Ghost Decoy Feature
Project Overview
The Ghost Decoy System is a gameplay feature that allows players to leave behind a temporary afterimage (ghost version of themselves) that serves as a teleport anchor and a tool for misdirection. This mechanic introduces strategic repositioning and an extra layer of movement into Lyra’s gameplay, making engagements more dynamic and skill-based.
Goal: Create a fitting ability for the Lyra Starter Project that works in multiplayer.
Timeline: 4 days
For a longer read, here is the full Technical Design Document
How it Works
The player presses a button to spawn a Ghost Decoy at their current position.
The decoy remains for X seconds (e.g., 3-5 seconds) before disappearing.
The player can choose to teleport back to the decoy’s position before it vanishes.
If the clone is ignored, it simply fades out naturally after its timer expires and is put under cooldown.
If the clone takes damage, it is destroyed and put under cooldown.
The clone does not move, attack, or interact with anything—it is purely an afterimage for misdirection and repositioning.
Breakdown
Decoy Spawns on Ability Activation. Players can press a button to leave behind a stationary afterimage (Ghost Decoy).
Ability is granted to players but not activated. Listening for gameplay event trigger InputTag.Ability.Ghost. Ghost Decoy Ability Input action Press sends the information to the Gameplay Ability and executes the GA_Ghost Event Activate Ability.
Decoy Disappears After Set Time. The afterimage vanishes after a short duration (e.g., 3-5 seconds).
Dual State Ability, State #1: On First activation, check if a loose gameplay tag is added. If not then spawn GhostCharacter at player location, send a cooldown message and end ability
The GA sends the cooldown float variable to the GhostCharacter as Time Until Ghost Self Destroy which is connected to a Timer by Event Handler. The Timer auto activates when the GhostCharacter Spawns in, and stays active as long as the GhostCharacter doesn't get killed by a player or that the owning player teleports to it. VFX afterimage time can be controlled by the VFX SpawnTimeLength float variable in B_GhostCharacter.
Optional Teleportation to Decoy. Players can choose to teleport back to their decoy before it disappears.
Dual State Ability, State #2: On Second activation, check if a loose gameplay tag is added. If True, remove the gameplay tag and Commit Ability. Teleports the player to the GhostCharacter, Invalidates Timer by Event handler, destroys GhostCharacter, sends a cooldown message and ends the ability.
Enemy Decoys Look Different. Players should be able to tell enemy decoys apart from real players.
Not Feature Complete. Placeholder team assignment by exposing a Lyra Team Subsystem C++ function as Blueprint Callable. GA sends the owning players team ID to the GhostCharacter. Within GhostCharacter, the team is set with the Lyra Team Subsystem function called "Change Team For Actor" by using the owning players Team ID. Also copy pasting a logic from the base character to update the cosmetics to match the team the ghost is assigned to with "Listen For Team" and "On Character Parts Changed" Events. Passing on the team ID to dynamically setup team colors. Does not support inventory Setup and Skeletal Mesh.
