🧗‍♂️Ledge Grab

Updated for 1.5.3

Ledge Grab

State ID: 8

The Ledge Grab state quickly climbs a flat ledge. It raycasts ahead, finds valid ledges, then plays a climbing animation.

One state can contain multiple profiles. Each profile has its own animation, height, and detection settings. Use profiles for grounded, jumping, or falling approaches.

Climbing Edge with different profiles

Creating the state

Create a Ledge Grab state in either way:

• Select + in the animal's States list. Then select Climb → Ledge Grab.

• Duplicate an existing Ledge Grab state asset. Add it to the animal's States list.

Priority

Set this state above Idle, Locomotion, and Fall. Set it below Death.

States use priority. Give Jump or Fly a higher priority to interrupt ledge grabbing.

How it works

The state casts rays ahead of the character to find a ledge. Target colliders must use the Ledge Layer. They can also match the optional Ledge Tags filter.

Detection rays

Ray	Color	Condition	Purpose
Top / Forward	Green	Must be clear	Confirms no obstacle exists at ledge-top height.
Ledge (Down)	Red	Must hit	Finds the flat top surface.
Wall (Forward)	Yellow	Must hit (red)	Finds the vertical wall below the ledge.

The state can activate when the top ray is clear. The down and wall rays must hit valid colliders. The top surface must be within Min Terrain Angle. The wall must exceed Wall Front Angle.

Ledge size validation

Detection can find ledges that are too small to stand on. An optional footprint check rejects thin poles, small blocks, and stacked boxes.

Leave Min Ledge Depth and Min Ledge Width at 0 to disable this check.

Ray	Color	Condition	Purpose
Depth floor	Magenta	Must hit	Confirms the ledge extends back by Min Ledge Depth.
Depth clearance	Green	Must be clear	Rejects walls behind the ledge lip.
Width (×2)	Orange	Must hit	Confirms the ledge width meets Min Ledge Width.

Effective value = Global + Local. Depth and width each have a state value and a profile value. The footprint check uses their sum.

Activation methods

Input

The state activates when its Input is pressed, and the rays find a valid ledge.

Automatic

Enable Automatic to activate as soon as a valid ledge is detected.

Automatic by state

Use Automatic By State to make ledge grabbing automatic during selected states. Examples include Climb, Jump, Fall, and Swim.

Zones

A Zone can force the state to try activation.

Reactions

Animal Reactions can activate the state from code or events. See Reactions.

Exit conditions

The state exits when the active profile reaches Exit Time. This value uses normalized animation time.

The state then calls AllowExit(). Lower-priority states can activate. The character returns to Grounded.

Animator setup

Use a sub-state machine for Ledge Grab animations.

The Transition Enter Condition of this state is State=8

Transition duration

Use State = 8 for the transition into the sub-state machine. Keep its duration short. The default is 0.1 seconds.

Align Offset is tightly coupled to the transition duration. Update it when the duration changes.

Core animation

Tag every core animation with the state ID name: LedgeGrab. The Enter Status value selects the profile animation.

Value of the State Enters Status Parameter on the Animator

Value of the Enter Status on the ProfileState

Configuration tabs

General

Basic state settings shared across animals.

Tags

Enable RootMotion, +Rot, +Pos, and Ignore Lower States. Disable the remaining modifiers.

The character is not grounded during this state. Gravity and ground orientation are disabled.

Limits

Disable the state for selected character states, modes, or stances. For example, disable ledge grabbing while swimming underwater.

Speeds

No speed modifiers are required. Root motion or profile curves drive all movement.

Ledge parameters

Ledge Layer

Layer used to identify climbable surfaces.

Ledge Tags

Optional tag filter. Only matching collider tags count as ledges.

Automatic

Climb automatically near a valid ledge. No input is required.

Automatic By State

States during which Ledge Grab behaves automatically.

Kinematic

Sets the character Rigidbody to kinematic while active. This prevents colliders interfering with the ledge.

Disable Main Collider

Disables the Main Collider while active. It is restored on exit.

Wall Distance

Target distance between the character and the wall.

Wall Front Angle

Minimum angle between the wall normal and character forward required for activation.

Min Terrain Angle

The top surface must be flatter than this angle.

angle 35 wont activate the state if the value of Min Terrain is lower than 35

Forward Length

Global distance for the green forward detection ray.

Wall Checker

Vertical offset below the ledge that confirms a wall exists.

Min Ledge Depth

Global minimum depth behind the ledge edge. This is added to each profile's local value. Set 0 to disable the global depth check.

Min Ledge Width

Global minimum sideways width. This is added to each profile's local value. Set 0 to disable the global width check.

Hit Transform

Name of a child transform that stores the ledge ray hit point. Use it for UI or aiming.

Update Hit Transform UI

Updates the Hit Transform during every check. Enable it only for UI or aiming, as it adds raycasts.

Add Hit Transform To Aim

Uses the Hit Transform as a temporary Aim target while a ledge is detected.

Profile settings

Name

Profile identifier.

Enter Status

Animator Enter Status value that selects this profile's animation.

"Ledge Grab" has a Enter Status of 0 and "Step Up 1 Meter" has Enter Status of 1

Max V Speed

Maximum vertical speed for this profile to be checked. Use 0 to ignore speed.

Last State

Only checks this profile when the selected state was previously active.

Check Upwards

Casts an upward ray to confirm no roof or overhang blocks the ledge.

Only Grounded

Only checks this profile while the character is grounded.

Forward Multiplier

Local multiplier for the global Forward Length.

Height

Vertical offset of the green forward ray.

Ledge Exit Distance

Length of the red down ray that finds the ledge top.

Min Ledge Depth

Extra depth added to the global Min Ledge Depth for this profile.

Min Ledge Width

Extra width added to the global Min Ledge Width for this profile.

Exit Time

Normalized animation time that calls AllowExit(). The default is 0.9.

Align Offset

Horizontal (X) and vertical (Y) alignment offset. Use it to align the character with the ledge.

This value is tightly coupled to the Animator transition duration.

Orient

Faces the character perpendicular to the wall normal.

Orient Smoothness

Smoothing speed for orientation to the wall.

Additive Position

Adds procedural movement when the animation has little or no root motion.

Height Speed

Magnitude of the additive vertical push.

Forward Speed

Magnitude of the additive forward push.

Height Curve

Scales the vertical push over the animation.

Forward Curve

Scales the forward push over the animation.