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Getting started

Any Actor is supported, not only Character, as long as it owns a Skeletal Mesh Component. That mesh is the target of the system.

Locate your Character class

In this example a new Character class is used:

New Character class

Add the GoreSystemComponent

Add GoreSystemComponent like any other Actor Component.

Add GoreSystemComponent

On the component:

  1. Open Gore Settings.
  2. Add every detachable bone to Body Map. Names must match the skeleton.
  3. Set Global Anim Instance to a subclass of UEGoreSystemAnimInstance (examples for the UE4 mannequin and MetaHuman ship with the plugin, or create your own).
  4. Assign Global Effects and Global Sounds.
  5. Make sure the skeletal mesh has a Physics Asset. You can override it with Default Physics Asset.

Full property list: Fill the Data Structure.

Gore Settings

[Optional] Initialize GoreSystemComponent

On Begin Play the component finds the first SkeletalMeshComponent on the owner. Call Init yourself if:

  • the actor has several skeletal meshes and you need a specific one
  • the mesh is created later (Lyra cosmetics, modular characters)

Optional Init

If the visible mesh is not the one Init found (Lyra cosmetics), also call SetVisualMeshComponent. See Lyra.

UEGoreSystemHit

Almost every gameplay call takes a Gore System Hit:

UEGoreSystemHit

Field Meaning
Bone Name Bone you are damaging. Must exist in Body Map.
Location World position of the impact (FX and impulse origin).
Normal Surface / impact normal. Impulse is applied along this direction.

Fill it from a line trace, a HitResult on a projectile, or a melee overlap. The plugin does not trace for you.

Apply Gore Damage

Apply Gore Damage is the main function you should use to handle damage to the character.

Apply Gore Damage

Inputs

Pin Role
Damage Base damage. Multiplied by Damage Multiplier Map if that bone has an entry.
Is Dead Pass true when the character is allowed to lose limbs. Your game owns this flag.
Detachment Force Impulse magnitude applied to the limb when it detaches. Direction comes from Normal.
Bone Hit The struct above.

Outputs

Pin Role
New Bone Health Health after this hit: Current − (Damage × Multiplier).
Damage Applied Damage × Multiplier.
Return Value false if the bone is not in Body Map

When does a limb actually detach?

All of these must be true:

  1. ApplyGoreDamage returned true (bone is in Body Map and took damage).
  2. New Bone Health ≤ 0.
  3. Is Dead is true, or the bone is listed in Ignore Is Dead (hands, ears, etc.).

Per-bone health overrides live in Health Map. Default health is Global Limbs Health.

Other calls you will use

Destroy Bone / Destroy Bones

Force a detach right now. Health is ignored. FX still play.

Destroy Bones

Destroy Bone

Use this for scripted kills, finishers, or cheats. Destroy Bones returns false if nothing could be detached.

On Bone Broken

Event dispatcher. Fires every time a bone is broken and returns its name.

On Bone Broken

Minimal Blueprint graph

On your projectile / trace:

  1. Get the hit actor → get UEGoreSystem.
  2. Make Gore System Hit from Hit Bone Name, Impact Point, Impact Normal.
  3. Call Apply Gore Damage with your damage, Is Dead from your health component, and a force (try 3000 first).
  4. Optionally bind On Bone Broken to play a camera shake or drop a weapon.

That is the whole gameplay loop. Everything else is data on the component.

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