Buff System

In Hive Defenders, I assigned myself the challenge of creating a buff system that could be used with any class. This system is scalable and usable with any actor so long as they have the correct interface functions implemented. Some potential use cases for a buff system:

• Speed Modifiers
• Damage Over Time
• Damage Type Resistance Modifiers

The 'BuffBase' class
This class handles the removal of the affected value behaviour and creates/triggers any accompanying VFX. It is a poolable UObject that is self-managed and stores a reference to the interfaced actor.

The Buffable Interface
This interface is the key to having any actor respond to a buff. Any buffs the actor should respond to will have a function override that returns the appropriate value. If the value returns 0 it will not activate or create the buff.

AI Pathfinding

For Hive Defenders, our bees followed a set path towards the hive, requiring minimal but adaptable pathfinding — with plans for different routes generated at runtime in a potential infinite mode.

I implemented a basic distance cost system to find the quickest route, combined with a heuristic factor for tile type. This allows AI to weight different tile types based on values set in enemy data assets — for example, a walking enemy can be configured to avoid tiles with floor spikes or melee turrets.

Rather than using Unreal's NavMesh or AI Controller (which rely on tick and physics for collision), I generated splines on path calculation and lerped along them by distance. This produced smooth rotations and movement while keeping physics free for other trace checks.