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Add your own throwable

Six throwables ship with the template. This page adds a seventh: an object the player can find in the level, hold, aim, throw, and that does what you decide when it lands.

You will make three assets and fill in fields. No graph to open.

Before you start

Have ready:

  • a static mesh for the object
  • a HUD icon texture, white on transparent, like the ones in Content/TheLastTemplate/Textures/Widgets/Icons/
  • optionally a sound for the bounce and the hit

Then pick the shipped throwable closest to what you want. You duplicate that one, so start from the one whose impact is nearest yours.

Duplicate this Slot What it does when it lands
DA_Throwble_Can Secondary Noise only, keeps bouncing
DA_Throwble_Brick Secondary Noise, 25 damage on contact, keeps bouncing
DA_Throwble_Bottle Secondary Noise, 10 damage on contact, breaks
DA_Throwble_Bomb Primary Noise, then an explosion
DA_Throwble_Molotov Primary Noise, damage, then a pool of fire
DA_Throwble_NailBomb Primary Noise, damage, then nails on the ground

The Data Assets are spelled DA_Throwble_, without the second a. That is how they ship. Search for Throwble and you will find them, in Content/TheLastTemplate/Blueprints/DataAssets/Throwables/Childs/.

Step 1, duplicate the data asset

The data asset is the throwable. Everything else points back at it.

  1. In Content/TheLastTemplate/Blueprints/DataAssets/Throwables/Childs/, right click the one you picked and choose Duplicate.
  2. Name it after your object, for example DA_Throwble_Flare.
  3. Open it and set Display Name. This is the name the player reads.
  4. Leave Throwable Actor Class on BP_ThrowableBase. All six shipped throwables use it. It is the actor that flies, bounces and reports the impact.
  5. Leave Throw Montage on AM_Character_Throw unless you animated your own.
  6. Leave Throwable Socket Name on ThrowableSocket.

You now have a throwable that behaves like the one you copied. The next two steps give it its own look.

Step 2, make the cosmetic actor

The cosmetic is the visible object: the mesh the player sees.

  1. In Content/TheLastTemplate/Blueprints/Throwables/Cosmetics/Childs/, right click BP_CosmeticThrowable and choose Create Child Blueprint Class. Name it BP_Cosmetic_Flare.
  2. Open it, select the Mesh component, and set your static mesh.
  3. Scale and rotate the Mesh component until the object sits right in the hand.
  4. Compile and save.
  5. Back in your data asset, set Cosmetic Class to BP_Cosmetic_Flare.

Child cosmetics carry no fields of their own, only the mesh. BP_Cosmetic_Molotov is the exception: it holds an extra fire effect for the lit rag.

Step 3, make the world pickup

The pickup is the version lying in the level that the player walks up to and takes.

  1. In Content/TheLastTemplate/Blueprints/Environments/Interactable/Pickup/Throwables/Childs/, right click BP_Interactable_Pickup_Throwable and choose Create Child Blueprint Class. Name it BP_Interactable_Pickup_Throwable_Flare.
  2. Open it and set Throwable Data to your DA_Throwble_Flare.
  3. Set Static Mesh to the same mesh you used on the cosmetic.
  4. Set Interact Text to what the prompt should read, for example "Flare".
  5. The six shipped children set Interact Zone Range to 50 and Show Interact Zone Range to 150. Keep those unless the object is much bigger.
  6. Compile and save.
  7. Back in your data asset, set Pickup Class to BP_Interactable_Pickup_Throwable_Flare.

The link goes both ways

The data asset points at the pickup with Pickup Class, and the pickup points back at the data asset with Throwable Data. Set both. A pickup with an empty Throwable Data still places in the level and still shows its mesh, it just gives nothing when you take it, with no error.

Step 4, choose what happens on impact

Impact Payloads is an array. Each row is one effect fired when the throwable lands, and a throwable stacks as many as you want. That is how one Molotov makes noise, hurts what it hits, and leaves fire behind.

