Character Movement

Select the movement framework

• Use ACharacter with UCharacterMovementComponent for standard capsule-based walking, falling, swimming, flying, crouching, root motion, and mature network prediction.
• Extend CMC with MOVE_Custom when one or more special modes must coexist with standard Character movement and its networking model.
• Use Root Motion Sources or GAS root-motion Ability Tasks for short, programmatic special moves that must participate in Character network prediction.
• Evaluate Mover only when its mode/layered-move architecture materially benefits the project. In UE 5.8 Epic still labels Mover Experimental; record that shipping risk.
• Use a bespoke Pawn movement component only when Character's capsule/mode model is a poor fit.

Read references/system-selector.md before choosing.

Tune in dependency order

1. Declare desired feel in measurable terms: target speed, time to speed, stopping distance, turn time, jump height/time, air steering, walkable slope, and step height.
2. Establish collision capsule and floor behavior.
3. Tune MaxWalkSpeed, MaxAcceleration, braking, and friction together.
4. Select rotation ownership: movement direction, controller desired rotation, or explicit gameplay rotation. Avoid competing rotation systems.
5. Tune JumpZVelocity, gravity, hold behavior, and AirControl as one jump model.
6. Add crouch, sprint, slopes, platforms, and special movement one at a time.
7. Integrate animation after the physical trajectory is stable.
8. Verify at varied frame rate, target hardware, slopes/steps/edges, and network conditions.

Read references/parameter-effects.md for variable effects and references/grounding-jumping.md for ground and jump procedures.

Network before polishing

Read references/networking.md before adding replicated special movement. Standard CMC prediction does not automatically serialize arbitrary custom state. Extend saved moves/network move data when the server must reproduce new input or state.

Read references/special-movement.md for dashes, launches, teleports, custom modes, and root motion. Route action timing/input buffers to $unreal-enhanced-input, action animation blending to $unreal-animation-blending, and ability-owned movement to $unreal-gas-abilities.

Hard rules

• Tune coupled parameters together; speed alone does not define feel.
• Do not drive one movement simultaneously through CMC velocity, manual transforms, and root motion.
• Do not use client SetActorLocation as predicted multiplayer movement.
• Teleport on the server and mark the move as a teleport through the supported API path.
• Do not disable server corrections to hide a faulty movement implementation.
• Keep the collision capsule authoritative; mesh offset is presentation.
• Test custom movement with latency, packet loss, low frame rate, slopes, edges, and moving bases.

Use references/troubleshooting.md for sliding, jitter, corrections, slope/step failures, root-motion conflicts, and frame-rate dependence. See references/sources.md for the UE 5.8 source trail.