8 Way Directional Movement | Walking Backwards, Strafing And Much More - Unreal Engine 4 Tutorial

Hey guys, in today's video, I'm going to be showing you how to set up directional movement with 8 different directions. Forwards, backwards, left, right and diagonally in each direction too. In a future episode we will set up turning in place too to make it look better.
Retargeted Animations: drive.google.com/file/d/1cOga...
Mixamo Animations: www.mixamo.com/#/?page=1&type...
Blendspace Reference Image: imgur.com/gallery/rIpUIuV
#Ue4 #UnrealEngine4 #Ue4Tutorial
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00:00 - Intro
00:15 - Overview
01:01 - Setting Up The Blendspace
08:04 - Modifying The Animation Blueprint
10:13 - Finishing Touches In The Character Blueprint
11:02 - First Test
11:31 - Final Overview
11:49 - Outro
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[@MattAspland]

Hey guys, since I can't link specific animations on mixamo, I'll write down what I used. Let me know if I missed any! Walking Backwards (Tick in place) Right Strafe Walking (Tick in place) Right Strafe (Tick in place) Left Strafe Walking (Tick in place) Left Strafe (Tick in place) Jog Forward Diagonal (Tick in place) (Download one normally, and another one with "Mirror" ticked to get both left and right) Job Backward Diagonal (Tick in place) (Download one normally, and another one with "Mirror" ticked to get both left and right) Slow Jog Backwards (Tick in place)

[@armeddreams9141]

You forgot run/jog backwards

[@GameDevAraz]

@@armeddreams9141 Forgot Walk And Run Backwards And Forgot Walk And Run Forwards, uhh

[@GameDevAraz]

And Idle, Use Jog Backwards As Backwards Run

[@djgentertainment3675]

Why are people on this particular post being so stupid? It's not hard to type in the animation into mixamo - use your common sense.

[@callumwinfield7902]

hey quick question mines working good though when I start the scene it starts off with the player set in sprint mode and when it is pressed actually it fixes everything

[@tasels]

Your an actual god, I've been trying for 4 days to get my guy to run in more the1 direction and your the only person I've found to use the "GetactorRotation" node instead of the make rotator node. thank you!! awesome video!

[@Conversation_Dev]

PSA: In order to make these movements adjust based on you characters rotation you need to edit the ABP Event Graph. This step is at 9:30 in the Video. When using the Calculate Direction Node, rather than filling the rotation with the Actors Rotation. Instead get the characters forward vector. This should automatically convert to a rotation when plugged in. Character Reference (In this case Get Pawn Owner) -> Get Actor Forward Vector -> Rotation From X Vector (Automatic) -> Calculate Direction (Rotation Value) I would also recommend that you calculate the Speed based on your "Velocity -> Vector Length XY" this will ignore any speed on the Z axis. Which should prevent odd situations where if for example you were on a moving platform you suddenly run with very small movements.

[@whyareless]

Thank you, glad I saw this since I love a ton of moving platforms hahaha

[@itswhiteline]

Thank you so much. This saved me a lot of time and suffering.

[@LordHollow]

This works perfect for my game. I want them to be able to create distance without turning their back to the opponent (back attacks are, say, double damage). When you turn your back to run, you are making a conscious decision to do so. Awesome tutorial!

[@WerewolvenGames]

dude! the reference image just made my day. thank you! i have been bending my mind around this for an age :P

[@TheF4c3m4n]

2 years later, and using Unreal Engine 5.3, and everything still working great! Thanks Matt! 💯

[@zeeshanparvez5235]

The uncheck Orientation to Movement was exactly what I needed!

[@charsonist9841]

Dude thank you so much for what you do. You've helped me a ton getting started with unreal. Hoping to release my first horror game soon 🤘

[@nicolaykoriagin]

Thank you. Thank you for this tutorial! Took me awhile to finish it, buuuut damn, the result was priceless. Thank you again, Matt.

[@andrebadenhorst3988]

Bro you are amazing. Thank you for the help and guidance here!

