kevinpbuckley

Build and compose gameplay objects from Actors and Components in Unreal C++ — the AActor lifecycle (constructor, PostInitializeComponents, BeginPlay, Tick, EndPlay, Destroyed), the component types (UActorComponent, USceneComponent, UPrimitiveComponent), the…

Build AI in Unreal — AIController-driven pawns, Behavior Trees and Blackboards (tasks, decorators, services), the navigation system and NavMesh (MoveTo pathfinding, NavMeshBoundsVolume, NavAreas, avoidance), the Environment Query System (EQS generators,…

Animate skeletal meshes in Unreal using the AnimInstance / Animation Blueprint model — C++ UAnimInstance base class (NativeInitializeAnimation, NativeUpdateAnimation, NativeThreadSafeUpdateAnimation), AnimGraph with state machines and blend spaces, animation…

Reference and load Unreal assets correctly — hard vs soft references (TObjectPtr vs TSoftObjectPtr/TSoftClassPtr), virtual content paths, FSoftObjectPath, async loading with FStreamableManager and FStreamableHandle, the Asset Registry for querying without…

Play and control audio in Unreal — the sound asset types (SoundWave, SoundCue, MetaSound Source), playing 2D/3D sounds from C++ (UGameplayStatics, UAudioComponent), spatial attenuation, sound classes/submixes/concurrency for mixing, runtime MetaSound…

Write and run automated tests for Unreal Engine projects — simple/complex automation tests (IMPLEMENT_SIMPLE_AUTOMATION_TEST, IMPLEMENT_COMPLEX_AUTOMATION_TEST), BDD-style Spec tests (DEFINE_SPEC, BEGIN_DEFINE_SPEC, Describe/It/BeforeEach/AfterEach),…

Expose C++ classes, functions, and properties to Blueprint in Unreal Engine — UFUNCTION specifiers (BlueprintCallable, BlueprintPure, BlueprintImplementableEvent, BlueprintNativeEvent), UPROPERTY exposure (BlueprintReadWrite/ReadOnly,…

Understand Blueprints as Unreal's visual scripting and asset-class system — what a Blueprint class is, the UBlueprint editor asset vs. UBlueprintGeneratedClass runtime class, how it relates to its C++ parent, the graph types (Event Graph, Functions,…

Plan, dry-run, apply, verify, roll back, and resume explicit bounded batches for Blueprint interface migration, metadata hygiene, asset naming/organization, and unused-asset cleanup preparation.

Start, stop, and query Play-In-Editor (PIE) sessions for runtime testing of Blueprints, gameplay logic, widgets, AI, and any in-game behavior. Use when the user asks you to "play", "test", "run", "PIE", "start/stop the game", or otherwise needs a live game…

Author and PIE-verify Gameplay Ability System content — abilities, attribute sets, gameplay effects, gameplay events, costs/cooldowns, cues — by composing Epic's GASToolsets/GameplayTagsToolset with Blueprint/Object tools and Python. Use when the user asks to…

Create, list, remove, and rename Gameplay Tags with runtime registration (GameplayTagService). Use when the user asks to add or register gameplay tags, list/query existing tags, or rename/remove tags (e.g. Ability.Attack.Melee, State.Stunned).

Unreal Engine 5 development using the VibeUE Python API. Use when working in Unreal Engine — blueprints, state trees, materials, actors, landscapes, animation, niagara, widgets, sound, foliage, gameplay tags, enhanced input, skeletons, PCG (procedural…

Import/export textures crash-safely, query the Content Browser selection, and check if an asset is open (AssetDiscoveryService). Search, load, save, move, rename, duplicate, and delete assets are handled by Unreal's native AssetTools toolset or…

Add, connect, and configure nodes in Blueprint event graphs and function graphs — function-call/event/branch/timer/custom-event/delegate nodes, Standard Macro nodes (ForEachLoop/ForLoop/WhileLoop/DoOnce/Gate/IsValid/FlipFlop via add_macro_instance_node),…

Create and configure Enhanced Input — Input Actions, Mapping Contexts, key mappings, triggers, and modifiers (InputService). Use when the user asks to set up player input, create an Input Action (IA_) or Input Mapping Context (IMC_), bind keys to actions, or…