Changing the subscription amount
Added 2025-11-13 17:21:55 +0000 UTCHi everyone.
Some time ago, before publishing AGLS v1.6, I mentioned that I was considering changing the minimum amount required to purchase this project. I think I’ve now decided to raise the subscription price from $12 to $14–15. This is an increase of over 25%, but I’d like you, as supporters, to understand my reasoning behind this decision.
The main reason is the scope and content that AGLS now includes. At this point, it’s a massive library of different mechanics and systems commonly used in various single-player games. I think it’s fair to say that it’s one of the most complex projects available for Unreal Engine 5. It’s also worth noting that I allow the project to be used for commercial purposes, for which I currently don’t charge any additional fees.
The mechanics I’m trying to implement are becoming increasingly advanced and require a high level of Unreal Engine expertise. Of course, this is natural, as with each version I continue to gain more experience with the engine. However, for example, the latest HumanAI_Controller was one of the biggest challenges I’ve worked on, and the amount of time I had to invest in it was enormous (and unfortunately, I still wasn’t able to implement everything I had planned). There are also economic factors involved, such as taxes in my country and inflation.
I hope this won’t be a big burden for you and that you’ll continue to be interested in supporting my work.
What are my plans for the future development of AGLS?
At the moment, I don’t have a concrete plan yet 🤔 — maybe some interesting ideas will come from you 🙂.
Later this month, I’ll be releasing v1.6.1 to fix some bugs and improve certain mechanics.
How will the subscription change be implemented?
There are two possible approaches.
The first option is simply to raise the subscription price of the current tier from $12 to $14. In this case, Patreon should notify you of the change and ask you to confirm it. Access to posts will remain unchanged. I would make this change between November 15 and 20.
The second option is to create a new tier, where AGLS v1.6+ will be available at the new subscription price. The previous versions will remain available for $12, but I will no longer be developing them (except possibly for plugin updates for UE5.7). This new tier would also appear between November 15 and 20.
Thank you for your understanding. I’ve been able to achieve a lot thanks to your support.
Best regards,
Jakub W
Comments
Hi. Thank you for your feedback. I’ll try to respond to some of the points you mentioned: - I think this would be impossible for a single person to achieve. The features listed here would require an enormous amount of work. The only elements that might be within my reach would be attempting to modify the navigation system so that AI can detect going down a ledge into climbing mode, and possibly using ladders. Features such as item pickup or entering vehicles, I think, are more a matter of personal preference — though they could be implemented using Smart Objects. However, something like having AI use RopeSwinging would be a huge challenge. I think I’m not skilled enough as a programmer to take on something like that. - The issue of falling off ledges does indeed exist. I tried to address it, but without much success. CompanionAI has code intended to prevent the player from pushing AI off edges, but falling from a ledge can also result from how PathPoints are calculated and from movement as acceleration. CompAI should be able to drop down from edges but only from limited heights, which complicates the system. Cover behavior is also extremely challenging. However, I believe I’ve achieved a very good result. I’m aware that AI will never hide with 100% efficiency — even TLOU didn’t achieve that. In AGLS v1.6, I think I significantly improved this area. A potential solution is experimenting with the settings in ‘AGLS_HidingQuery_CompAI_TryFollow’ and ‘AGLS_HidingQuery_CompAI_TryFollowStrong’. These DataAssets let you control the weighting of each test when calculating the value for each NavPoint. But keep in mind that when the system chooses a hiding point, the function ‘TryFindHidingPositionSync’ must perform a huge number of calculations, and the amount grows depending on the DataAsset settings. I haven’t found another working solution to this issue. However, I believe the entire code should run asynchronously and be spread across several frames (which it currently does not). I also haven’t found any example anywhere of someone successfully implementing similar AI behavior in Unreal Engine. The whole system is based on my own custom approach, so I’m fully aware it’s not perfect. - If CompAI can be killed by other AI, then that’s a bug on my side and I can look into it. As for the issue where AI follows the player only once — I unfortunately don’t understand this point. If you’re using additional NavMesh or PathFinding features, they may require extra configuration. Personally, I haven’t noticed similar issues. - I don’t have a specific solution for this. It’s true that if you want to use a more realistic SkeletalMesh, it will require much more work compared to the Mannequin, which already has separated limbs. Otherwise, you will likely need to create multiple variants of the same Mesh and choose the appropriate one depending on which bone is severed. - Using something like MetaHuman in AGLS is difficult mainly because the project uses the UE4 skeleton. I decided to stick with this model because performing a full retarget for such a huge number of animations was not feasible (many animations would require manual adjustments). However, the project includes an example retarget setup for UE5 Manny (‘ALS_Manny_CharacterBP’), which may help with implementing another model. It’s not a perfect solution, but I think it’s good for testing purposes. Keep in mind that the retargeting system is extremely complex and doing it properly requires significant knowledge. Additionally, Epic Games keeps updating the Retargeting system to make it more versatile — for example, new changes were made in UE5.7. - I’m currently working on this feature. However, it’s important to note that it’s not an easy system to implement. Additionally, animations play a key role here and must be properly prepared. What the final result will look like? I don’t know yet. - I have no plans to expand the vehicle system. - Regarding the bugs you mentioned — I personally haven’t encountered them (except in the swimming system). However, if you are experiencing such issues, I’d ask you to report them on the Discord server, preferably in video form.
Jakub W
2025-11-30 14:54:05 +0000 UTCHi. I prefer to send private messages to: wertyuiop8888888@gmail.com (weird name, I know). More general questions can be sent on the Discord server.
Jakub W
2025-11-30 13:56:19 +0000 UTCThank you; this is the greatest Unreal Engine game project! Interesting Ideas to Plan for AGLS: 1. Companion ai improvement (uses bow and arrow, grenades, and an axe; pick up items; bring ammo to the player; interacts realistically with player and environment; companion enters car if player enters the car, also uses a zipline; can climb down even after reaching top of climbable wall (and does not fall to death); can use rope so that it can keep up with the player; etc.) and bug fixes with quality workflow to swap out mesh with metahuman. Companion character Bugs to fix: companion can fall to death unexpectedly (easy fix show us how to disable fall damage for companion ai character), companion can get stealth-killed, companion is walking into enemy sight too often and not using cover optimally, when regenerating the AI Navmesh or Navpointlist or because of altered environment, the ai companion only follows the player once but then stops following the player.) 2. Workflow to replace the zombie mesh with a more realistic mesh, preserving the dismemberment feature. 3. In general, meshes and terrain should be easily replaceable without losing animation or AI navigation quality. For example, when replacing companion AI with a MetaHuman mesh, when climbing, it's tilted too much forward, resulting in clipping with the wall. 4. Martial arts system for unarmed combat improvement. 5. Various vehicles or traversal methods in addition to the car. Think of a parachute, wingsuit, ski, motorized paraglider, motorcycle, mountain bike, jet ski, etc... Additional bugs to fix: - Weapon reloading: only the second time reloading actually refills the full clip amount. - In the swimming area, you can't exit (climb out) unless you lower the basin corner height. - sometimes player dies unexpectedly when ziplining - Pickupable items like pistols, rifles, and medkits fall through the uneven terrain when swapping through picking them up from the ground.
Createamaer
2025-11-29 11:19:29 +0000 UTCDo you have a way of contacting you?
Ben Schwartz
2025-11-28 08:28:53 +0000 UTC
