HyperAsset - The Life Engine (Source Movement Engine)

Distribution Product Discussion
1

The Life Engine

The Life Engine is a fully custom first-person movement framework for Unreal Engine 5, built entirely in C++ without relying on Unreal Engine's CharacterMovementComponent.

Designed for developers who want responsive, skill-based movement inspired by classic FPS titles, this plugin provides a complete movement solution featuring air strafing, bunny hopping, custom acceleration, custom friction, custom gravity, crouching, runtime key rebinding, and configurable movement presets.

The system is implemented from the ground up using a standalone movement component and pawn architecture, giving developers full control over movement behavior without fighting against the limitations of the default Character Movement system.

Documentation Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dw-5qdRteY4

Key Features

Fully Custom Movement System

Unlike most movement solutions, The Life Engine does not use CharacterMovementComponent.

Movement is calculated entirely through custom velocity, acceleration, gravity, friction, and collision handling code, providing complete control over player movement behavior.

Classic FPS Movement Presets

Includes multiple movement presets inspired by classic shooter movement styles:

  • GoldSrc-inspired movement

  • Source-inspired movement

  • Quake-inspired movement

  • Fully customizable preset

Developers can quickly switch between movement styles or create their own custom configuration.

Advanced Air Movement

Features advanced air control mechanics including:

  • Air strafing

  • Air acceleration

  • Momentum preservation

  • Skill-based movement control

Perfect for movement-focused shooters and arena-style gameplay.

Bunny Hopping

Includes a configurable bunny hop system with support for:

  • Traditional bunny hopping

  • Optional automatic bunny hopping

  • Customizable jump behavior

  • Adjustable movement tuning

Custom Acceleration and Friction

Fine tune movement responsiveness using exposed settings for:

  • Ground acceleration

  • Air acceleration

  • Ground friction

  • Gravity

  • Jump force

  • Maximum speed

  • Air control

All major movement variables are exposed for Blueprint editing.

Crouching System

Includes:

  • Hold-to-crouch mode

  • Toggle crouch mode

  • Automatic stand-up collision checks

  • Adjustable crouch height

Runtime Key Rebinding

Players can rebind controls at runtime through Blueprint-accessible functions.

Supported bindings include:

  • Move Forward

  • Move Backward

  • Move Left

  • Move Right

  • Jump

  • Crouch

Save System Integration

Built-in SaveGame support allows developers to save and load:

  • Keybinds

  • Movement preferences

  • Mouse settings

  • Bunny hop settings

  • Crouch settings

No additional setup is required.

Blueprint Friendly

The system is written entirely in C++ but exposes all major settings and controls to Blueprints.

Developers can:

  • Modify movement values

  • Save player preferences

  • Bind movement events

  • Customize movement behavior without modifying plugin source code.

Debug Tools

Includes optional debugging features for movement tuning and development.

Useful for:

  • Velocity inspection

  • Movement testing

  • Gameplay balancing

  • Troubleshooting

Included Classes

  • AHLRawPawn

  • UHLRawMovementComponent

  • UHLSavedMovementSettings

Ideal For

  • Arena shooters

  • Fast-paced FPS games

  • Competitive multiplayer projects

  • Movement-focused games

  • Sandbox experiences

  • Parkour projects

  • Custom controller frameworks

Technical Information

  • Unreal Engine 5.7

  • C++ Source Included

  • Runtime Plugin

  • No CharacterMovementComponent dependency

  • Blueprint Accessible

  • SaveGame Integration Included

Support

Comprehensive documentation video is included covering setup, configuration, key rebinding, movement presets, and save system integration.

Quick Setup Guide

  1. Enable The Life Engine plugin (plugin is named HLMovementSystem) and restart Unreal Engine if prompted.

  2. Create a new Blueprint based on HLRawPawn.

  3. Open your GameMode and set your new Blueprint as the Default Pawn Class.

  4. Press Play.

The movement system is ready to use out of the box.

Default Controls

  • W / A / S / D – Move

  • Space – Jump

  • Left Control – Crouch

Customization

Select the HLRawMovement component to access and modify movement settings such as:

  • Movement Preset

  • Maximum Speed

  • Air Acceleration

  • Ground Friction

  • Gravity

  • Bunny Hopping

  • Auto Bunny Hop

  • Crouch Settings

  • Keybinds

Watch the documentation video for a visual guide on how to configure and use the plugin.

Coming Soon:

  • Ladder Climbing

  • Swimming

  • Noclip

2

problem 1 - the character sticks to walls and physical objects
problem 2 - sometimes the character does not come out of the slide

In the Quake implementation, there is no possibility of a double boost jump by pushing off inclined surfaces and steps (see the q2 video, where this is more pronounced)

perhaps the Quake movie should be divided into 3 implementations.
1 - Q2
2 -Q3
3 -Q3 CPMA

SAVE- put it in a separate library of functions, for convenience
so that you can have access from BP and that there is no link to the character’s class.

3

The idea isn’t bad, but the video doesn’t really show anything. I’d buy this plugin if it actually gets implemented.

4

I agree. These features are sorely lacking.

5

Thanks for the feedback.

The wall sticking issue and the slide state issue have both been fixed in the latest update. There were some collision handling edge cases that could cause the player to become stuck against walls or remain in an unintended slide state, but those have now been resolved.

