Runtime Smart Objects for players & AI, done right.

Epic's Smart Object system is powerful for AAA AI environments — but it's painful to spawn, modify, or use at runtime, and it doesn't hand you a player-facing or multiplayer-safe interaction layer out of the box.

Smart Object Director closes that gap with a turnkey C++ runtime layer: drop one component on any actor to register it as a dynamic Smart Object, drop another on any character to find, claim and use nearby objects, and let AI do the same through a native StateTree task. Slot reservations are fully server-authoritative (no claim race-conditions), characters align to entry points via Motion Warping with an automatic fallback, and a color-coded editor visualizer makes debugging instant. No persistent collections, no Blueprint spaghetti, no engine forking — just Smart Objects that finally work at runtime.

KEY FEATURES

• Dynamic runtime registration — turn any runtime-spawned actor (barricades, crafting stations, vehicles) into a Smart Object with a single component; enable/disable individual slots by Gameplay Tag on the fly. No Smart Object Collection required.

• Player & AI interaction bridge — one component finds the best nearby Smart Object, claims a slot, and drives the interaction for player-controlled and AI-controlled characters through the same path.

• Multiplayer guardrails — slot reservation is Server, Reliable, WithValidation and race-condition safe: two clients grabbing the same slot in the same frame resolve to exactly one winner. Claims auto-release on cancel or destroy.

• Motion Warping alignment + fallback — frame-accurate warp to slot entry points via a named warp target, with graceful interpolation/teleport fallback when no Motion Warping Component is present.

• Native StateTree task — "Use Smart Object (Director)" lets AI agents find, reserve, navigate to and use objects; completes on a duration timer or an optional GAS completion tag.

• Editor visualizer — real-time color-coded slot states in the viewport (green = free, red = claimed, orange = disabled).

• Blueprint-friendly — every entry point is BlueprintCallable/Pure; use it entirely from Blueprint or extend it in C++.

• Submission-ready — two well-separated modules (Runtime + Editor), full source, no third-party binaries, no absolute paths, no external Marketplace dependencies.

WHO IT'S FOR

Multiplayer & co-op developers who need collision-free, server-safe object interactions; open-world / immersive-sim & survival teams using dynamically spawned interactables (crafting, resting, repairing, mounting); AI/gameplay programmers invested in StateTree, GAS and Motion Warping who want a Smart Object runtime layer without building one; and solo devs & small studios wanting a turnkey interaction system instead of rolling their own line-trace framework.

TECHNICAL DETAILS

• Engine version: Unreal Engine 5.8

• Type: C++ Code Plugin (full source included)

• Modules: SmartObjectDirector (Runtime), SmartObjectDirectorEditor (Editor)

• Engine plugin deps (auto-enabled): SmartObjects, GameplayAbilities, MotionWarping, StateTree

• Supported platforms: Windows (Win64)

• Network: Server-authoritative, replication-ready

• Third-party libs: None

Documentation: https://wiki.teufel-engineering.com/en/SmartObjectDirector

Support: [email protected]

Required engine plugins: This product requires the following standard Unreal Engine plugins to be enabled - Smart Objects, Gameplay Abilities, Motion Warping, and StateTree. All ship with Unreal Engine, so no third-party downloads are needed.