State Designer

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Use the State Designer integration when a finite state machine should choose an AI or gameplay mode while Ultimate Character Controller owns locomotion, collision, animation, abilities, items, health, attributes, and effects.

Before you begin

  • Install released Ultimate Character Controller Version 3 and State Designer, then verify both products independently.
  • Build the character as an AI Agent when State Designer will control a non-player character.
  • Configure and test navigation, items, health, and the required abilities before requesting them from a State Machine.
  • Sign in to Opsive Downloads and download the matching State Designer integration after both products compile. The bridge is not included in either base product’s Integrations folder before this download. Importing UltimateCharacterControllerStateDesigner.unitypackage creates the integration files in the project.

Build a first Patrol, Chase, and Attack flow

  1. Add a State Machine to the AI character and create Patrol, Chase, and Attack States.
  2. Use project sensing Conditions to choose a target. The Ultimate Character Controller bridge does not add sight or hearing.
  3. In Chase, set the navigation destination and let Ultimate Character Controller’s pathfinding movement ability apply final motion.
  4. In Attack, use Set Aim Target, then Start Stop Ability or Start Stop Use for the configured item slot and action.
  5. On State exit, stop abilities that should not remain active and clear temporary aim or target data.
  6. Use Is Ability Active, Is Effect Active, Is Alive, or other integration Conditions to drive transitions instead of reading Animator state directly.

Available Ultimate Character Controller nodes

  • Abilities and effects: Start Stop Ability, Is Ability Active, Start Stop Effect, and Is Effect Active.
  • Items and aiming: Set Aim Target, Start Stop Use, Reload, Start Equip Unequip, Start Item Set Ability, and Get Item Identifier Amount.
  • Health and state: Damage, Heal, Is Alive, Has Taken Damage, Get Attribute Value, Set State, and Execute Event.

These nodes call Ultimate Character Controller systems; they do not replace Ultimate Character Controller validation. An Action can fail when a required component is missing or Ultimate Character Controller rejects the requested ability.

Verify in Play Mode

  1. Watch the active State and Ultimate Character Controller’s active abilities together.
  2. Confirm Patrol and Chase move through one authority and use the expected movement animation.
  3. Confirm Attack aims at the intended object and controls the expected item slot and action.
  4. Force Ultimate Character Controller to block an ability and confirm the State Machine follows its fallback.
  5. Test State exit, interruption, death, respawn, perspective changes, and scene reload.

Troubleshooting

Symptom Check Fix
Ultimate Character Controller nodes are absent from the State Palette. Check compilation, both products, and the imported bridge package. Install both dependencies first, remove duplicate bridge scripts, and reimport the matching package.
The character does not move. Check the navigation owner, baked navigation data, AI Agent setup, and pathfinding movement ability. Let State Designer choose the destination and let Ultimate Character Controller apply final movement.
Use or Reload targets the wrong item. Check active item set, Slot ID, and Action ID. Select the exact equipped item action rather than relying on the first available ability.
A State exits but an ability remains active. Check the State exit Actions and the ability’s normal Stop Type. Stop the ability explicitly or configure the intended Ultimate Character Controller stop rule.