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HELIX is in Early Access Preview. Some features and documentation may be non-functional or out of date.

Cable

HELIX Cables are composed primarily of two Unreal Engine components: a Cable and a PhysicsConstraint. The first is used for visual purposes only and the second one gives the effective physical effects that are applied to each end of the Cable.

Info

Cable visuals can be tweaked with :SetForces(), :SetCableSettings() and :SetRenderingSettings() methods. Those methods don’t have effect on the physics being applied and only have effects on the visual representation.

Cable physics can be tweaked with :SetAngularLimits() and :SetLinearLimits().

Example#

Example
local CableActor = Cable(Vector(0.0, 0.0, 60.0), true)
local Cube1 = StaticMesh(Vector(52.684121, -37.863267, 92.023095), Quat(180, 0, 0, 1), '/Engine/BasicShapes/Cube.Cube', true)
local Cube2 = StaticMesh(Vector(44.109754, -534.058274, 91.712091), Quat(0, 180, 0, 1), '/Engine/BasicShapes/Cube.Cube', true)
CableActor:AttachStartTo(Cube1, Vector(0, 0, 0), '')
CableActor:AttachEndTo(Cube2, Vector(0, 0, 0), '')

Variables#

Name Type
CableComponent UCableComponent
PhysicsComponent UPhysicsConstraintComponent

Constructor#

  • returns: table
local CableActor = Cable(Vector(0.0, 0.0, 60.0), true)
print(CableActor.Object) -- AActor
print(CableActor.CableComponent) -- UCableComponent
print(CableActor.PhysicsComponent) -- UPhysicsConstraintComponent
Type Name Default Description
Vector StartLocation The start location of the cable, this gets overridden upon attachment.
boolean? bEnableVisuals true Whether the cable actor is visible

Functions#

AttachStartTo#

Attaches the start of a cable to another actor

  • TargetActor Actor: The actor to attach to.
  • RelativeLocation Vector: Local offset from the attach point.
  • Socket string: Optional socket name.
  • returns: boolean
local success = CableActor:AttachStartTo(TargetActor, RelativeLocation, Socket)

AttachEndTo#

Attaches the end of a cable to another actor

  • TargetActor: Actor — the actor to attach the end to
  • RelativeLocation: Vector — local offset from the attach point
  • Socket: string — optional socket name on the target
CableActor:AttachEndTo(TargetActor, RelativeLocation, Socket)

DetachEnd#

Detaches the end of the cable from the actor

CableActor:DetachEnd()

DetachStart#

Detaches the start of the cable from the actor

CableActor:DetachStart()

SetCableSettings#

Sets the cable settings, like length

  • Length: number — rope length in Unreal units
  • Segments: number — visual segment count (smoothness vs. cost)
  • SolverIterations: number — extra solver passes for stability/quality
CableActor:SetCableSettings(Length, Segments, SolverIterations)

SetForces#

Sets the vector of force to be applied to all particles in the cable

  • Force: Vector — constant world-space force per particle
  • GravityScale: number — multiplier for rope gravity (e.g., 0.5 is lighter)
CableActor:SetForces(Force, GravityScale)

SetAngularLimits#

Sets the angular limits for the cable

  • Swing1Motion: ConstraintMotion — Free, Limited, or Locked
  • Swing2Motion: ConstraintMotion — Free, Limited, or Locked
  • TwistMotion: ConstraintMotion — Free, Limited, or Locked
  • Swing1LimitAngle: number — degrees, only used when motion is Limited
  • Swing2LimitAngle: number — degrees, only used when motion is Limited
  • TwistLimitAngle: number — degrees, only used when motion is Limited
CableActor:SetAngularLimits(Swing1Motion, Swing2Motion, TwistMotion, Swing1LimitAngle, Swing2LimitAngle, TwistLimitAngle)

SetLinearLimits#

Sets the linear limits for the cable

  • XMotion: ConstraintMotion — Free, Limited, or Locked
  • YMotion: ConstraintMotion — Free, Limited, or Locked
  • ZMotion: ConstraintMotion — Free, Limited, or Locked
  • Limit: number — distance limit used when motion is Limited
  • Restitution: number — bounciness when hitting the limit
  • bUseSoftConstraint: boolean — enables spring-like behavior
  • Stiffness: number — spring stiffness when soft constraint is enabled
  • Damping: number — spring damping when soft constraint is enabled
CableActor:SetLinearLimits(XMotion, YMotion, ZMotion, Limit, Restitution, bUseSoftConstraint, Stiffness, Damping)

SetRenderingSettings#

Sets the rendering settings for the cable

  • Width: number — rope thickness in Unreal units
  • NumberOfSides: number — cylinder sides (visual smoothness)
  • TileMaterial: number — material tiling along the rope
CableActor:SetRenderingSettings(Width, NumberOfSides, TileMaterial)

GetAttachedStartTo#

Gets the actor that the start of the cable is attached to

CableActor:GetAttachedStartTo()

GetAttachedEndTo#

Gets the component referenced that the end of the cable is attached to

CableActor:GetAttachedEndTo()