close the Input Action.

To create three new Input Actions, follow these steps:

1. In the Content Browser, in the Content > Parkour > Input > Actions folder, create three new Input Action assets:

   1. IA_Dash

   2. IA_GrapplingHook

   3. IA_Sprint

      

2. Ensure these three Input Actions all have Value Type set to Digital (bool) and have no Triggers or Modifiers.

Create an Input Mapping Context

The Input Mapping Context maps keyboard, mouse, or gamepad buttons to the Input Actions you created.

To set up a new Input Mapping Context with your actions, follow these steps:

1. Go to the Content > Input folder, duplicate IMC_Default, and name it IMC_Mover.

2. Move IMC_Mover to Content > Parkour > Input and open it.

3. Expand Mappings > Default Key Mappings > Mappings.

4. Edit the IA_Jump action mapping:

   1. Use the dropdown-menu to change IA_Jump to IA_ParkourJump.

5. Edit the IA_Move action mapping:

   1. Change IA_Move to IA_ParkourMove.

   2. Expand the W control binding and delete all Modifiers.

   3. Expand the S control binding and delete the Swizzle Input Axis Values modifier.

      

   4. Expand the A control binding, add a second element to the Modifiers list, and set the new modifier to Swizzle Input Axis Values.

   5. Expand the D control binding, add an element to the Modifiers list, and set it to Swizzle Input Axis Values.

   6. Delete the Up, Down, Left, and Right action mappings.

6. Edit the IA_Look action mapping:

   1. Change IA_Look to IA_ParkourLook.

   2. Next to IA_ParkourLook, click + to add another control binding.

   3. Click the None drop-down list, search for Mouse XY 2D-Axis, and select it.

7. Bind IA_GrapplingHook:

   1. Next to the Mappings category heading, click + to add a new action mapping.

   2. In the new action mapping drop-down menu, select IA_GrapplingHook. Expand the mapping.

   3. Click the keyboard button, and press G.

      

   4. Expand the control binding, add a Trigger, and set it to Pressed.

8. Bind IA_Sprint:

   1. Add a new action mapping and set it to IA_Sprint (make sure to pick the IA_Sprint action in your Parkour folder).

   2. Set the control binding to Left Shift.

   3. Add a Trigger and set it to Down.

9. Bind IA_Dash:

   1. Add a new action mapping set to IA_Dash.

   2. Set the control binding to Left Ctrl.

   3. Add a Trigger and set it to Pressed.  

10. Save and close the Input Mapping Controller.

Add Actions to the Pawn

Give the set of actions and mapping context to your Pawn by referencing them in the Pawn’s Blueprint.

To make your Pawn use the new mapping context and input actions, follow these steps:

1. Open your character Blueprint (BP_ParkourPawn). Ensure you’ve selected the BP_ParkourPawn root component.

2. In the Details panel, in the Input section, set the Move, Look and Jump Input Action properties to your Parkour-Game versions.

   

3. In the Default section, change the Input Mapping Contexts Applied array element to IMC_Mover.

4. In the My Blueprint panel, in the Functions section, double-click ApplyIMC.

5. In the Add Mapping Context node, change the MappingContext to IMC_Mover.

   

6. Go to the Construction Script tab. Drag off the Parent: Construction Script node’s exec pin and add a Set Show Controls node. Keep Show Controls disabled to hide the character’s on-screen controls widget.

   

7. In the My Blueprint tab, double-click the EnhancedInputAction IA_Dash event to go to that node in the Event Graph.

8. This event is linked to the IA_Dash in the /MoverExamples/ folder, so delete it and connect your own:

   1. Click and delete the existing IA_Dash event node.

   2. Right-click the graph, search for IA_Dash in the node actions list, and select the IA_Dash Enhanced Action Event in your project's folder. 

      

   3. In the IA_Dash event node, click the arrow to see more options. Connect the Started exec pin to the Set Is Dash Just Pressed node.

   4. Connect the Completed exec pin to the Set Is Dash Pressed node.

9. Save and compile the Blueprint.

Test Your Input Actions

In the main level editor, play the game and ensure your character can move, look around, and jump.

To test actions with Unreal Engine-reserved keyboard keys like Ctrl, play your level in Standalone Game mode. Or, in your IMC, temporarily assign a different key to the action for testing.

If you press Spacebar twice, the character performs a double jump. Press Ctrl while running to dash forward. The logic that implements this and other actions is already part of the AnimatedMannyPawnExtended Pawn that you created your Pawn from. You’ll use Mover to implement sprinting, grappling, and wall running in later parts of this tutorial series.

Next Up

Now that your character is set up with all of its actions, you can start adding logic to implement more character actions. First, you’ll use Mover to create a Movement Modifier that makes the Pawn sprint.

• 

  Sprint Movement Modifier

  Build a Movement Modifier with Mover in C++ that changes the character’s movement to sprinting speed.