Wanderer Female · Unreal Engine 5.1+

Wanderer Female User Guide

Modular & Customizable Game-Ready Asset

UE5 Mannequin skeleton + 45 cloak bones 52 ARKit face shapes 4 outfits 15 modular parts 35 material instances

DefaultIceFire

Every part you can recolour or adjust, and the material instance that does it

Full one-piece mesh vs the atlas version (see Which version to use)

Quick start

Open the project. It starts in Maps/WandererFemalePreviewMap, with every version side by side.
To play, open Demo/Maps/Map_WandererFemaleDemo and press Play. Move with WASD, look with the mouse, jump with Space.

What is where

Everything lives in one folder, WandererFemaleCharacter.

The Unreal Content Browser showing the WandererFemaleCharacter folder and its subfolders: Animation, Blueprints, Demo, Maps, Materials, Meshes, Rigs, and Textures with one folder per material (Atlas, Body, Cloak, Cloth, Details, Eyelash, Eyes, Hair, Head, Leather, Mouth, Shared, Sword).

Folder	What's inside
Blueprints	The playable character and the preview actors you can drop in a level.
Meshes	The one-piece and atlas meshes, the main mesh, the sword and the skeleton.
Meshes/Modulars	Every separate part (head, top, skirt, boots, cloak…) with its physics asset.
Materials/Master	The master materials. You don't need to open these.
Materials/Instances	The instances on the character. This is where you change colours.
Textures	Textures, one folder per material (Atlas, Body, Cloth, Hair…), plus Details for pores, sweat and blood.
Animation	The Animation Blueprints, walk/run/jump animations and 6 poses.
Rigs	Control Rigs, IK Rig and Retargeter for using other UE5 animations.
Maps	The preview map and a render map.
Demo	The playable demo map and Epic's Third Person template files it uses.

Ready characters

Blueprint	Type	Use it for
BP_WandererFemaleCharacter	Character	The playable modular character in outfit 1, with the cape moved by bones. Swap or remove any part.
Demo/…/BP_ThirdPersonCharacter	Character	The same character with a simulated cloth cape (Chaos Cloth). Used in the demo map.
BP_WandererFemaleAtlasCharacter	Character	Playable, one mesh and one material (hair included), without the cape. The lightest version.
BP_WandererFemaleAtlasCloakCharacter	Character	As above, with the cape in the same mesh, still one material.
BP_WandererFemaleAtlasCloakSimCharacter	Character	The atlas character with a separate simulated cloth cape.
BP_WandererFemaleClothPreview …ClothPreviewV2 to V4	Actor	For scenes and renders: outfits 1 to 4, with the cape.
BP_WandererFemaleClothNoCapePreview …ClothNoCapePreviewV2 to V4	Actor	For scenes and renders: outfits 1 to 4, without the cape.
BP_WandererFemaleNakedPreview	Actor	For scenes and renders: the bare body (MI_Skin_Body_Naked on SKM_WandererFemale_FullBody).

Character: a playable pawn with a collision capsule, movement and controls. To play as one, drop it in your level and set Pawn › Auto Possess Player to Player 0 in Details, or make it the Default Pawn in your Game Mode.
Actor: a character you place for scenes, renders and screenshots. It animates (idle and face) but can't be controlled and doesn't move by itself.

The 4 outfits

Every outfit has the skirt, gloves and boots. They differ in the top and the belt, and each can be worn with or without the cape.

Wanderer Female five times in a row: cropped ribbed shirt with belt and cape; cropped shirt alone; short leather vest over the shirt; the vest with the belt; and the vest with belt and cape. — Outfit 2 + capeOutfit 3Outfit 4Outfit 1Outfit 1 + cape

Outfit	Top	Belt	One-piece mesh	Preview actor
1	Leather vest over the shirt (SK_WandererFemale_Top)	Yes	SKM_WandererFemale_FullCloth	BP_WandererFemaleClothPreview
2	Cropped shirt (SK_WandererFemale_ClothA)	Yes	…_FullClothV2	…ClothPreviewV2
3	Cropped shirt	No	…_FullClothV3	…ClothPreviewV3
4	Leather vest over the shirt	No	…_FullClothV4	…ClothPreviewV4

With the cape, the one-piece meshes are SKM_WandererFemale_FullClothCloak and …FullClothCloakV2 to V4; the preview actors without the cape are the …ClothNoCapePreview ones.

