Unreal Engine 5: Modular Inventory System

University Year 2 | Programming for Game Engines

A robust and efficient C++/Blueprint modular inventory plugin for Unreal Engine 5. Designed with developer accessibility in mind, the system utilises a component-based architecture to provide plug-and-play functionality for any game actor.

🔗 View the full technical breakdown on my Portfolio

📺 Video Showcase

(Video walkthrough coming soon)

🕹️ Project Overview

This project serves as a deep dive into Unreal Engine's C++ architecture and the optimisation of large-scale game data. The goal is to move away from performance-heavy "Tick" dependencies toward a clean, event-driven system that handles complex data sorting and physical world interactions seamlessly.

🛠️ Key Technical Features

Architecture & Design Patterns

• Component-Based Logic: Designed using UActorComponents, allowing the inventory system to be added to players, NPCs, or chests without modifying core class code.
• Observer Pattern (Event Dispatchers): Replaced Event Tick UI updates with Event Dispatchers. The UI only refreshes when the backend broadcasts an OnInventoryUpdated event, significantly reducing CPU overhead.
• Data-Driven Pipeline: Uses Data Tables and custom C++ structs, enabling designers to tweak item attributes (Weight, Mesh, Name) in-editor without recompiling code.

Advanced Algorithmic Logic

• Iterative Merge Sort: Implemented a custom Iterative Merge Sort algorithm adapted for Unreal's TArray architecture. This allows for O(n log n) efficiency when sorting inventory items by weight.
• Item Stacking: Developed item stacking logic, allowing groups of similar items to exist within the list. Capping item stack to a specific size, allowing multiple stacks to exist within the inventory.

Gameplay Integration

• Physical Item Interaction: Bridged the gap between UI and world space using OnBoxBeginOverlap logic. Items identify the player's component, verify weight limits, and add themselves to the data structure before destroying the physical actor.
• Contextual UI: Features a scrollable menu with context-sensitive inputs for inspecting, dropping, and sorting items.

💻 Technical Specs

• Engine: Unreal Engine 5
• Languages: C++, Blueprint Visual Scripting
• Core Concepts: Component-Based Design, Memory Management (Pointers/References), Algorithm Optimisation, UMG Data Binding
• Tools: JetBrains Rider, Visual Studio, GitHub