A multiplayer climbing rope for any Character: screw in an anchor, walk off the edge - the rope catches you. Swing, climb, rappel, and rope up with your friends so nobody falls alone. Blueprint-ready, networking built in.
Your friend steps onto the narrow fin, her foot slips - and the rope goes tight. You are standing on the ledge, the rope runs from your harness to hers, and she is hanging over the drop. Hold R. You haul her up the face and over the edge.
That is Rope & Tether. Enable it, press Play with any Character (the Third Person template works as it is): the plugin adds the harness, binds the input and shows its HUD by itself. Press F, circle the mouse - and you have an anchor.
Screw-in anchors
F shows a ghost where the anchor goes: green, or red with the reason
Circle the mouse clockwise or roll the right stick to screw it in - others see it turn in
The gesture reads the shape of the path, not frames: the same turns at 30, 60 and 120 fps; hand jitter and counter-clockwise circling do nothing
Three anchor types as Data Assets: Bolt (15 m), Expedition (30 m, softer catch), Quick Hook (8 m, one turn, tears out under hard falls). Mesh, rope colour, length, brake, break speed, turns - no code
A rope that catches you
Pays out while you walk or climb, locks when you fall and brakes the fall softly
Leaves you on a pendulum: swing with the movement keys, climb the rope (Space), lower down / rappel (Ctrl)
Climbing up under a ledge takes you over the top
Wraps around the world
Bends round corners, ledges and columns and spends rope on every bend
Unwinds by itself when the way is clear
Lets go (an event you can catch) instead of holding a body through a wall
Co-op tether
Look at a friend and press R - you are roped together. Chains of up to 4
A body on its feet holds a falling partner; walking drags a partner along
Hold R to haul them in - up a cliff face and over the edge
AI companions can rope up too (Auto Add Harness = All Characters)
Multiplayer that holds up
Listen and dedicated servers, with prediction, replicated anchors
Tested as listen server + client on one PC with 100 ms of lag: catch, hold, haul over an edge, a client-installed anchor, rappel - the server saw the same positions, zero rope-caused corrections
Teleport Character node for moving roped players from the server
Looks and sounds the part
Braided rope material, a carabiner at the harness
7 sounds: clip, unclip, catch, ratchet, installed, haul, bend
HUD (UMG): the prompt with the bound key, rope length / bends / tension, the screw-in ring right on the anchor, short notices. Every part is optional and restyles in the Widget Designer; Rope Twist Ring widget for your own UI
Made for developers
About 40 Blueprint nodes and 13 events (On Fall Arrested with the fall speed, On Rope Blocked, On Tied, On Anchor Installed...)
Override in Blueprint: Get Hold, Can Clip Into / Can Tie To, Can Place Anchor
Rope Body interface for pawns with their own movement
Save / Load of installed anchors for your SaveGame, console commands, a self-test
Works in a Blueprint-only project: verified with no C++ (Rope.SelfTest 9/9 PASS)
Demo map, sample Blueprints, a full guide (PDF); C++ source included
Technical details
Features: screw-in anchors with a gesture (mouse / right stick), 3 anchor types as Data Assets, self-belay safety rope with soft fall arrest, pendulum swing, climbing and rappelling on the rope, rope wrapping around geometry, co-op tether (chains of up to 4, hold, drag, haul), AI companions, UMG HUD and Rope Twist Ring widget, braided rope material, 7 sounds, save / load of anchors, console commands, self-test.
Components: Rope Harness, Rope Anchor Installer. Actor: Rope Anchor. Data Asset: Rope Anchor Type. Widgets: WBP_RopeHud, Rope Twist Ring. Interface: Rope Body. Subsystem nodes for saves and lookup.
Code modules: RopeTether (Runtime). Plugin dependencies: Enhanced Input, Procedural Mesh Component (engine plugins).
Input: Enhanced Input (keyboard, mouse, gamepad). Demo map: /RopeTether/Demo/Lvl_RopeTetherDemo (uses the project's Game Mode and Character). Samples: BP_RopeSample, BP_AnchorWithAlarm.
Network replicated: Yes (listen and dedicated servers, prediction).
Supported development platforms: Windows. Supported target build platforms: Windows (Win64).
Documentation: Rope & Tether guide (PDF) - quick start, every node and event, multiplayer notes. The same guide ships as a README in the plugin folder.
Important notes: Unreal Engine 5.8 only. Max 12 bends per rope. Hanging uses the character's falling animation (Is Hanging for your Animation Blueprint). Saves keep installed anchors, not who is clipped in. No third-party code or assets: sounds synthesized, meshes generated, rope material procedural.
Support: vutaarkadii@gmail.com