How modular works

The modular character is several meshes that move as one. The head is the main mesh: it runs the animation. Every other part copies the head's pose, so all parts always move together.

Every modular part laid out side by side: the head, the hair, the hands, the gloves, the cropped shirt, the vest over the shirt, the lower body, the upper body, the lower legs, the boots, the skirt, the cape, and the whole body in underwear.

Swap a part

Open BP_WandererFemaleCharacter (or your copy of it).
Select the part in the Components panel, for example SK_WandererFemale_Top.
In Details, set Skeletal Mesh Asset to another mesh, for example SK_WandererFemale_ClothA for the cropped shirt.

Remove a part

Easiest: select it and clear Skeletal Mesh Asset (set it to None). If you delete the component instead, open the Construction Script and remove it from the Set Leader Pose Component node too, or the Blueprint won't compile.

Add a part

Add a Skeletal Mesh component under the head, pick the mesh, and connect it to the Set Leader Pose Component node in the Construction Script (Target pin).

The parts

Part	Mesh
Head (main)	SK_WandererFemale_Head · face, eyes, mouth, lashes
Hair	SK_WandererFemale_HairCards
Clothes	SK_WandererFemale_Top (leather vest over the shirt) · SK_WandererFemale_ClothA (cropped shirt)
Leather	SK_WandererFemale_Skirt SK_WandererFemale_Belt SK_WandererFemale_Glove SK_WandererFemale_Boots
Hands	SK_WandererFemale_Hands
Cape	SK_WandererFemale_Cloak (moved by bones) · SK_WandererFemale_CloakSim (cloth simulation)
Bare body	SK_WandererFemale_BaseBody SK_WandererFemale_UpperBody SK_WandererFemale_LowerBody SK_WandererFemale_LowerLegs · skin pieces that fill in when you take clothes off. BP_WandererFemaleCharacter uses LowerBody (the boots cover the lower legs).

Every part has its own physics asset (PA_) next to it, so traces and ragdolls work with any mix.

Adjusting materials

Each material has a master (the recipe) and instances (the settings). You only ever change instances.

Wanderer Female three times, each beside a sword, with a colour wheel in the corner: brown leather and blond hair; blue leather with darker boots, gloves and belt, and blue hair, with a glowing blue blade; red leather with darker boots and gloves, and copper hair, with a glowing orange blade. — The same character, recoloured with material instance settings only.

Right-click an instance in Materials/Instances › Create Material Instance. Work on that copy, so the original stays as it is.
Open it. Tick the box next to a setting to change it. Untick it to go back to the default.
Put your instance on the mesh: select the mesh component, Details › Materials.

The Materials/Instances folder in the Unreal Content Browser: 35 material instances shown as preview spheres - cape, cloth, eyes, eyelash, hair, leather, metal, mouth, skin body and head, sword and the atlas, most with Fire and Ice versions, plus the extra variations.

Settings named Use … turn a whole feature on or off (for example Use Blood). Changing one takes a moment while Unreal rebuilds the shader. ORM Is sRGB must match the texture: leave it alone.

The settings that belong to a switch only show up once it's ticked on. For example, tick Use Sweat and the sweat settings appear under it.