Each row has four fields:

Field What it does
Payload Class Which effect to fire
Radius A distance in centimetres
Amount The payload's main number
Duration How long it lasts, in seconds. 0 for the payloads that resolve at once

The payload classes have no settings of their own in the Details panel. Radius, Amount and Duration are the whole interface, and each class reads them its own way.

Five payloads ship, in Content/TheLastTemplate/Blueprints/Throwables/Payloads/Childs/:

Payload What it does Shipped values
BP_ThrowablePayload_Noise Makes a sound the AI can hear. Used by all six Radius 2500, 5000 on the Molotov. Amount 1.5
BP_ThrowablePayload_HitDamage Damages what is at the impact point Radius 10, Amount 10 to 25 depending on the object
BP_ThrowablePayload_Explosion An explosion. Only the Bomb uses it Radius 500, Amount 1000
BP_ThrowablePayload_MolotovSpawn Leaves a pool of fire Radius 200, Amount 5, Duration 10
BP_ThrowablePayload_NailsSpawn Leaves nails on the ground Radius 120, Amount 3, Duration 10

To build your own stack: delete the rows you do not want, add rows with the + on Impact Payloads, and set the class and the three numbers on each.

The Noise radius is what the AI hears, so it is the field to raise if your object is meant to pull enemies away. See Noise and distractions.

The fire left by MolotovSpawn is its own system, and it can be set on other actors too. See Make an actor catch fire.

A payload class you invent is a child of BP_ThrowablePayloadBase, and that one does mean opening a graph. The five above cover noise, damage, blast, fire and a ground hazard, so try a combination of them first.

Step 5, the slot, the carry limit and the icon

Back in the data asset:

Field What it does Shipped
Type Which of the two throwable slots this fills. Primary or Secondary. None means no slot The three lethal ones are Primary, the three distractions are Secondary. Nothing forces that
Max Carry How many the player can hold 1 for the Bomb and the Nail Bomb, 2 for the other four
Icon The HUD icon A white mask texture such as T_MolotovMaskWhite
Throwable Icon Scale Size of that icon on the HUD 0.55 on all six. Match it and yours sits like the others
Destroy On Impact Whether the object stays in the world after it lands true for the Bomb, Bottle, Molotov and Nail Bomb. false for the Brick and the Can, which keep bouncing
Launch Speed Initial speed of the throw 1700, 1400 on the Can, 1200 on the Brick
Throw Sound Played on the throw Empty on all six. Free to use
Bounce Sound Played when it bounces SC_BreakGlass, SC_BrickHit or SC_MetalHit
Hit Sound Played when it hits hard enough Same three sounds

The rest of the data asset is about how the throw feels in the hand: the aim camera, the zoom, the arc, the movement speed while aiming. Those are the same on all six and they are covered in Change how a throw feels.

Step 6, get it into the player's hands

Two ways, and you can use both.

Put it in the level. Drag BP_Interactable_Pickup_Throwable_Flare into your map. The player walks up, presses the interact key, and gets it. That is all it takes. See Place other pickups for the shared pickup fields.

Make it an inventory item. The Molotov and the Nail Bomb also exist as items, so they can be crafted and carried in the backpack. Copy that pattern:

  1. Duplicate DA_Item_Molotov in Content/TheLastTemplate/Blueprints/DataAssets/Inventory/Childs/.
  2. Set Throwable Data to your DA_Throwble_Flare.
  3. Duplicate BP_ItemEffect_GiveThrowable_Molotov in Content/TheLastTemplate/Blueprints/Inventory/Childs/GiveThrowable/Childs/, then put your copy in Effect Classes in place of the Molotov one.
  4. Leave Auto Use on true and Category on Consumable, the way both shipped throwable items are set.

Full detail on items is in Add an item.

Before you press play

  • The data asset has Cosmetic Class and Pickup Class filled.
  • The pickup has Throwable Data pointing back at the data asset.
  • Both the cosmetic and the pickup show your mesh.
  • Type is Primary or Secondary, and Max Carry is at least 1.
  • Impact Payloads has at least one row, and no row left over from the throwable you copied.
  • Icon is set, or the HUD slot draws empty.

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