Breakable Barriers (WIP)

A destruction study with Epic's Apex Destruction plugin: Houdini-fractured chunks, point damage from a line trace, and Niagara dust and debris.

A quick study using the Apex Destruction plugin by Epic. The mesh is from the Megascans library.

I generated the chunks in Houdini, though the built-in fracture mesh tool can do the same.

Blueprint setup

A line trace checks whether we hit an actor, then the actor info goes into the Apply Point Damage function. It's a work in progress: I plan to replace the line trace and add muzzle flashes on the gun.

This applies base damage at the hit location (35 here), which is above the debris threshold, so the mesh breaks at that point.

At the hit point, I spawn a Niagara dust and debris effect and trigger the actual debris, since the damage is above the defined threshold.

Niagara setup

A simple setup: a couple of mesh debris emitters (with collision) and a smoke emitter for volume and a feeling of destruction.