[@coffee-beast-99z]

HOW TO FIX RIGID ANIMATIONS: In your Blendspace, scroll down to the "Sample Interpolation" section, and simply set the "Target Weight Interpolation Speed Per Sec" to "4" seconds. You're welcome :)

[@Ghostskappa]

Thank you brother, been having this issues for months xD

[@shankarghimire4492]

Wow! Another awesome tutorial! You are the true 'Genius' Matt! You made the learning journey of UE4 so easy to all! Every time I see your videos, it helps me a lot to have positive thoughts and remain optimistic to learn UE4 further! God bless you Matt! :)

[@MattAspland]

Thank you so much Shanker! That means a lot to me! You're doing amazing so far in UE4 and it's just the beginning. All the best, and thank you so much again for your kind words :)

[@abdullahsohail5395]

Man great video keep making good videos helping people out to make their games better 😊

[@MattAspland]

Thanks a lot mate, I really appreciate the support! :)

[@user-sb4kj4pt4o]

Thank you very much I reviewed a bunch of guides and none of them were so well done

[@einJFK]

Bro you dont know how much pain I had following the video I crashed my unreal 4 times had to download new animations but at the and it worked thank you keep up I like what you do

[@JustEnjoytheGames]

these videos are so god damn perfect and handy ty

[@cocomage6063]

Thanks you for the video nice editing and instructions clear as day

[@dingenskirchen541]

Great lesson, thanks for that. It helped a lot!

[@netanel8334]

I was just needed this tutorial thank you

[@MattAspland]

That's great to hear, no problem!

[@justinspearlord]

Thanks for the animations!

[@sameervakil4386]

You are awesome ... appreciate your hardwork from bottom of heart ..love from India ❤️

[@StealMySongs]

I just used this tutorial in 2024 and you saved my butt. Thank you so much!!!!

[@pabloa4672]

new subscriber. you are great. Very useful and concise

[@pand2aren]

nice! im trying to implement "alien swarm" movement, gonna try this! thanks !

[@theLegend-en9ys]

Oh my i love this tutorial!

[@eusouopiu_channel]

You are the best! Thank you so much!

[@TC9]

Thank you so much!

[@wyvernwerks4550]

Thanks for the helpful tutorial.

[@MattAspland]

It's always my pleasure!

[@LoneWolfJ6]

Thank you so much.. Works perfectly

[@MattAspland]

That's great to hear, no problem mate!

[@tianbg2159]

i subscribed for you. Thx u so much for this tutorials

[@MattAspland]

Thank you a lot man, I appreciate that! Glad I could help out :)

[@AdakaiMation]

nice job!

[@MattAspland]

Thank you dude!

[@RGameArts]

Wow wow wow, awesome

[@MattAspland]

Thank you so much! :)

[@yevon42322]

You do not know how hard it is to find a tutorial where the left strafe isn't the character stepping backwards towards the left. You have a proper left strafe, and the character has no guns. This is extremely hard to find out of the box in any free template. Thank you so much for the tutorial and the retargeted animations. If it's allowed, you should consider publishing this as a free template. Thank you again !

[@Jocken75]

great video

[@whyareless]

Thank you good sir!

[@charleswilliams7024]

Matt your the man!!!!

[@snoopywoopsie2066]

thanks a lot! this works

[@JoJoLv107]

I love your tutorial thanks

[@MattAspland]

Thank you man, glad I could help :)

[@Sector333]

ah im going to need to try this soon, i been needing exactly this and tried a few other tutorials but they didnt work out for me, will have to try this one once i get around to it.

[@MattAspland]

That's great to hear man! Hope this one works out better for you :)

[@Sector333]

@@MattAspland hopefully. Probably. So far has been the case with your videos. Smooth sailing usually. If theres an error i normally find I've like forgot to check a box or something XD

[@MattAspland]

@@Sector333 That's great, glad you can find any errors too! That's always a good sign of learning :) All the best mate!

[@iznaur_18]

I am so happy by this video

[@MattAspland]

Thank you man, that's great to hear!

[@bilegtni5202]

your best teacher love you bro

[@MattAspland]

Thank you so much man, that means a lot :)

[@rifat.ahammed]

Thank you soo much

[@BlueprintBro]

Thank you so much

[@iiior605]

Ow, that's good!!

[@MattAspland]

Thank you mate!

You are best!

[@stefanleroux8750]

👍🏻👍🏻. Love it. Allso add turn in place. Please.

[@MattAspland]

Thanks Stefan, and for sure. It's on my list, thanks for letting me know!

[@chAXvrl]

Man, thanks for this.. While im implementing this, just incase people having a funky inverted animation while "running" left backward and right backward, just put the Run_Backward_Left animation between Run_Backward and Left_Strafe_Running and the other for the right side.

[@Grand-warden]

Good job 👌👍

[@MattAspland]

Thank you so much man! :)

[@cecill2520]

thank you very much

[@haakonmeredith5344]

THANK YOU SO MUCH

[@MattAspland]

My pleasure man! All the best :)

[@fleurbird]

Cool tutorial, I've started experimenting with als v4. And honestly, it doesn't get much better than that. But I think I can apply what i learned in this tutorial on animals. Something I want to set up for some time now.

