LogInInspired by Cairn.
Impressed by a fantastic inventory menu in The Game Bakers' atmospheric exploration adventure Cairn, Gregor Hodinj went on to design and develop a similar one in Unreal Engine 5. This system enables players to collect items throughout the game world, some restoring health or energy, and interact with them directly via a custom-built inventory interface.
Gregor shared that he dedicated significant effort to optimizing every aspect of the system, from UI responsiveness to efficient data storage and real-time updates, while maintaining a clean, modular architecture. "It's one of those projects I'm genuinely proud of," he said, "because it brought together design, logic, and polish in a way that just clicked."
Here's what it includes:
- Inventory System: Core functionality for collecting, storing, and organizing items, real-time 3D container interface for managing collected objects
- Item Interaction System: Picking up items in the world and assigning behavior to them (defining item types, effects, and use logic)
- Health and Energy System: Implemented HUD elements (health/energy bars), connected gameplay actions (like using an item) to character stats
- UI/UX Gameplay Integration: Created responsive, game-driven UI using UMG, designed inventory UI that reflects game state and allows input
- Gameplay Feedback Loop: Tied in player action (collecting/using items) with visible consequences (health/energy changes), supports moment-to-moment gameplay decisions
- Object Persistence and World-State Management: Items persist after pickup and are visually represented in both the world and UI, storing object data and syncing it between interfaces
Cairn features plenty of other cool interactive elements besides its inventory system design:
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