Regarding the Quake movement implementation, that’s a good suggestion. At the moment the plugin provides a single Quake-inspired preset, but I agree there are meaningful differences between Quake 2, Quake 3, and Q3 CPMA movement. I’ll be looking into expanding this into separate presets now so users can choose the implementation that best matches their project.

The note regarding boost jumps from slopes and steps is also appreciated. I’ll be reviewing the current Quake preset against the original implementations to ensure movement exploits and acceleration behavior more closely match the expected behavior for each movement style.

For the save system, I agree that separating save/load functionality into a dedicated Blueprint Function Library would make it more accessible and remove the need for direct references to the character or movement component. I’ve added that to the roadmap for a future quality-of-life update, hopefully within the next few days

Thanks again for the detailed feedback and suggestions.

6

Could you create a link to the task in Trello? I would like to see your priority plans and a more specific development plan, so that we do not have to ask such questions on the forum

7

Thanks for the suggestion.

I don’t currently have a public Trello board or roadmap available, but I understand the value of having more visibility into upcoming development. I’ll look into providing a more structured roadmap in the future so users can see what is being worked on and what is planned next.

As for immediate updates, you can expect a new update within the next few hours that will introduce a more robust and dedicated Quake 3 and CPMA movement presets. I’ve been refining the movement implementations to better separate the different movement styles and improve overall accuracy.

Currently the double jump boost you mentioned is in a functional state. After playing Quake 3 and CPMA, i feel the current state of jump boosting is playable, although further improvement can be made if necessary.

For tomorrow’s update, I am currently finishing work on several additional movement features, including:

  • Ladder support

  • Swimming support

  • Noclip mode

  • Additional movement polish and bug fixes

Looking further ahead, some of the features and improvements planned for future updates include:

  • Additional movement presets and expanded movement customization

  • Improved save/load workflows and Blueprint utility functions

  • Enhanced debugging and movement visualization tools

  • More quality-of-life Blueprint integrations

  • Ongoing movement bug fixes and community-requested features

I appreciate the feedback and testing so far. Your reports and suggestions have been extremely helpful in shaping the direction of the plugin, and I’ll continue refining and expanding the system over the coming updates.

(I also noticed an newly introduced bug, preventing the pawn from walking up slopes, this has been fixed)

8

There was another mistake: if you make an inclined surface (20-30 degrees) and just jump down, you’ll roll down like a ball until you stop. I’m also interested in the interaction with objects that have physics simulation enabled (for example, can I push a box? because it doesn’t react to these objects right now). I want to be able to influence the maximum speed of the bhop, as well as its acceleration, and also be able to push the character away (to make jumps). I’m also interested in the moving platforms, as some assets can transfer and change velocity when the platform is moved up or sideways (to create an elevator-like effect), causing the character to appear as if they’re running in place or having leg problems in animations.

9

In version 1.1.2, the bhop of the Source Movement was destroyed (it is impossible to gain speed), and the ability to push the player onto an object if he tries to jump onto a ledge but he is just a little short was also destroyed (if you know what I mean).

10

Thanks for the detailed report.

I understand the issues you are describing.

For the Source preset, the bhop behavior in 1.1.2 is too restrictive. I will be restoring configurable bhop speed gain and exposing controls for bhop acceleration, maximum bhop speed, and landing friction behavior so the Source preset can be tuned properly instead of being locked to one interpretation.

The ledge behavior you mentioned also makes sense. The previous push-up/ledge assist behavior was reduced while fixing step and wall collision issues, but I agree it should be available as an optional setting. I will add a safer configurable ledge assist / air step-up option so users can decide whether they want that behavior.

The slope issue is also noted. Jumping onto a slope should not make the character slide down like a ball. I will review the landing and ground snapping logic so walkable slopes correctly transition the player back into grounded movement.

Physics object interaction is planned as well. The current controller does not meaningfully push physics-simulated objects, so I will add physics push settings with configurable force/impulse strength.

I also plan to add Blueprint functions for externally pushing or launching the player, useful for jump pads, explosions, boosters, and custom gameplay triggers.

Moving platform support is also on the list. This will include platform velocity transfer and better behavior on elevators or sideways-moving platforms.

The next update will include restoring/tuning Source bhop behavior, slope landing fixes, and adding more exposed movement controls. After that I will continue with physics object interaction, launch/impulse functions, and moving platform support.

While were committed to improving the plugin and addressing reported issues, were also responsible for maintaining and supporting multiple plugins across several projects. Because of that, development time has to be balanced between different products and user requests.

That said, all feedback is being reviewed and prioritized, and the issues and feature requests discussed here have been added to the list. I appreciate you taking the time to test the plugin and provide detailed reports.

If you discover any other issues, please don’t hesitate to email me on my personal email on our fab profile: Fab

11

And perhaps the immediate question is: will it be possible to crouch while flying without the camera jerking? (So that the player’s camera doesn’t shift up and down while crouching in flight?)

12

Update 1.1.3 should be out within the next few hours:

  • Fixed GoldSrc and Quake 2 movement presets, alongside improved Quake 3 and CPMA tuning.
  • Fixed wall sticking, slide exit issues, stair/step-up traversal, overlap events, and custom preset loading.
  • Added moving and rotating platform support, platform velocity inheritance, physics object pushing.
  • Added bunnyhop tuning options.
  • Cleaned up movement settings, removed obsolete variables.

Please report any bugs to my personal email found at: Fab