HUD & UI

ASKHUD · USKHUDWidget · USKResourceBarWidget · USKHUDItemWidget

The HUD is one widget with a set of update functions. The kit calls them when something changes — you override the ones you care about and lay out the visuals however you like. Nothing is hard-coded to a particular design, and any function you don't override simply does nothing.

Setting it up

Update functions

Function	Called when
Update Score	The run score changes.
Update Currency	The currency total changes.
Update Lives	Lives are gained or lost.
Update Health	Player health changes. Supplies current, max and percentage.
Update Shield	Shield points change.
Update Energy	The energy generator changes.
Update Ammo	An ammo weapon's supply changes. Supplies the mount slot, so you can show a separate readout per gun.
Update Boss Health	The active boss takes damage.
Set Boss Bar Visible	A boss fight starts or ends.
Show Game Over	The player runs out of lives.
Show Stage Clear	A stage is cleared, just before the transition.
Show Victory	The final stage is cleared — the run is won.

Resource bars

USKResourceBarWidget

An animated two-layer bar. Losing value snaps the main bar to the truth immediately while a ghost layer holds, then drains after it — so the player sees exactly how much they just lost. Gains climb smoothly, which hides the chunky per-point regeneration that shields use.

It is entirely optional. A plain Progress Bar driven from the same update function works fine.

Setup

Create a Widget Blueprint reparented to SKResourceBarWidget containing an Overlay with two Progress Bars. The names must match exactly:

Widget name	Position	Required
GhostBar	First child — underneath	Optional. Omit it for a plain bar.
Bar	Second child — on top	Required.

Then drive it with a single node: Set Percent, from the matching HUD update function.

Properties

Property	Default	Purpose
Ghost Hold Time	0.35	Seconds the ghost layer waits before draining.
Ghost Drain Speed	3	How fast it then catches up.
Smooth Gains	On	Climb smoothly on gain rather than snapping.
Auto Hide	Off	Fade the bar out when it has been full and idle.
Auto Hide Delay	2	Seconds of inactivity before fading.
Full Show Time	1.5	How long it stays visible after reaching full.
Auto Hide Fade Speed	4	Fade rate.
Reveal Below Percent	0	Force the bar visible below this fraction, so a hidden bar reappears when it matters.
Auto Pill Corners	Off	Rounds the bar's corners to a pill automatically.
Snap To Percent	—	Function. Jumps to a value with no animation — use on respawn so the bar doesn't animate a refill.

Icon rows: lives and stock

USKHUDItemWidget

For a row of life icons, the whole job is one node. From your Update Lives override, call Sync Child Count with the panel, the item widget class and the new count. It adds and removes icons for you, animating each one in or out.

Create the icon as a Widget Blueprint reparented to SKHUDItemWidget. It handles its own entrance and exit.

Two animation modes

Mode	How
Procedural	On by default. Code-driven motion with per-item randomisation — new icons pop in with overshoot, lost ones launch, tumble, fall and squash out. Nothing to author.
Authored	Add UMG animations named exactly IntroAnim and OutroAnim. Both optional.

Procedural tuning

Property	Default	Purpose
Eject Style	Tumble	How a lost icon leaves — tumbling, or as a comet.
Squash Mode	Area Preserving	Area-preserving squash looks physical; pure stretch is more cartoon-like.
Launch Angle / Spread	0 / 30	Direction the icon is thrown, and its random variation.
Launch Speed	300–500	Random speed range.
Gravity	1600	How hard it falls.
Spin Speed	90–360	Random tumble rate.
Squash Per Speed / Max Stretch	0.0009 / 0.6	How much speed distorts the icon, and the cap.
Duration	0.9	Seconds the exit takes.
Scale Out Start	0.55	Fraction of the exit at which it starts shrinking away.
Overshoot / Drop In Offset	0.7 / 0,-28	Entrance bounce and the offset it drops in from.
Spawn Angle Jitter	8	Random tilt on arrival, so a row doesn't look stamped.

Floating bars over enemies

USKFloatingBarComponent

Add this to any pawn for a small bar that follows it in screen space. Useful for enemy health, boss health or a shield readout.

Property	Default	Purpose
Bar Widget	—	The resource-bar widget class to display.
Resource	Health	Which resource it tracks — health, shield or energy.
Bar Size	120 × 14	Size in screen pixels.
Auto Hide	On	Hide when full and idle, so a screen of healthy enemies isn't cluttered with bars.
Auto Hide Delay	2	Seconds before hiding.
Reveal Below Percent	0	Always show below this fraction.
Z Order	0	Draw order against other HUD elements.

Floating bars hide automatically while the player is dead, so they don't linger through the respawn delay.

Floating numbers

Damage numbers pop above whatever was hit, rise and fade. The carrier actor is pooled, so a busy screen costs nothing extra.

Setting	Where	Purpose
Show Damage Numbers	Game mode	Master toggle.
Damage Number Widget Class	Game mode	The styled widget to pop.
Duration	Widget	Seconds on screen. Default 0.8.
Rise Pixels	Widget	How far it floats up. Default 60.
Pop Overshoot	Widget	Scale bounce on appearing. Default 1.3.

The same machinery drives any floating number. Call Show Floating Number on the game mode with your own widget class to pop currency values, combo counts or pickup names — it is not limited to damage, and it ignores the damage-number toggle so a currency popper can't be switched off by accident.

Where next