[@MattAspland]

Thanks Fleur! ALS V4 is great yeah, and I think that sounds perfect to try on animal AI. Hope it goes well for you, I'm sure it will :) All the best of luck and nice work :)

[@VVLGANESHK]

Do you got better results? Mine is not moving correct direction based on inputs. And my blendspace has only 5 anims. Idle, forward, backwards, left & right side walks

[@g-dojjo]

Bro God bless you!THANKS!!!

[@MattAspland]

No problem bro! Always happy to help :)

[@g-dojjo]

@@MattAspland Finally im trying this and its working like a charm! THANKS AGAIN BROTHER! :3

[@MattAspland]

@@g-dojjo That's great to hear bro! My pleasure! :)

[@randopixel9985]

Hi! Thanks for the great tutorials. I'm learning a ton. Quick question, after implementing this, the character completely ignores all attempts to adjust speed based on current speed and forward vector. I've tried multiple different solutions that run off of activation of the forward axis and I just cant get stuff that was working before to work now. Any insight would be amazing. Thanks again for all your hard work

[@EmreCizmeci]

perfect

[@tenjacek5244]

@MattAspland Yo, great tutorial. I've been messing with interpolation to smooth transisions a bit. Works fine aside of moving backwards. When interpolation on Direction is higher than 0 character is wiggling. Looks like he's jumping between -180 and 180 all the time. What's seemless when he goes straight to animation becomes a real pain in the ass when smoothen. Do you have solution for that?

[@Conlatron]

legend

[@JustEnjoytheGames]

would love a turn in place too!

[@MattAspland]

Great! Thanks for the feedback! I've put it on my list :)

[@morgansavenay]

ooh nice, yeah that'd be cool

[@unreal87]

도움이 되는 영상이었습니다! 감사합니다~! Thank you~!

[@MattAspland]

듣기 좋네요!

[@bibilicious]

a little tip after using retargetted animations, remember to put -9 on z translation otherwise your feet hovers.

[@MattAspland]

Ah great, thanks for that tip mate! Very useful :)

[@mohamedayman5240]

can you explain more please..is it just for this mixamo character or and retargeting animation from marketplace too

[@omaraguayo5843]

​@@MattAspland NEVERMIND I FIGURED IT OUT. I'm a dunce.... lol, AMAZING VIDEO!

[@calix_x]

hi, great video pal, i got one question: can you show how to set the basic movement control for this type of movement?

[@QuakeProBro]

I‘ve tried many solutions for turn in place, but nothing worked for my. Sometimes the system was too buggy or just broken, sometimes the result looked to clunky. I‘m hyped for another try, I hope that it works for me this time^^ Nice Videos btw

[@MattAspland]

Great, hopefully this time can be different yeah! I'm sure you'll ace it! And thank you so much :)

[@user-tq7vo4is7w]

Excellent tutorial, I'm looking for ways can I implement a phase functioned neural network for movement in unreal but i don't even know where to begin :D

[@mrwawlik3826]

thank you

[@TorQueMoD]

Any chance you want to do a tutorial on how to implement 8-way directional movement and stop animations so we can transition from running to stop running etc.?

[@VideoGameDataBank]

I love you

[@SoleilCrafts]

Great stuff, one thing tho, my left forward walk is off compared to my right forward walk, one does the hop thing and the other is fine.

[@KillerBearsaw]

Some good info but definitely leaves a lot of hard to solve issues. Not speaking about the specific animations. Walking backwards is very jittery and it will snap back and forth between back left and back right, -180 and +180. unfortunately i think the reason most tutorials don't cover this is because the solution isn't very simple (but then, it's also not so simple to make a game).

[@dzdagato3893]

how to solve it 🥲

[@tbernard1923]

Glad I found your videos. I'm having a little trouble and didn't know if someone might have an idea. I have all the animations in, but when I move just a little forward, it competes the animation and then snaps back to where it started. So If i move in any direction I will get the animation but then jerk back towards the direction I was moving away from and so i end up with 2 steps forward and one step back ;).

[@tbernard1923]

something I just read said this is caused by using root animation, which is true, that's what I used because I didn't know any better. The same person said there was a option to select "use root animation" but didn't say where one does that...

[@tenjacek5244]

@@tbernard1923 Maybe a bit late but in your animation you've got section "rootmotion" just check "enable rootmotion" and it'll be fine. You can also do this for all animations at once. Just select animations ---> right mouse button ---> asset actions ---> bulk edit via property matrix ---> on the right side i "rootmotion" section. There you can set "enable rootmotion" to be checked. Don't forget to go file ---> save befor closing property matrix :)

[@EmpathizeVortex]

@@tenjacek5244 doesnt fix it

[@vladaslav]

This is brilliant should add a dive/dodge system 🤘

[@MattAspland]

Thanks man, and that's a great idea! Definitely added to my list!

