Input Management | Ninja Bear Studio Plugins

Input Manager Component

The Input Manager is the backbone of the Input System. It's responsible for initializing and maintaining Input Setups and routing Input Actions to appropriate Input Handlers.

The following functions are accessible to any Input Handler or external callers.

Function	Category	Description
`ShouldProcessInputs`	General	Informs if this Input Manager is currently processing inputs.
`EnableInputProcessing`	General	Globally enables input processing.
`DisableInputProcessing`	General	Globally disables input processing.
`IsUsingKeyboardAndMouse`	Context	Informs if the player's input device is the keyboard and mouse.
`GetForwardVector`	Context	Provides the forward vector, based on the Pawn or Forward Reference.
`GetRightVector`	Context	Provides the right vector, based on the Pawn or Forward Reference.
`GetLastInputVector`	Context	Provides the last input vector handled by the owner, via `Pawn Movement Component` or `LastInputVectorProviderInterface`.
`GetPawn`	Context	Provides the Pawn related to this component.
`GetController`	Context	Provides the Controller related to this component.
`IsLocallyControlled`	Context	Informs if the player is locally controlled.
`GetAbilitySystemComponent`	Context	Provides the Ability System Component related to the current Pawn.
`HasSetupData`	Setup Data	Checks if a given Setup Data is assigned to the component.
`HasCompatibleInputHandler`	Setup Data	Checks if there is an Input Handler set for a given Input Action and Trigger Event.
`AddInputSetupData`	Setup Data	Processes a Setup Data, registering its Input Contexts and Handlers.
`RemoveInputSetupData`	Setup Data	Removes a Setup Data previously registered.
`RotateControllerToMouseCursor`	Utility	Rotates the current controller to the mouse location.

Default Input Setups

You can provide default input setups in two ways:

Default Properties: By setting them directly into the Input Manager, in its Defaults Panel. These are always added to any possessed pawn and cannot be removed.
Pawn Interface: The pawn possessed by the owning Controller can provide input setups via InputSetupProviderInterface. They will be removed when the pawn is unpossessed.

Providing Input Setups for each pawn is especially useful for games where players possess multiple Pawns with distinct input needs (e.g., vehicles, turrets, or UI-driven characters).

Implementing the Setup Provider Interface

Make sure to set your Input Manager to the Player Controller.
Add the InputSetupProviderInterface to the pawn that will provide specific Input Setups.
Create an array of NinjaInputSetupDataAsset references, so you can add Input Setups relevant to the Pawn.
Implement the GetInputSetups function, returning the array of setups
Header
#pragma once #include "CoreMinimal.h" #include "GameFramework/Character.h" #include "Interfaces/InputSetupProviderInterface" #include "PluginLabsController.generated.h" class NinjaInputSetupDataAsset; UCLASS() class PLUGINLABS_API APluginLabsCharacter : public ACharacter, public IInputSetupProviderInterface { GENERATED_BODY() public: // -- Begin Input Setup Provider implementation virtual TArray<UNinjaInputSetupDataAsset*> GetInputSetups_Implementation() const override; // -- End Input Setup Provider implementation protected: UPROPERTY(EditDefaultsOnly, BlueprintReadOnly, Category = "Input Setup") TArray<UNinjaInputSetupDataAsset*> CharacterInputs; };
Implementation
#include "GameFramework/APluginLabsCharacter.h" #include "Data/NinjaInputSetupDataAsset.h" TArray<UNinjaInputSetupDataAsset*> APluginLabsCharacter::GetInputSetups_Implementation() const { return CharacterInputs; }

Input Mapping Settings

When adding an input mapping, you may need to provide additional context options. In the Enhanced Input framework, this is handled by passing a FModifyContextOptions struct when adding your Input Mapping Context.

You can fine-tune the values in this struct—either globally or per mapping context—by overriding the CreateModifyContextOptions function in Blueprints or C++.

Runtime Management

Input Setups can be added and removed at runtime. This is useful when you want certain inputs to only become available when specific gameplay elements happen.

The Input Manager Component provides dedicated functions to add or remove Input Setups whenever necessary. It is important to ensure that any context you add is properly removed later to avoid unexpected behavior.

Input Setups can be added and removed using AddInputSetupData and RemoveInputSetupData.

#include "Components/NinjaInputManagerComponent.h"
#include "Data/NinjaInputSetupDataAsset.h"

void ANinjaLabsItem::BeginPlay()
{
    Super::BeginPlay();
    GetOwnerInputManager()->AddInputSetupData(ItemSetupData);
}

void ANinjaLabsItem::EndPlay(const EEndPlayReason::Type EndPlayReason)
{
    GetOwnerInputManager()->RemoveInputSetupData(ItemSetupData);
    Super::EndPlay(EndPlayReason);
}

Global State

You can completely disable and enable input handling in an Input Manager. This can be useful during in-game cutscenes, when all input should be blocked without removing active Input Setups.

// Checks if the Input Manager is currently processing inputs.
InputManager->ShouldProcessInputs()

// Enables all input processing.
InputManager->EnableInputProcessing()

// Disables all input processing.
InputManager->DisableInputProcessing()