A 3D action roguelite built with Unreal Engine 5.4 and C++, featuring a stylish combo-based combat system inspired by Hades, Devil May Cry, Dead Cells, and Furi.
Flow Slayer is a skill-based action game where players fight through hordes of enemies using a deep combo system. The core gameplay revolves around maintaining Flow/Momentum — the longer you keep your combo going, the more powerful you become.
Key Design Goals:
- Fast-paced, stylish combat with 17+ chainable combo attacks
- Air combat system with launchers, juggles, and aerial slams
- Lock-on targeting with dynamic camera behavior
- Pure skill-based progression — no stat grinding, just player mastery
The combat system is built around a modular FSCombatComponent that handles:
- Combo Chaining — Animation-driven combo windows allow seamless attack transitions
- Motion Warping — Dynamic target tracking during attacks for satisfying hit connection
- Hitstop — Frame-perfect time dilation on hit for impactful feedback
- Knockback Physics — Directional knockback with horizontal and vertical force vectors
- 17+ Attack Types — Ground combos, dash attacks, launchers, and aerial moves
- Launcher Attacks — Send enemies airborne with trajectory peak detection
- Air Stall System — Reduced gravity during aerial combos via animation notifies
- Mid-Air Freezing — Enemies freeze briefly at apex, creating combo windows
- Aerial Slams — Multiple slam variations with ground impact
- Sweep-based collision detection prevents fast attacks from phasing through targets
- Per-attack hit tracking to prevent duplicate damage
- Niagara-based sword trails and hit VFX
- Sphere-based target detection with nearest-priority targeting
- Distance-aware camera offset (pitch/yaw adjustments based on target range)
- Smooth camera interpolation with dead-target auto-disengage
- Input-based target switching
Two enemy archetypes implemented:
- Grunt — Melee combatant with sweep-based hitbox detection
- Runner — Ranged enemy with projectile attacks
- Zone-based enemy spawning with ground detection via line traces
- Cooldown management and random transform generation
Source/FlowSlayer/
├── Public/
│ ├── FSCombatComponent.h // Core combat logic & combo system
│ ├── FSWeapon.h // Weapon hitbox & trail management
│ ├── FSLockOnComponent.h // Target lock-on system
│ ├── FSEnemy.h // Base enemy class
│ ├── FSEnemy_Grunt.h // Melee enemy type
│ ├── FSEnemy_Runner.h // Ranged enemy type
│ ├── FSEnemyAIController.h // Enemy AI behavior
│ ├── FSProjectile.h // Projectile system
│ ├── AFSSpawnZone.h // Enemy spawn management
│ ├── FSDamageable.h // Damage interface
│ ├── FSFocusable.h // Lock-on target interface
│ └── AnimNotifyState_*.h // Animation notify classes
├── Private/
│ └── [Implementation files]
└── FlowSlayerCharacter.h/cpp // Player character
- IFSDamageable — Health, damage reception, death state
- IFSFocusable — Lock-on indicator and health bar widget control
Gameplay timing is controlled through custom UAnimNotifyState classes:
ComboWindow— Input buffering for combo chainsHitbox— Weapon collision activationAirStall— Gravity modification during air attacksAnimCancelWindow— Action canceling opportunities
- Engine: Unreal Engine 5.4.4
- Language: C++ (gameplay systems) + Blueprints (UI/VFX)
- Input: Enhanced Input System
- Animation: Motion Warping, Animation Notifies, Montages
- VFX: Niagara Particle System
- AI: AIController with pathfinding
This project follows Unreal Engine coding conventions:
- Bracket initialization for all variables
- PascalCase for functions and member variables
bprefix for boolean members- Comprehensive documentation comments
- Interface-based design for extensibility
Implemented:
- Full combo system with 17+ attack types
- Air combat with launchers and aerial combos
- Lock-on targeting system
- Two enemy types (melee & ranged)
- Projectile system
- Spawn zone system
- Player HUD
In Progress:
- Flow/Momentum meter system
- Additional enemy types
- Procedural dungeon generation
Andreas Chatti
