What Vord Is For
Vord is deliberately small in surface area and deliberately correct in the details: lazy registration that survives World Partition streaming, a per-frame check budget to cap worst-case cost, optional async evaluation via ParallelFor, and opt-in advanced distance modes (navmesh path, acoustic occlusion, line-of-sight) that stay off the hot path until you ask for them.
Use it for: music layering, combat gates, stealth awareness, interaction prompts, AI senses, fast-travel blockers, horde density, ambient reactivity, boss arenas.
Features
Tag-Driven
Everything keys off
FGameplayTag. Exact match or parent-inheritance per query.Zero-Tick Beacons
Beacons self-register on
BeginPlay. No actor ever ticks just to be detectable.Spatial Hash
O(1) bucket lookup with a configurable cell size; only nearby cells are walked per query.
Multi-Query Sensors
One sensor composes many questions — short-range combat + long-range music on one boss.
Async Evaluation
Compute phase runs on workers; apply/events remain on the game thread.
Replicated Results
Server-authoritative queries replicate state to the owning client with delta-replay of entered/exited events.
AI Perception Bridge
Drop-in
UAISense_Vord so controllers see proximity stimuli alongside Sight/Hearing.Message Router (Optional)
If the GameplayMessageRouter plugin is present, Vord broadcasts
FVordMessage on per-query channel tags — otherwise compiled out transparently.World Partition Aware
Optional cook-time Persistent Manifest answers long-range queries across unloaded cells.
Action Gates
Project-level rules block tagged actions (fast travel, save, interact) by proximity.
Distance Modes
| Mode | Cost | When to use |
|---|---|---|
| Euclidean | ⚡ Cheapest — raw 3D DistSq | Default. Good for most gameplay. |
| Euclidean + Z | ⚡ Cheap — 2D + vertical gate | Top-down, level-aware music, multi-floor dungeons. |
| Nav Path | ⚙ Opt-in — async navmesh path length | AI / stealth reactions that respect geometry. Falls back to Euclidean if no navmesh. |
| Acoustic | ⚙ Opt-in — distance × occlusion multiplier | Perceptual approximation. Wire a provider for Steam Audio / Wwise fidelity. |
Core Types
| Class | Purpose |
|---|---|
| UVordBeaconComponent | Lightweight advertiser. Replicated tags + active flag. Zero-tick, self-registering. |
| UVordSensorComponent | List of queries. Emits entered / exited / nearest / count events. |
| UVordWorldSubsystem | Spatial hash, polling loop, frame budget, acoustic provider, manifest. |
| FVordQuery | One question on a sensor — tag, range, distance mode, LOS, authority, message channel. |
| UVordPersistentManifest | Cooked list of permanent beacons for long-range gather across unloaded cells. |
| UAISense_Vord + Bridge | Forwards events into UE's AI Perception pipeline automatically. |
Get Vord (Beta v0.1.0)
Drop the Vord folder into your project's Plugins/ directory, enable Gameplay Abilities, and build. Full documentation and recipes are a click away.