Skin · MI_Skin_Head, MI_Skin_Body

To change	Use
Skin tone	Albedo Tint, Albedo Brightness, Saturation
Oily or matte	Roughness Brightness, Specular
Light through skin	Scatter
Pores up close	Use Pores, Pore Strength, Pore Tiling
Soft peach fuzz	Fuzz, Fuzz Color
Sweat	Use Sweat, Sweat Amount, Droplet Amount · runs down the skin: Use Sweat Drips, Sweat Drip Reach
Blood	Use Blood, Blood Amount, Blood Color, Blood Dryness · drips: Use Blood Drips, Blood Drip Amount / Size / Reach
Lip colour (head only)	Use Lip Mask (on), then Lip Tint, Lip Brightness, Lip Roughness, Lip Roughness Amount
Skin under the hair (head only)	Use Scalp Mask (on), Scalp Color, Scalp Amount, Scalp Roughness. A darker scalp keeps the hair looking full from afar.

MI_Skin_Body has the underwear painted on; every mesh uses it as it ships. MI_Skin_Body_Naked is the same body without it (used by BP_WandererFemaleNakedPreview).

See the panels in Unreal

The Details panel of MI_Skin_Head: textures, albedo, surface, normal, and the Pores, Fuzz, Sweat, Blood, Lip and Scalp groups, with the lip and scalp masks set. — MI_Skin_Head

The Details panel of MI_Skin_Body: textures, albedo, surface, normal, and the Pores, Fuzz, Sweat, Blood and Pants groups. — MI_Skin_Body

Cloth · MI_Cloth, MI_Cloth_NoGambeson

To change	Use
Colour	Albedo Tint, Albedo Brightness, Saturation
Padded or plain shirt	MI_Cloth is padded. For a plain shirt use MI_Cloth_NoGambeson: it has its own textures, so switching off Use Gambeson alone isn't enough.
Soft fabric shine	Sheen Strength, Sheen Color
Weave close up	Use Detail, Detail Strength, Detail Tiling

See the panel in Unreal

The Details panel of MI_Cloth, with Use Gambeson ticked and the Albedo, Roughness, Normal, Detail, Sheen, Surface and Parts groups. — MI_Cloth

Leather · MI_Leather

Each leather piece has its own colour, roughness and normal strength: Jacket (the vest), JacketBelt (the vest's straps), Belt, Skirt, Boots and Glove. For example, Skirt Color and Skirt Roughness. Use Part Mask must be on (it is, on every leather instance). Albedo Tint, Saturation and Albedo Brightness change all the pieces at once.

Buckles · MI_Metal

The buckles and metal rings on the vest, belt and gloves: Metal Color, Roughness Brightness, and Use Detail for wear.

See the panel in Unreal

The Details panel of MI_Metal: textures and the Metal, Albedo (non-metal), Roughness, Normal, Wear and Brushed, and Glow groups. — MI_Metal

Cape · MI_Cloak

To change	Use
Colour	Albedo Tint, Saturation, Albedo Brightness
Darker inside	Back Side Darken
Soft fabric shine	Sheen Strength, Sheen Color

See the panel in Unreal

The Details panel of MI_Cloak: textures and the Albedo (with Back Side Darken), Roughness, Normal, Detail, Sheen, Surface and Tear Edges groups. — MI_Cloak

Hair · MI_Hair

To change	Use
Hair colour	RootTint, TipTint · or start from MI_Hair_Orange
Thicker or thinner	OpacityBoost (thickness), TipFade (soft ends)
Shine	Specular, RoughMin / RoughMax, HighlightShift
Shadow from the hair	ShadowFloor (higher = lighter shadow)
Depth between strands	InnerDark

See the panel in Unreal

The Details panel of MI_Hair: textures and the Opacity, Colour and Shine groups. — MI_Hair

Eyes · MI_Eye_Split

To change	Use
Eye colour	Use Iris Colour Grade, then IrisHue, IrisSaturation, IrisBrightness · or IrisColorize with IrisColorizeColor · or start from MI_Eye_Split_Green
Pupil	PupilScale, PupilColor
Dark ring around the iris	LimbusStrength, LimbusWidth
Light reflection	Use Catchlight, CatchlightIntensity, CatchlightSize

See the panel in Unreal

The Details panel of MI_Eye_Split: Iris, Limbus, Colour, Surface, Occlusion and Catchlight groups. — MI_Eye_Split

Mouth, lashes, sword

MI_Mouth: Tint, Brightness, Roughness.
MI_Eyelash_Simple: LashColor, OpacityBoost (thickness), Cast Shadows.
MI_Sword_Metal: Metal Color, Use Detail for scratches. Use Glow with Glow Low / Mid / High colours for hot or magic metal.

