Hi everyone,
I’m currently working on my character locomotion system in UE5, and I’ve run into an issue where character movement feels very abrupt and rigid.
Right now, when pressing keys like W+D or D from Idle, the character snaps into running immediately without any acceleration or startup step (wind-up). Similarly, when running forward (W) and suddenly pressing S to stop/reverse, the character snaps directions instantly instead of showing momentum, leaning back to brake, planting feet, or pivoting realistically.
I would love to learn the best practices for handling this in UE5:
- Starts & Acceleration: How do I set up transition states (e.g., Starts / Wind-up steps) when initiating movement from different angles instead of instantly snapping into a run loop?
- Pivots & Sudden Direction Changes: What is the recommended way to detect when a player suddenly changes direction (e.g., forward to backward/side) and trigger a lean-back / plant-foot pivot animation based on velocity and acceleration yaw?
- Stops & Momentum: How should deceleration/stops be configured so the character slides slightly with inertia before returning to Idle?
Should I achieve this using a traditional 4-state system (Starts → Loops → Pivots → Stops) with blend angles, or is it better to leverage Distance Matching and Orientation/Stride Warping in UE5?
Any detailed guides, node setup examples, or recommended workflows would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks in advance!