Weapon Components
From the previos chapter we know that Weapon Manager and Viewmodel Controller are used to manage weapons. First, let’s clarify the differences between these components:
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Weapon Manager: spawns and swaps weapons; works like a simple inventory system.
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Viewmodel Controller: tells what weapons and character mesh to use; controls the first-person view.
Each component does not work out of the box. Instead, they provide basic functions that are supposed to be called in a player blueprint (BP_Viewmodel example).
Weapon Manager
This component has to be initialized when the game starts:
Next, it is used to change weapons:
This method will invoke a weapon change with animation. However, there is a function that allows instant weapon change:
If Forward it true, the next weapon will be equipped, if false - the previous one.
Finally, Weapon Manager is used to manually update Weapon Settings when switching between UE4/UE5 meshes:
You can find out more about the internal logic of the Weapon Manager component by opening its Blueprint (Blueprints → Character → WeaponManager).
Viewmodel Controller
Before working with the component, it is vital to assign the Character Settings asset:
Viewmodel Controller serves as an interface between the gameplay lofic and animation blueprints. That is why it is essential to update its public properties manually:
The Gait parameter represents the normalized character movement state:
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[0;1] range defines a transition between idle and walking.
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[1;2] range defines a transition between walking and sprinting.
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[2;3] range defines a transition between sprinting and tactical sprinting.
Next, we need to update the firing trigger state - it will control the index finger rotation:
To active procedural aiming, make sure to update the aiming flag:
Finally, we can use Viewmodel Controller to play custom IK Motions - simple transition animations which can make flat transitions feel more dynamic.
Tip: IK Motion is used when aiming down sights.
