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 Some features and documentation may be non-functional or out of date.

Controller

PlayerController is the class responsible for handling player input and possessing pawns. It acts as the bridge between the player's inputs (keyboard, mouse, gamepad) and the game world, processing input events, managing the HUD, camera control, and interacting with possessed pawns or characters. Controllers exist independently of pawns and can be reassigned dynamically.

Info

A PlayerController is automatically created for each player that joins the game. It serves as the player's presence in the world, handling input and controlling a pawn when one is possessed.

Tip

PlayerController is an Actor so it inherits all functions from Actor

Example
local Controller = UE.UGameplayStatics.GetPlayerController(HWorld, 0)

Functions#

Possess#

Handles attaching this controller to the specified pawn Only runs on the network authority (where HasAuthority() returns true)

Example
Controller:Possess(pawn)

UnPossess#

Called to unpossess our pawn for any reason that is not the pawn being destroyed

Example
Controller:UnPossess()

K2_GetPawn#

Return the Pawn that is currently 'controlled' by this PlayerController

Example
Controller:K2_GetPawn()

StopMovement#

Aborts the move the controller is currently performing

Example
Controller:StopMovement()

SetIgnoreMoveInput#

Locks or unlocks movement input

Example
Controller:SetIgnoreMoveInput(true)

SetIgnoreLookInput#

Locks or unlocks look input

Example
Controller:SetIgnoreLookInput(true)

IsMoveInputIgnored#

Returns true if movement input is ignored

Example
Controller:IsMoveInputIgnored()

IsLookInputIgnored#

Returns true if look input is ignored

Example
Controller:IsLookInputIgnored()

ResetIgnoreMoveInput#

Stops ignoring move input by resetting the ignore move input state

Example
Controller:ResetIgnoreMoveInput()

ResetIgnoreLookInput#

Stops ignoring look input by resetting the ignore look input state

Example
Controller:ResetIgnoreLookInput()

GetViewTarget#

Get the actor the controller is looking at

Example
Controller:GetViewTarget()

WasInputKeyJustReleased#

Returns true if the given key/button was down last frame and up this frame

Example
local key = UE.FKey("E")
Controller:WasInputKeyJustReleased(key)

WasInputKeyJustPressed#

Returns true if the given key/button was up last frame and down this frame

Example
local key = UE.FKey("E")
Controller:WasInputKeyJustPressed(key)

SetName#

Tries to set the player's name to the given name

Example
local name = 'Kakarot'
Controller:SetName(name)

SetMouseLocation#

Positions the mouse cursor in screen space, in pixels

Example
local x, y = 100, 100
Controller:SetMouseLocation(x, y)

GetMousePosition#

Retrieves the current X and Y screen coordinates of the mouse cursor. Returns false if no mouse is available (e.g. on gamepad or touchscreen).

Example
local X, Y = Controller:GetMousePosition(X, Y)
print("Mouse is at:", X, Y)

IsInputKeyDown#

Returns true if the given key/button is pressed on the input of the controller (if present)

Example
local key = UE.FKey("E")
Controller:IsInputKeyDown(key)

GetInputKeyTimeDown#

Returns how long the given key/button has been down. Returns 0 if it's up or it just went down this frame

Example
local key = UE.FKey("E")
Controller:IsInputKeyDown(key)

GetViewportSize#

Returns the current size of the viewport (screen resolution in pixels) for this player controller

Example
local SizeX, SizeY = Controller:GetViewportSize(SizeX, SizeY)
print("Viewport size:", SizeX, SizeY)

GetInputMouseDelta#

Retrieves how far the mouse moved this frame on the X and Y axes

Example
local DeltaX, DeltaY = Controller:GetInputMouseDelta(DeltaX, DeltaY)
print("Mouse moved:", DeltaX, DeltaY)

FOV#

Set the field of view

Example
Controller:FOV(100)

ProjectWorldLocationToScreen#

Convert a World Space 3D position into a 2D Screen Space position

Example
local worldPos = Vector(100, 200, 300)
local screenPos = Vector2D()
Controller:ProjectWorldLocationToScreen(worldPos, screenPos, false)
print("Screen position:", screenPos.X, screenPos.Y)

DeprojectScreenPositionToWorld#

Convert 2D screen position to World Space 3D position and direction Returns false if unable to determine value

Example
local ScreenPos = Vector2D(960, 540)
local WorldLoc = Vector(0, 0, 0)
local WorldDir = Vector(0, 0, 0)

Controller:DeprojectScreenPositionToWorld(
    ScreenPos.X,
    ScreenPos.Y,
    WorldLoc,
    WorldDir
)

print("World location:", WorldLoc)
print("World direction:", WorldDir)

DeprojectMousePositionToWorld#

Converts the current mouse 2D position into a 3D world location and direction Returns false if unable to deproject (e.g., no mouse available)

Example
local WorldLocation = Vector(0, 0, 0)
local WorldDirection = Vector(0, 0, 0)
Controller:DeprojectMousePositionToWorld(WorldLocation, WorldDirection)
print("Ray origin:", WorldLocation)
print("Ray direction:", WorldDirection)

ClientSetViewTarget#

Sets the view target (camera focus) of the player to the specified actor You can use this to smoothly switch to another camera, focus on a cinematic actor, or temporarily follow another pawn. To make an instant switch, set BlendTime to 0

Example
local target = MyCameraActor -- any AActor, e.g., ACameraActor, Pawn, etc.
local params = UE.FViewTargetTransitionParams()
params.BlendTime = 1.5
params.BlendFunction = UE.EViewTargetBlendFunction.VTBlend_Cubic
Controller:ClientSetViewTarget(target, params)

ClientPlaySound#

Plays a sound locally on the client (only this player will hear it)

Example
local sound = UE.UObject.Load("/Game/Sounds/Click.Click")
Controller:ClientPlaySound(sound, 1.0, 1.0)

AddYawInput#

Adds horizontal rotation input (turning left/right). This value is scaled by the controller's InputYawScale

Example
Controller:AddYawInput(2.0)    -- Turn right slightly

AddRollInput#

Adds roll rotation input (tilting the camera left/right). This value is scaled by the controller's InputRollScale

Example
Controller:AddRollInput(1.0) -- Tilt right slightly

AddPitchInput#

Adds vertical rotation input (looking up/down). This value is scaled by the controller's InputPitchScale

Example
Controller:AddPitchInput(-1.0) -- Look down slightly