[@vladaslav]

@@MattAspland no problem man I'm keep thinking🤘

[@liskov7983]

Is there a way to not rotate the player while he is staying? I was thinking about enabling "control rotation to movement and rotating some animations (e.g. moving backwards 180 degrees) but maybe there are better solutions? Or maybe I should write my own function for rotating camera?

[@TheMimeGogo]

Im a bit stuck at the moment. I just have a very simple 1D BS using just an idle, a walk, then a sprint. I wana set it up so that the animation changes based on my left thumb stick axis value as the inputs. But i've only gotten as far as being able to trigger the run animation with a separate input button. How do I extract my thumstick axis values use them to trigger the speed value change in the Character BP?

[@cgnovice2969]

Great video! One question though. If i want this blendspace to be used only when im aiming a rifle, how would i go about that? Sorry if it is obv

[@Cintrisax01]

When trying to do this I got weird interpolation between states, how would you fix that?

[@mbartworks5268]

it was going well until 8:00, then it got complicated because somehow your event graph was already filled.

[@JakupiFilms]

ikr

[@ECAKJ]

It works nice with my animations. But when I go backwards to left or right, the character shakes before doing so /:

[@360ca_la_carte5]

Set interpolation to 0

[@Emily-jd2sh]

@@360ca_la_carte5 you're a lifesaver

[@FabriXor87]

I was ahving some issues while walking backwords, when changing from BackLef to BackRight there was a hitch in the animation, I've fixed by toggleing "Wrap Input" for the Horizontal Axis

[@lilconfused686]

Hey there, love your videos, but I need some help. Directional movement works perfectly and I have the turn in place mechanic implemented. What I want to do now is to be able to revert to the basic movement mode if my RMB is not pressed. How would I go about that? Basically I want to enter directional movement only when RMB is pressed and stay in 'free-roam' mode if it is not.

[@ChaosStep]

I can’t stop fella looking like he’s ice skating no matter what speed or rate scale I set, especially on the diagonals, dude slipping and sliding all around.

[@LilYet]

your character is moving to fast

[@happygolucky3616]

hey great video! Helped me out alot.. I have however ran into a camera orient problem.. I unticked rotation to move and checked "use Controller desired rotation" I still have same camera movement.. please help

[@anlar1998]

Same here

[@ltskurge6928]

any chance of an updated version of these tutorials , the way explain things just works

[@neozoid7009]

awesome tutorial but how did you make those 8 directional animations please a tutorial would be great

[@Preirin]

Thank you for this! However, I seem to be having an odd issue. My movement seems fine until I turn around.... then suddenly my W and S keys are reversed. i.e. if I am walking forward and change direction, I have to now press S to continue moving forward or else I just start walking backward. Any ideas on a fix?

[@glaDos-]

How did you target the floats with character movement? Or which video I have to watch? Thanks

[@levioptionallastname6749]

You know the funny thing is that when you build a character you are really in for some highly subjective open-ended problems.

[@kimsyberg720]

I've set up my blend space and movement system exactly the same way, but had a visual issue which I suppose could also be an issue here: If setting an "Interpolation Time" to get a softer transition in the blend space. If set to for example 0.25. When running backwards and hitting strafe to switch to running backwards-right and backwards-left, the animations make some weird twitches, like going into run-sideways for a few frames. Same happens when running backwards and rotate the mouse around from side to side meanwhile, the twitches appear. It's linked to the interpolation on Horizontal Axis, not vertical (interpolation works fine there) - and setting a value for "Target Weight Interpolation" like you suggest below doesn't fix it. I can see it happen in the blend space too, because going from moving backwards-right to backwards-left, we have to pass through strafe-right, walking-forward, and strafe-left in order to get there. I imagine a blend space where idle is at the center and run backwards is at the bottom center, etc, would solve interpolation, but how it works with the input system I can't imagine.

[@kimsyberg720]

Ok, been tinkering some and for others who have issues hoping this might be useful. SEEMS that "Interpolation Time" represents how fast the values can be changed inside the blend space itself, so if smooth, the value crawls across all in-between states towards the target position. Meanwhile, "Target Weight Interpolation" can allow the value to change instantly inside the blend space (ignoring in-between animations) but then smoothes the animation blending between the former and new target animation. "Interpolation Time" should be set back to zero if choosing to smooth with the latter, and then it lets the blend space jump straight from backwards-left to backwards-right, ignoring all other animations, and then blend smoothly between them. Tell me if I'm wrong, but it seems to work this way.

