A friction-based invisible wall?

[danamaloma]

@Mastatatoe

I’m making a Star Fox-like game with flying combat and I have invisible walls to stop the player from exiting camera view, but having the ship stop in place immediately when hitting the walls feels a bit jarring (and comes with a weird glitch where the player gets stuck after contact sometimes), im looking to add invisible barriers that work more like rubber bands (when you push against them you dont stop instantly, it slows you down first, then pushes you back when you let go) This is a hard concept for me to explain through text

Is there a feature in UE5 that will let me do something like this? Thanks.

Recommended approach (used in many games)

Instead of relying on blocking collision, use a Trigger Volume (Box/Sphere Overlap) and handle the behavior manually:

1. Detect entry into boundary

• Place a larger invisible volume where the “soft wall” starts.

• Use OnComponentBeginOverlap to detect when the player enters it.

2. Gradually reduce player control

• As the player gets closer to the edge, scale down their input or velocity.

• For example:

  • Map distance → speed multiplier (1 → 0)

  • This creates that “pushing against resistance” feel
    This is a known technique: mapping distance to movement limits instead of stopping instantly (Epic Developer Community Forums)

3. Apply opposite force (rubber band)

• When inside the volume, apply a force or movement offset back toward the center:

  • Direction = (center − player position)

  • Strength increases the deeper they go

4. Release behavior

• When player stops pushing, the force naturally pulls them back → gives that elastic feel

---

Alternative (simpler Blueprint logic)

A very common pattern suggested by UE devs:

• First phase: slow player to a stop (~1 second)

• Second phase: apply increasing force pushing them back

This creates a smooth 2–3 second interaction instead of a hard stop (Epic Developer Community Forums)

---

Implementation tips (important)

• Avoid pure blocking volumes → causes your “stuck” glitch

• Use overlap + manual velocity control

• Modify:

  • Max Fly Speed

  • or directly scale input axis

  • or use Add Force / Add Movement Input in reverse direction

• Use a falloff curve (Float Curve asset) for smoothness

• Clamp max pushback force so it doesn’t feel jerky

---

Bonus: “Star Fox feel”

For that classic Star Fox boundary:

• Use a camera-centered box

• Always push player toward screen center (not world center)

• Add slight camera shake or tilt when pushing → sells the effect

---

TL;DR

• No built-in UE5 feature for this

• Don’t use hard collision

• Use:
  Overlap Volume + distance-based slowdown + reverse force

• Think of it as a soft constraint field, not a wall