Player Character

Authoritative project content

Overview

The player is a MetaHuman-based survivor with a third-person default camera and an optional first-person view. The character class is implemented in C++ (ALambeerCharacter or a renamed survival character) using a component-driven design so that survival, inventory, combat, and building are decoupled, reusable, and individually testable.

Camera & perspective — [CONFIRMED]

• Third-person over-the-shoulder is the default camera.
• Aim states do not force a first-person swap. RMB keeps the current camera view; switching view while aiming preserves the aim toggle and reselects the weapon-specific mode.
• Optional first-person toggles with Enhanced Input IA_ToggleCameraView (/Game/Lambeer/Core/Input/Actions/IA_ToggleCameraView). Authored mapping is V on IMC_Default; the runtime locomotion context also binds V.
• First-person is local presentation only: once the spring arm is inside the capsule, the owning face and grooms use OwnerNoSee and the body mesh hides the verified MetaHuman neck_01 bone so the local camera does not look through the skull. The third-person body, arms, hands, and held-item visuals stay visible to the owner. Other players still see the full third-person body. Camera presentation stays local; the requested first-person flag is sent with aim input so the server resolves the replicated aim mode. Neither view nor aim is durable save state.
• Dedicated first-person arms or weapon meshes remain out of scope; first-person currently reuses the third-person body and held-item visuals.
• Camera shoulder-swap (left/right) for corner peeking is [RECOMMENDATION].
• Use USpringArmComponent + UCameraComponent. Aim state changes spring-arm length, socket offset, and FOV via timeline/interp (driven by ULambeerCameraComponent + replicated ULambeerAimComponent). First-person collapses arm length to 0 and uses the pawn BaseEyeHeight plus a tunable local XY offset on the camera component.

Aim modes — [CONFIRMED]

Owner confirmed — 2026-09-17: RMB toggles aim on press; the next press exits. Holding or releasing RMB has no separate behavior. This supersedes the old tap-ADS / hold-ShoulderAim contract.

• Use the right-held family; when the right hand is empty, use the left. Switching to an ineligible item cancels aim.
• IA_ToggleCameraView preserves aim. An aimed firearm converts ShoulderAim ↔ ADS. Melee and unarmed guard stay active.
• First-person bodycam intent: the weapon follows camera direction, with visual motion relative to the screen center. No independent free look and no camera attached or locked to the scope.
• The server resolves aim mode from the requested toggle/view and authoritative held items; remote animation consumes that mode.
• Aim is transient and adds no durable persistence fields.

Content pending: owner confirms no ADS pose or sight/scope reference is authored yet. Toggle/view state does not establish usable sight alignment or tuned sway. Implementation, content dependencies and owner validation.

Locomotion

• Walk / jog / sprint, crouch, jump, vault/mantle [RECOMMENDATION].
• Sprint and most actions consume stamina (see 04-Survival-System.md).
• Encumbrance from inventory weight affects move speed and stamina (full-sim survival). See 06-Inventory-and-Items.md.
• Movement is networked via the replicated UCharacterMovementComponent; custom movement (climbing/vaulting) must be implemented network-safely.

Component architecture

The character is a thin actor that owns gameplay components. Recommended components (names indicative):

Rationale: components keep ALambeerCharacter small and let the same systems be reused by NPCs/bots later. All gameplay-relevant state on these components must be properly replicated (server-authoritative).

Phase 2 skills are learn-by-doing and live outside Phase 1 character creation. Attribute-facing skills such as Endurance and Strength should modify shared GAS/inventory/combat systems rather than custom one-off character fields.

Player states & stances

• Stances: standing, crouched, and prone — [CONFIRMED].
• Combat stances: unarmed, single-weapon ready, dual-wield ready (independent left/right-hand items), improvised-object held, firearm-hip-relaxed (HipRelaxed), firearm-shoulder (ShoulderAim), firearm-ADS (ADS), building mode.
• Downed/incapacitated state for squad revive is [RECOMMENDATION] (good co-op tension; adds netcode/anim cost).

Identity & customization

• Character appearance authored via the MetaHuman pipeline. See ../06-Art-Audio/01-Art-Direction-and-MetaHuman.md.
• Character creation lets the player pick a curated preset (male/female base) and customize hairstyle, skin color, and eye color — editable later at an in-game barber. Cosmetic-only; no stat advantage. Body size is not adjustable (fixed hitbox for PvP fairness). Full spec: 08-Character-Creation.md.
• Cosmetic customization (outfits) also fits the buy-to-play model. Cosmetic-only; no stat advantage.

Animation

• Animation Blueprint(s) per the MetaHuman skeleton, driven by movement and combat state. Heavy logic stays in C++; the ABP consumes replicated/animation state.
• Animation coverage must support independent left/right-hand weapon presentation plus held, swing, and throw states for combat-usable world props. Exact combinations and montages follow the canonical Combat System rules.
• The project ships with the StateTree and GameplayStateTree plugins enabled — these are primarily used for AI, but the player animation graph remains a standard Anim BP.

See: 03-Combat-System.md, 04-Survival-System.md.