See the panels in Unreal

The Details panel of MI_Mouth: textures, Colour and Surface groups. — MI_Mouth

The Details panel of MI_Eyelash_Simple: textures, Mask, Colour and Surface groups. — MI_Eyelash_Simple

The Details panel of MI_Sword_Metal: Metal, Albedo, Roughness, Normal, Wear and Brushed, and Glow groups. — MI_Sword_Metal

Atlas versions · MI_WandererFemale_Atlas

One simple material for the whole atlas character: Color Tint, Hue, Saturation, Lightness, Roughness.

More instances to start from

Variations next to the main instances, used in Maps/WandererFemaleRender. Put one on the matching slot, or copy it as a starting point.

Instance	What it changes
MI_Hair_Orange	Orange hair (RootTint, TipTint)
MI_Eye_Split_Green	Green eyes (IrisTint)
MI_Skin_Head_Lip	Pink-tinted lips (Lip Tint), without the darker scalp
MI_Cloth_v2	A lighter shirt (Albedo Brightness)
MI_Leather_V2	Blue-grey leather (Albedo Tint, Saturation)
MI_Cloth_NoGambeson	The shirt without the padded gambeson layer
MI_Skin_Body_Naked	The body without the painted underwear

Fire & Ice looks

Two ready-made looks, each a full set of instances ending in _Fire or _Ice: skin, eyes, hair, cloth, leather, cape and sword. To use one, put each part's matching instance on it (for example MI_Cloak_Ice on the cape). WandererFemalePreviewMap shows both. Use them as starting points for your own looks.

Three longswords with blue grips, one above the other: the top blade glows orange from the tip, the middle one is plain steel, the bottom blade glows icy blue. — The sword, Meshes/SM_Sword: MI_Sword_Fire, MI_Sword_Metal, MI_Sword_Ice

Animation & face

Body

ABP_WandererFemale runs the character: idle, walk, run, jump and land, with feet that stay on the ground (foot IK).
The skeleton is the UE5 Mannequin skeleton with extra cloak bones. To use any UE5 Mannequin animation, retarget it with Rigs/RTG_WandererFemale (right-click the animation › Retarget Animations).
Six still poses: A_WandererFemale_Pose01–06, for screenshots and scenes.
Pose and animate her in Sequencer with Rigs/CR_WandererFemale_Body.

Shoulder correctives

Her body moves extra helper bones at the shoulders, armpits and arms, so they keep their shape when she raises or swings her arms. Rigs/CR_WandererFemale_Procedural moves them. It runs as the Post Process Anim Blueprint (ABP_WandererFemaleCloak_PostProcess) of the head and of every one-piece mesh; the other parts follow the head.

If you replace a mesh's Post Process Anim Blueprint, the correctives stop on it.
For plain UE5 Mannequin shoulders, pick CR_WandererFemale_Procedural_BeforeHelpers in that Post Process Anim Blueprint instead. It's lighter: see Which version to use.

Cape

SK_WandererFemale_Cloak is moved by its bones (ABP_WandererFemaleCloak): cheap and stable.
SK_WandererFemale_CloakSim uses cloth simulation: more natural, costs more.

Face

The head (and every one-piece mesh) has the 52 Apple ARKit blend shapes, so it can be driven live from an iPhone with the Live Link Face app:

Install Live Link Face on an iPhone with Face ID and point it at your PC's IP address.
In Unreal, open Window › Live Link and check that the phone shows up.
Play or simulate: ABP_WandererFemale drives the face.

The Blueprint listens to the Live Link subject iPhone. In the Live Link Face app's settings, set Subject Name to iPhone. Or keep your phone's name and type it into Subject on the Live Link Pose node (AnimGraph) and on the Evaluate Live Link Frame node (Event Graph) of ABP_WandererFemale.

