Steamforge Conveyor Belt System – UE4 Implementation Concept

Overview

This system provides a lightweight, modular simulation of a conveyor belt using Unreal Engine 4. Rather than physically moving items, it uses a chain of skeletal bone-based actors that attach and carry items along a predefined path. The illusion of continuous motion is achieved through smooth interpolation and strategic attachment/detachment logic.

1. Core Components

Conveyor Slot Actor

• Type: Blueprint Actor
• Structure:
  • One skeletal mesh with a single bone
  • Named socket at the bone ("ItemSocket")
  • Collision box for detecting item overlap
• Function:
  • Detects item overlap
  • Attaches valid item to bone socket
  • Moves along path
  • Detaches item at end of conveyor

Conveyor Belt Parent

• Structure:
  • Static mesh for belt visual
  • Array of slot actors spaced along a spline or straight axis
  • Start and end bounds for lifecycle management
• Function:
  • Spawns and positions slot actors
  • Updates their position each tick
  • Recycles slot actors from end to start

2. Motion System

• Mechanism:
  • All conveyor slot actors are moved incrementally per tick or timeline
  • Movement follows either a spline path or a linear offset vector
• Parameters:
  • Speed (units/sec)
  • Spacing interval
  • Loop toggle (start → end → recycle)

3. Item Handling Logic

• Attachment:

  • On overlap, check if slot is empty
  • If true, attach item to socket using AttachToComponent
  • Disable item physics during attachment

• Detachment:

  • When slot reaches end zone:
    • Detach item
    • Enable physics
    • Allow it to land/fall naturally
    • Slot actor is reset and repositioned at start

4. Advantages

• Performance-Friendly:
  • Avoids complex animations or dynamic physics on the belt
  • Only moves lightweight proxy actors
• Highly Modular:
  • Conveyor belts can vary in length, direction, and speed
  • Slot actors are fully reusable
• Game-System Friendly:
  • Easy to plug into crafting, sorting, or factory logic
  • Items can be tagged, read, or routed in flight

5. Optional Features

• Visual Debug Aids:
  • Toggle for showing bone positions and slot indicators
• Item Filters:
  • Slots only attach specific item classes
• Processing Zones:
  • Points along the belt that trigger actions on attached items (e.g., label, scan, modify)

Summary

This conveyor belt system simulates item transport by proxy, using bone-socket actors that ride a path and carry attached objects. It's an efficient, highly customizable method of representing automation and industrial motion within Steamforge’s dynamic, physics-enabled world.