Good evening. I’m trying to create doors in my game. I want to open doors in opposite direction of character. From the beginning I’ve tried to use timelines with trigger boxes but now I think I should just use simulate physics option for doors. But the problem is the door is falling when colliding with character. So is there a way to connect the door to something so it will only open/close and not falling?
I think the Physics Constraint Component could do that.
But you might end up with a rather unstable door that flops about too easily and doesn’t want to close.
Probably more efficient to get the player’s forward vector, compare it to the door’s, and branch to timelines that go in different directions.
Or, since most doors only open in one direction, if you’re simply trying to avoid being constantly smacked in the face when they open, it might be easier to just disable/enable its collision when the timeline starts and finishes.
Hey there @Texn0krat! I agree with illspirit on this one, the physics constraint can do the job, and if managed well enough you may get it feel just right and less floppy, though with all physics you do run the risk of unintended behavior so as I always say, test test test!
Here’s a video to help you out:
Disclaimer: One or more of these links are unaffiliated with Epic Games. Epic Games is not liable for anything that may occur outside of this Unreal Engine domain. Please exercise your best judgment when following links outside of the forums.
Hello. I’ve seen this video, but I’ve tried this thing in my door static mesh settings:
Isn’t it the same thing you mention? I thought maybe classic constraints is a little outdated and I should use constraints from physics panel? (It’s not working good though)
Yes, I already used that:
But I thought it’s a little overcomplicated, I need to create two different collision boxes, or calculate character direction… So I decided to try physics

Yea, just played with it a bit, and this could be a bit complicated:
Probably less involved than fiddling with constraints though.
Didn’t you thought about just to create two collision box and two timelines for them to open door in different directions? In that case you won’t need to calculate actor position and other stuff.
I thought about two boxes, but figured there could be conflicts if they were both triggered at the same time. Plus, checking for overlaps is likely more expensive than just doing a quick dot product check on the door and instigator. Especially if a second trigger required hooking up a bunch of logic to stop them from fighting each other.
Well, suppose you’re right. I’ve tried the constraints and door animation is awful… Probably it’s better to use your solution and count on physics so much. Or spend much more time dealing with collisions and other related things.
Basically the physics constraints you see in the static mesh window are hard locks and aren’t great for something like a door. Using the ones from the video often give the best feel if you need a push/pull open door but you’d still want to control it. If you have an example game you’d like to replicate let me know and I can probably find a better reference.
In an ideal, I want to create door mechanics where character getting close to the door → holding out his hand for the door handle → if player is trying to move further character open door and walking in another room (if player is not trying to move further then character is just staying; if player is trying to move in other direction → character is releasing the door handle and moving to that direction).
Unfortunately, I can’t remember the game with this door’s mechanics, but it’s similar to any game created with RPG Maker.