Ladder Climb

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The LadderClimb ability allows the character to move up and down a ladder. The character can mount/dismount on the ladder from either direction and can mount while in the air.

Unlike Free Climb, Ladder Climb uses a Ladder component as an authored traversal rail. The component defines where a mount converges, where the ends of the usable span are, and how airborne mounting aligns with the rungs. The ability settings decide which of those entry and exit paths are permitted for a character.

Setup

  1. Position Ladder Climb near the top of the ability list so it can override lower-priority locomotion abilities.
  2. Add any states to the components that should activate when Ladder Climb is active. In the demo scene the following states are added:
    • The Airborne state added to the Ladder Climb ability.
    • The LadderClimb state added to the Animator Monitor component.
    • The LadderClimb state added to the Character IK component.
    • The LadderClimb state added to the arm Third Person Object components (only used for first person).
    • The LadderClimb state added to the Camera Controller (only used for first person).
  3. Set up the climbable collider using Object Detection, Detect Layers, and the associated cast settings. The collider must be on an included layer; when Object ID is enabled, it must also pass that ID check. An Object Identifier does not bypass the layer mask. See Detect Object Ability Base.
  4. Add the Ladder component to the ladder object that the character can climb on.
    1. A bottom and top Move Towards Location should be specified so the character can move into the correct location before mounting.
    2. Set the top and bottom dismount offsets as vertical height thresholds measured from the ladder’s pivot. Crossing a threshold selects the corresponding dismount animation; the animation’s root motion determines where the character lands.
    3. The rung offset and separation should be specified if the character can mount on the ladder while in the air.

Key settings

Airborne Auto Start

Can the ability auto start when the character is airborne?

Editor debugging

Ladder Climb has no Draw Debug Lines switch. Its Hang-start probe is drawn by the editor code when that probe runs. Inspect the object-detection settings and the ladder’s authored mount data when diagnosing other entry paths.

Allowed Movements

Specifies which hang movements the character can perform.

  • InAirMount: The character can mount while in the air.
  • BottomDismount: The character can dismount on the bottom.
  • TopDismount: The character can dismount on the top.
  • StartFromHang: The character can start climbing from the Agility Pack Hang ability.

Airborne Move Towards Speed

Specifies the speed that the character moves towards the ladder if mounting in the air.

Stop Climb on Jump

Should the ability stop if the jump button is pressed?

Start Hang Offset

The offset used to check for a ladder if the hang ability is active.

Author the ladder component

Set the ladder transform and data as a single coordinate system. The bottom and top Move Towards Location entries should face the ladder and place the character at the same surface distance used while climbing. The scalar dismount offsets choose the heights at which exit animations begin. Provide clear, walkable space for those animations’ root motion; the offsets cannot specify a horizontal landing destination.

For airborne mounting, align Rung Offset with the first usable rung and set Rung Separation to the repeated vertical spacing. These values let the ability choose a plausible hand-and-body phase instead of snapping every airborne entry to one fixed height. Test at heights between rungs as well as directly beside a rung.

Entry and exit paths

Enable only the paths supported by the level design:

  • In Air Mount requires a reachable ladder span and enough time for Airborne Move Towards Speed to align the character.
  • Bottom Dismount needs clear ground below the bottom move-towards location.
  • Top Dismount needs a clear platform and an animation-compatible top offset.
  • Start From Hang requires the Agility Pack Hang transition and a Start Hang Offset that reaches the ladder from the hanging pose.

If a ladder is used from only one end, disabling the unused movement prevents the ability from selecting an exit that the geometry cannot support.

Tune and troubleshoot

Tune the mount before the climb speed or animation. A good sequence is:

  1. Confirm that object detection reaches the ladder and that it passes Detect Layers plus any enabled Object ID check.
  2. Correct the bottom and top move-towards poses.
  3. Correct the active climbing distance from the ladder.
  4. Tune end dismount offsets.
  5. Enable airborne or Hang transitions and tune their dedicated offsets last.

If the character mounts the wrong side, check the ladder transform orientation and move-towards rotations. If the character stops at an end without dismounting, confirm the corresponding Allowed Movements flag and the clearance around its dismount offset. If airborne mounting causes a large snap, reduce the valid approach range or increase alignment time instead of compensating with an unrelated animation offset.