Last Update：04/02/2026

Introduction

This guide is designed to help you learn the most basic usage of this plugin.

By the end of this guide, you will have created the result you can see below: an AI character that follows the player.

comp5.mp4

If you would like to create more advanced AI behaviors, please refer to the example levels located at Plugins/TCAT/TCAT/Examples/Maps, or check out the tutorial videos on our YouTube channel [to be added].

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This guide assumes a basic understanding of influence maps. If you are not familiar with the concept, you may still be able to follow the steps, but some parts may be difficult to fully understand. If this is your first time working with influence maps, we recommend reading 1. GPU-Based Influence Map before commencing.

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We will now walk through the steps required to create the result shown above.

1. Registering the Map Tag

Map Tag is an identifier used to distinguish between different influence maps. Before using a Map Tag, we first need to register it.

  1. Navigate to Edit > Project Settings.

  2. In the left sidebar, go to Plugins > TCAT Global Settings. You should see a screen similar to the one below.

    image (3).png

  3. Under Map Setup > Base Influence Tags, click the “+” button to add a new Map Tag.

    image (4).png

  4. Set the name of the newly added Map Tag to “Citizen”.

    image (5).png

2. Setting Up the Influence Volume

To generate an influence map, you must first create an Influence Volume.

An Influence Volume can be considered as a Bounding Box that defines the area, size, and position of the influence map in the world.

You can think of this process as similar to how a NavMesh Bounds Volume is used to define the navigable area for a NavMesh.

In this section, we’ll walk through how to create an Influence Volume and use it to generate an influence map.

1. Adding and Placing the Influence Volume

  1. Add a TCATInfluence Volume actor to your level.

    image (6).png

  2. Adjust the Transform of the TCATInfluence Volume to define its size and position.

    image (7).png

    image (8).png

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    The influence map will be generated only on the ground surfaces that overlap with this volume.

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2. Creating an Influence Map

  1. Select the created TCATInfluence Volume, open its Details panel, and locate the TCAT category. Then click “Bake Resolution”.

    image.png

    When clicked, the Grid Resolution of the influence map generated from this volume is automatically determined based on the current volume size and Cell Size.

  2. Under Base Map Configs, click the “+” button to create a new influence map.

    image (1).png

  3. Use the Base Map Tag dropdown to set the Map Tag of this influence map to “Citizen”.

    image (2).png

3. Setting Up the Influence Component

Once an influence map is in place, you’ll need a way to write influence values ****into it. That role is handled by the Influence Component.

Any actor that owns an Influence Component emits influence centered on its own position.

If the influence is configured to decrease with distance, it will be recorded to the influence map as shown below, where higher influence values are displayed in green.

image.png

In this section, we’ll add an Influence Component to a playable character and configure it to emit influence.

  1. Open the Blueprint Editor for the playable character you want to use. In this guide, we’ll use BP_ThirdPersonCharacter.

    image (1).png

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    BP_ThirdPersonCharacter can be found in Unreal’s Third Person template.

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  2. In the Blueprint Editor, add a TCATInfluence Component to the character.

    image (2).png

  3. Select the newly added TCATInfluence Component, open its Details panel, and locate the TCAT category. Then proceed as follows:

    image (3).png

    3-1. Under Belonging Maps, click the “+” button to add a new influence map element.

    3-2. Set the Map Tag to “Citizen”, so that this influence is written to the Citizen influence map.

  4. Set the Influence Radius to define the maximum distance at which the actor emits influence. In this guide, we’ll use a value of 2000.

    image (4).png

  5. Configure the Falloff Curve to control how the influence changes with distance from the actor.

    image.png

    For this guide, we’ll use the plugin’s preset Linear_Dec, which linearly decreases influence as distance increases.

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    An x-value of 0 represents a distance of 0 from the actor’s center, and an x-value of 1 represents a distance equal to the Influence Radius The y-axis represents the strength of the influence.

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    Falloff curve assets must be located in Plugins > TCAT > Curves. The plugin uses curves from the folder to cache results and evaluate influence values more efficiently.

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  6. Compile and save the Blueprint.

  7. Run PIE (Play In Editor). You should now be able to see the influence being emitted in real time using the debug visualization.

  8. Since influence visualization should not be visible during actual gameplay, open the Details panel of the TCATInfluence Volume you created earlier and set TCAT > Debug Settings > Draw Influence to “None”.