Getting Started

Welcome to the Quick Start Guide! In this tutorial, you will learn how to install the plugin into your project and spawn your first damage number using the built-in example assets in under 5 minutes.

---

📦 Step 1: Installation

If you downloaded the plugin from FAB, follow these steps to add it to your project:

1. Close your Unreal Engine Editor.
2. Navigate to your project’s root folder (where your .uproject file is located).
3. Create a new folder named Plugins (if it doesn’t already exist).
4. Extract the downloaded MageItCombatText folder into the Plugins directory.

   Note

   Path should look like this:

   • DirectoryYourProject

     • DirectoryContent/

       • …
     • DirectoryPlugins

       • DirectoryMageItCombatText

         • DirectoryContent/

           • …
         • DirectoryResources/

           • …
         • DirectorySource/

           • …
         • MageItCombatText.uplugin
     • YourProject.uproject
5. Launch your project.
6. In the Editor, go to Edit > Plugins, search for “MageIt Combat Text”, and ensure the checkbox is enabled.

Note

The plugin depends on the engine’s Niagara plugin (required for the Niagara renderer). It is enabled automatically as a dependency, so you don’t need to enable it manually.

---

🔍 Step 2: Show Plugin Content

To test the system immediately, we will use the ready-made example assets shipped with the plugin. By default, Unreal Engine hides plugin content in the Content Browser.

1. Open the Content Drawer (Ctrl + Space).
2. Click the Settings gear icon in the top right corner of the Content Drawer.
3. Check the box for Show Plugin Content.
4. In the folder tree on the left, scroll down until you find the MageItCombatText Content folder, then open Examples/Blueprints. You’ll find three ready-made renderer Blueprints:
   • BP_MCT_ExampleUMGRenderer
   • BP_MCT_ExampleNiagaraRenderer
   • BP_MCT_ExampleSlateRenderer

---

🏷️ Step 3: Register a Renderer Against a GameplayTag

Combat text is routed by FGameplayTag, so we need at least one tag and one renderer registered against it before anything can render.

1. If your project doesn’t have any gameplay tags yet, go to Edit > Project Settings > Project > GameplayTags and add a tag, e.g. Damage.
2. Go to Edit > Project Settings > Plugins > Combat Text.
3. Under Renderer Registry, add a new entry:
   • Key: Damage
   • Renderer Class: BP_MCT_ExampleUMGRenderer
   • b Initialize At Begin Play: leave unchecked for this example (see Configuring Renderers for when to enable it)

Tip

You don’t need one entry per damage type. The subsystem walks up the tag hierarchy, so a single Damage entry will also serve Damage.Fire, Damage.Fire.Critical, and so on, unless you register a more specific override. See Configuring Renderers for details.

---

⚡ Step 4: Fire a Damage Event

Now let’s trigger the renderer from Blueprint.

1. Open any Blueprint that has access to a PlayerController or Pawn (e.g. your character Blueprint, or Level Blueprint for a quick test).
2. Right-click in the Event Graph and search for Get MageItCombatTextSubsystem.
3. Drag off the return value and search for Add Damage Event.
4. Build a Make MageItCombatTextEvent struct (or break it out as individual pins) and fill in:
   • Location: A world position, e.g. the target actor’s location plus some height offset.
   • DamageAmount: Any float, e.g. 42.0.
   • DamageTag: Damage (the tag you registered in Step 3).
   • TargetActor: (Optional) the actor the number should track, required by the UMG renderer.
5. Wire this up to any event you like for testing — a key press, Event BeginPlay, or a custom “Take Damage” event.

---

▶️ Step 5: Play and Test

1. Hit the Play (PIE) button in the editor.
2. Trigger the event you wired up in Step 4.
3. You should see a damage number pop, animate, and fade near the location or actor you specified.

---

What’s Next? Now that you know the plugin works, continue to Your First Damage Event for a full walkthrough of wiring damage from a real gameplay event, or read Configuring Renderers to understand when to reach for UMG, Niagara, or Slate. You can also explore the full Blueprint API Reference!