Cast Flows
The Cast Ability is a flexible Gameplay Ability base for casts that need to be created, placed, or triggered in the world. It can be used for world-based effects such as explosions, healing zones, hazard pools, meteors, blizzards, auras, and delayed impacts.
A Cast Flow describes how the ability resolves the cast. Each flow uses the same base ability, but changes how targets are collected and, in some cases, where a Cast Actor is placed.
Cast Flows can use Targeting Presets, Ability Targeting Actors, Cast Actor Blueprints, or a combination of these systems.
Ability Targeting Actor
An Ability Targeting Actor is used when the cast needs a confirmation step before it resolves. For example, a player may aim an area on the ground, confirm the location, and then trigger the cast.
You can use any Targeting Actor provided by the Gameplay Ability System. Ninja Combat also provides NinjaCombatAbilityTargetingActor, a generic base class that can collect targets using a Targeting Preset or broadcast its own location when the actor is only being used for placement.
This class is compatible with the Actor Pool.
Cast Actor
A Cast Actor is used when the ability needs to place an actor in the world. Examples include a lava pool, aura, explosion volume, meteor marker, lingering hazard, or healing zone.
Use one of the provided NinjaCombatCastActor classes as the base class when possible. Cast Actors are compatible with the Actor Pool.
The following Cast Actor classes are available:
Cast Actor | Description |
|---|---|
| Base class without a specific collision shape. |
| Cast Actor that uses a Sphere collision shape. |
| Cast Actor that uses a Box collision shape. |
If you need a different collision type, use NinjaCombatCastActor as a starting point and assign the collision component from your subclass. If you cannot use the provided base classes, any actor that implements CombatCastInterface can be used instead.
Cast Behaviors
Cast Behaviors are reusable rules hosted by the Cast Actor. They let Cast Actors handle placement, target interaction, effects, cosmetics, and dissipation without placing every rule directly on the actor class.
Common Cast Behaviors include:
Behavior | Purpose |
|---|---|
Random Placement | Places the cast at a random location around its owner. |
Floor Alignment | Places the cast cleanly on the floor when it starts. |
Cast Effect | Applies the cast Gameplay Effect to valid targets. |
Dissipation | Ends the active cast after its configured duration. |
Sphere Cone Effect | Filters sphere overlaps to a forward-facing cone. |
Cosmetics | Executes Gameplay Cues for selected cast events on clients. |
Cast Placement
Cast placement can come from different parts of the flow:
The Cast Ability may use the owner location as the default placement.
A Targeting Actor may provide an explicit location, such as a player-confirmed point on the ground.
A Cast Behavior may adjust placement, such as selecting a random point around the owner or aligning the cast to the floor.
The Random Placement behavior is useful for casts that should appear near the source actor instead of exactly on top of it. It can be configured with a radius range and is usually placed before Floor Alignment, so it chooses the horizontal location first and floor alignment resolves the final ground position.
By default, Random Placement should not replace explicit placements. This preserves flows where the cast location was already selected by the player, a Targeting Actor, or a scripted request.
Cast Ability
The Cast Ability coordinates the Cast Flow. Depending on its configuration, it can collect targets directly, wait for target confirmation, spawn a Cast Actor, or combine targeting and spawning into the same flow.
Cast Triggers
Once the ability activates, it may wait for a specific trigger before starting the cast.
Trigger | Description |
|---|---|
Ability Activation | The cast starts as soon as the Gameplay Ability activates. |
Gameplay Event | The cast starts when the ability receives the cast Gameplay Event. |
Delayed | The cast starts after a configured delay for non-interactive flows. |
Targeting Modes
The Cast Ability supports multiple targeting modes for different usage scenarios.
Targeting | Description |
|---|---|
Targeting System | Applies the Cast Gameplay Effect to targets collected by the Targeting System. |
Spawn Actor | Spawns or activates a Cast Actor. The actor and its behaviors handle target collection and effects. |
Wait For Confirmation | Waits for a Targeting Actor to collect and confirm targets, then applies the Gameplay Effect. |
Wait For Confirmation And Spawn Actor | Waits for a Targeting Actor to confirm placement, then spawns or activates a Cast Actor. |
Commit Times
For flexibility, the Cast Ability allows you to choose when costs and cooldowns are committed.
Commit Time | Description |
|---|---|
Ability Activates | Costs and cooldowns are committed when the Gameplay Ability activates. |
Cast Starts | Costs and cooldowns are committed when the cast starts. |
Targets Acquired | Costs and cooldowns are committed when targets are acquired. |
Ability Ends | Costs and cooldowns are committed when the ability ends. |
Cast Gameplay Effect
The Cast Gameplay Effect is applied to targets collected by the cast. This is usually a damage or benefit effect, but it can be any Gameplay Effect that fits your design.
The Cast Ability applies the effect directly when using:
Targeting System
Wait For Confirmation
When using a Cast Actor flow, the Cast Actor and its behaviors handle effect application instead. This lets actor-based casts own their world presence, collision, duration, placement, and target interactions.
The number of targets collected by direct ability-applied casts is available through the Tag_Combat_Data_CastHits magnitude tag.
Combat Magnitudes
Cast Actors, projectiles, weapons, owners, instigators, and other effect sources can provide additional Set By Caller magnitudes through CombatMagnitudeProviderInterface.
This allows project-specific data such as damage, poise damage, scaling values, or other magnitudes to be supplied by the source of the effect without duplicating effect setup across abilities and actors.
Confirmation State Gameplay Effect
The Confirmation State Gameplay Effect is applied to the owner while the ability is waiting for target confirmation.
Tags granted by this effect can be used to adjust input or AI behavior. For example, the player's Primary Action could confirm the cast instead of triggering an attack.
This effect is removed when targeting is confirmed or cancelled.
Successful Gameplay Effect
The Successful Gameplay Effect is optionally applied to the owner when the cast successfully triggers.
This can be used for feedback, tags, temporary self-effects, or Gameplay Cues that should happen when the cast starts. Its duration, stacking, and removal rules are controlled by the Gameplay Effect itself.
Authoring Animations
The Cast Ability expects an Animation Montage. The montage can be simple or section-based, depending on how the cast is triggered.
If the ability starts the cast from a Gameplay Event, the montage should include the Trigger Cast Animation Notify, which sends that event to the ability.
For interactive casts, such as casts using Ability Targeting Actors, the montage can include sections for targeting, confirmation, and cancellation.
Section | Description |
|---|---|
Default | Entry section where the animation starts. |
Loop | Looped section played while waiting for target confirmation. |
Confirmed | Section played when the cast is confirmed. |
Cancelled | Section played when target selection is cancelled. |
Cast Requests
The Cast Ability uses Cast Requests to carry cast data between animation, the ability, and cast execution.
Cast Requests are usually created by the Trigger Cast Animation Notify and sent to the ability through the cast Gameplay Event. The ability reads the request from the event payload and uses it to continue the Cast Flow.
A Cast Request can also provide the cast placement and spawn or retrieve a Cast Actor, including support for the Actor Pool.