[@shengalabu8050]

@@kimsyberg720 What?

[@donfalcone7560]

Please make a tutorial on tank-style character movement like in classic horror games like Resident Evil, Alone in the Dark, Dino Crisis.

[@mohanadtab8865]

👏👏👏

[@jetboattv]

how would i do a jump animation? do i need to also do 8 different jump animations in the direction I am travelling? Love the tutorials btw you are awesome!

[@Zavex001]

Did you figure this out already? Have the same problem

[@studiotouge]

Works great, I am having issues with the animation speed starting slow when transitioning to forward left/right. Tried adjusting the blend weight and turning off smoothing but still seems to have a slight delay to speed up. Also , for anyone having issues with feet in unreal 5 I had to disconnect foot IK for animations to work correctly

[@JomosAether]

Have you found a solution to this? I'm having the same problem

[@studiotouge]

No not yet sadly, I've been too busy working on assets the past few days so still need to work on my gameplay more@@JomosAether

[@unomisseh]

Thank you for the video, was helpful. I am however experiencing a bug where walking backwards sometimes glitches between walking sideways and backwards, any idea how to resolve that? Thanks in advance

[@SufferinginSolitude]

Same

[@maestrogames4]

Did you manage to solve this?

[@Zarozerr]

@@maestrogames4 Hi, I solved this by doing: if calculate direction > 179 then direction = -179 else direct = calculate direction. it basicly eliminates the fickering on the -180 to 180 angle. Also put at least 1 in Target Weight Interpolation speed (it at the bottom of blend space asset details)

[@egorkrasnov4578]

Thank you man for your tutorials! They are really useful! But how can I make these animations more smoother? I tried to change Interpolation time and got it but now I have another problem with jittering animations. What can I do?

[@MattAspland]

No problem man, it's my pleasure! Also, have you tried changing the "Target Weight Interpolation" too in the blendspace? I find this one to be a little smoother, and I also found values between 5 and 10 typically work best for me. Test it out and let me know how well it works for you! All the best man :)

[@egorkrasnov4578]

@@MattAspland Thank you so much again!!! :) It works. So, waiting for new videos. You are the best! ;)

[@MattAspland]

@@egorkrasnov4578 That's great! No problem mate :)

[@madcio]

Not only certain animations are missing in download (walking backward/forward left/right, 4 anim in total), naming is so inconsistent it is painful to watch. Both Run/Running and Walk/Walking used, both on beginning and end of filename. Left/Right both in middle and at end of filename. Urrrghhh.

[@the_mrkaryo]

Great tutorial!! One question about the backwards motion. When the direction goes from ~-180 to ~+180, it seems it glitches during the transition for a couple frames. What would be a recommended way for solving this?

[@MattAspland]

Hey mate, I think if you are having jittering animations, then increasing the "Target Weight Interpolation" in the blendspace could help with that. Typically values between 5 and 10 work best for me. Let me know if that helps :)

[@creamberry6752]

@@MattAspland 감사합니다!

[@MattAspland]

@@creamberry6752 천만에요!

[@the_mrkaryo]

@@MattAspland just found the time to try it out. It does seem to smooth things out, thanks a lot!

[@MattAspland]

@@the_mrkaryo Great, no worries mate!

[@FF-FAN9999]

use controller desired rotation + orient rotation to move. life saver

[@jh-lp7cg]

I have seen at least three tutorials on this. Everyone does it in a different way. Two people use Direction/Speed, one person uses Forward/Right movement. All of them seem to work. Is there a "correct" way?

[@vr3dgrave]

I know this is late as hell, but in game development, there's many many ways to do things. It just depends on how you want to do it.

[@imaginaryconception]

Hi Matt, I have a problem when the character goes backwards the left and right animations play which looks weird and I have tried everything you have suggested in the comments to other users with the same problem but I got it. still have the same problem, do you have a solution? Sorry I'm using Google Translate

[@drflammy]

Dude the character after animation go in idle too hard how can i smooth that transition? another 1 question how can i change animations from running with a rifle to aiming with a rifle to shooting with a rifle xD? and if i wanna throw a nade? my pc explode like bender?

[@tacticalcrew5372]

I have a problem, on mixamo i can't find the animations for " Forward Right and Left" and "Running Backward Left and Left" and i can't use your animations on google drive because he is on the default UE4 Character and don't work with my avatar

[@terrablader]

When do you use blend space with animation graph animation states

[@dingenskirchen541]

Is there a way to implement walk/stop and run/stop animations into the 8 Way Directional Movement System?