Understanding behavior trees in Unreal Engine

Understanding behavior trees and what they are made of is essential for designing effective AI systems in Unreal Engine; in this section, I will be presenting you with the key concepts associated with behavior trees to help you start developing your own AI characters.

In Unreal Engine, there are five types of elements in behavior trees:

• Root node
• Task nodes
• Composite nodes
• Decorators
• Services

To provide you with a comprehensive understanding of each type, I will present them individually, ensuring a clear depiction of their respective functions.

The root node

The root node functions as the initial point for a behavior tree; it holds a distinct position within the tree and is governed by a set of special rules:

• There can be only one such node in the tree structure
• It can have only one connection, and if this connection is removed, then the entire tree is disabled
• It does not support...