Head turn from the phone

With Stream Head Rotation on in the Live Link Face app, the phone also turns the head. The rotation is split between two bones, neck_01 and head, so the turn looks natural. It runs on the Character Blueprints.

Phone movement	Variable	Limit	Neck ×	Head ×	Max turn
Turn left / right	Head Yaw	±60°	0.2	0.3	30°
Nod up / down	Head Pitch	±40°	−0.2	−0.3	20°
Tilt side to side	Head Roll	±30°	0.2	0.3	15°

Max turn = limit × (neck + head). The limits are the Clamp nodes in the Event Graph; the multipliers are the small number boxes on the two Transform (Modify) Bone nodes in the AnimGraph.

To make the head turn…	Change this in ABP_WandererFemale
More or less (follows your head more or less closely)	AnimGraph: raise or lower the multipliers, e.g. head 0.3 → 0.5 for more. Keep the neck smaller than the head.
Farther (bigger maximum angle)	Event Graph: widen the Clamp nodes (e.g. yaw ±60 → ±80), and raise the multipliers if you want the extra range to show.
Smoother / slower	Event Graph: put an FInterp To before each Set Head… node (Current = the variable, Target = the clamped value, Delta Time = the event's Delta Time X, Interp Speed ≈ 8). Lower speed = slower and smoother.
Faster / snappier	It already follows the phone instantly. If you added FInterp To, raise its Interp Speed.
The wrong way (e.g. nods down when you nod up)	AnimGraph: flip the sign of that axis's two multipliers (−0.3 ↔ 0.3).
Not at all (face only)	AnimGraph: set Alpha to 0 on both Transform (Modify) Bone nodes. Or just turn off Stream Head Rotation in the app.

Compile and save the ABP after each change. To get the head turn on the preview Actors too, open the Event Graph and connect the Character node's Is Not Valid pin to Evaluate Live Link Frame.

Which version to use

Version	Good for	Triangles	Draw calls
Modular	Customising: swap, hide or recolour parts. BP_WandererFemaleCharacter as it ships: head 4, top 3, belt 2, gloves 2, every other part 1.	99,268	17 16 without the cape
One-piece	SKM_WandererFemale_FullBody / FullCloth (V2–V4) / FullClothCloak (V2–V4): the same look in one mesh. Same materials.	84,846 99,536 103,376	6 / 9 / 10
Atlas	SKM_WandererFemale_Atlas / SKM_WandererFemale_AtlasCloak: one mesh, one texture set, one material, with the low hair. Crowds, background characters, lower-end devices.	56,680 60,520	1

Triangles are the character only (outfit 1 for the clothed versions; the sword is a separate mesh). Draw calls are counted per material slot on each mesh. Every slot casts shadows, so each shadow-casting light draws the same number again.

The hair is the biggest part: SK_WandererFemale_HairCards has 1,014 cards (51,832 triangles), about half of the character. The atlas versions use a low version of it: 604 cards (10,872 triangles).

Shoulder correctives and many characters

The shoulder correctives (see Animation & face) run on the CPU for every visible character. With 22 characters on screen in WandererFemalePreviewMap, we measured a frame at 118 ms with them and 36 ms with CR_WandererFemale_Procedural_BeforeHelpers. For crowds and background characters, switch to that rig; keep the correctives for the characters seen up close.

Requirements

Unreal Engine 5.1 or later.
Plugins (on in this project): Control Rig (on by default in UE5); Live Link, Apple ARKit and ARKit Face Support for the live face.
Extra bones beyond the UE5 Mannequin: 45 cloak bones, in 5 chains of 9: cloak_c, cloak_l1, cloak_l2, cloak_r1, cloak_r2 (each _01 to _09).

The skeleton in Unreal filtered by 'cloak': five chains of nine bones (cloak_c, cloak_l1, cloak_l2, cloak_r1, cloak_r2) on the left, and Wanderer Female in the viewport with her skeleton drawn over her and the cloak bones hanging down the cape.