Drift Heaven v2

Arcade drift car physics for Unreal Engine 5.7 and 5.8. Easy, assisted drifting, burnouts, drift points with combos and multipliers, a player level / XP system, air ride, stance, headlights and underglow, runtime paint, multiplayer with chat, touch controls and steering wheel support, engine and tyre sounds, a main menu with settings, a chase camera with free look and a live debug menu to tune everything while you drive.

Everything is written in C++ and every class can be extended in Blueprint. You make a Blueprint child of the car, give it your own meshes and numbers, and react to events like On Drift Started in the Event Graph. You never have to touch the C++.

Quick start

Requirements: Unreal Engine 5.7 or 5.8, Windows (Win64). Works in Blueprint-only and C++ projects.

1. Install: from Fab, add DriftHeaven to your engine (or project). To install by hand, copy the DriftHeaven folder into your project's Plugins folder (create it if it doesn't exist).
2. Enable: Edit › Plugins, search DriftHeaven, tick it and restart the editor. In the Content Browser, turn on Settings › Show Plugin Content to see the plugin's folder.
3. Play the demo: open DriftHeaven Content › Maps › DriftHeaven_Demo and press Play.
4. Press X to open the debug menu and change the car live while you drive.

What's in the plugin

Controls

All keys except the driving keys can be changed: on the player controller (Controller reference) and the camera manager (Camera reference).

Create a new car in Blueprint

1. In the Content Browser, right-click › Blueprint Class. Open All Classes, search DriftCarPawn, select it and click Select.
2. Name it, for example BP_MyCar, and open it.
3. Set the meshes: see Change the body mesh and Change the wheels.
4. Click Class Defaults (toolbar) and set:
   • Drift | Tuning › Car Name: leave it empty and the car's setup is saved under the Blueprint's name (each car gets its own automatically), or type a name to share one setup between cars.
   • Drift | Tuning › Start Style: the driving mode (see Driving modes).
   • Drift | Tuning › Tuning: any handling values you want to change (see the Tuning reference).
5. Compile and Save, then make the game spawn it: Use your car in the game.

Change the body mesh

The car is built from these components (see the Components panel in your Blueprint):

1. Your mesh should face +X (forward), with Z up, in centimetres. The pivot can be anywhere; you line it up in step 4.
2. Select the Body component and set Static Mesh to your car body. Do the same for Glass if your windows are a separate mesh (or clear it).
3. In Class Defaults › Drift | Body:
   • Box Size: length, width and height of your car in cm. Its bottom is the ground.
   • Box Forward Offset: move the box forward if the car is longer in front of its centre.
   • Body Offset: move the body until the wheels sit on the ground (raise Z if it sinks in).
   • Body Rotation: only if your mesh doesn't face +X (a mesh facing +Y needs Yaw -90).
4. Paint: set up which parts players can recolour in Drift | Paint › Paint Channels. See Paint & colours.
5. Move the headlights into your lamps with Drift | Lights › Headlight Offset. Size the underglow with Underglow Size (keep it smaller than the car for a soft glow).

Change the wheels

1. Your wheel mesh should have its pivot in the centre of the wheel, with the axle along Y.
2. Select Wheel_FL, Wheel_FR, Wheel_RL and Wheel_RR (Ctrl-click all four) and set Static Mesh to your wheel. You can use different meshes front and rear.
3. In Class Defaults › Drift | Wheels:
   • Wheel Positions: the centre of each wheel in cm, in this order: front left, front right, rear left, rear right. X = forward from the car's centre, Y = right (left wheels are negative), Z = up from the ground.
   • Wheel Radius Cm: your wheel's radius (so it spins at the right speed and stays on the road when cambered).
   • Left Wheel Yaw / Right Wheel Yaw: if the rims face into the car, swap 0 and 180.
   • Max Visual Steer Deg: how far the front wheels turn.
4. For the look, open the debug menu (X) › STANCE in game: car height, camber and wheel offset. Copy the values you like into Tuning › Stance.

Wheel motion blur: Unreal blurs a mesh by how far it moved since the last frame, so a wheel spinning at full speed smears into a messy disc. By default DriftHeaven caps the wheels' visible spin (Drift | Wheels › Max Wheel Spin Deg Per Sec, 540) so they stay crisp. Tick Wheel Motion Blur for the true spin speed.

Paint & colours

Players can change the car's colours at runtime: in the debug menu (X › PAINT) or from your own Blueprint UI. Each part that can be recoloured is a paint channel.

Set up paint channels

1. In your car Blueprint, Class Defaults › Drift | Paint › Paint Channels: click + for each part (for example Body and Rims).
2. For each channel set the Target mesh, the Material Slots to colour (the slot names from the Static Mesh editor) and the Color Parameter.
3. The material needs a colour parameter: open the material, right-click the colour going into Base Color › Convert to Parameter and give it a name (for example PaintColor). If Base Color comes from a texture, multiply the texture by a Vector Parameter to tint it. Apply and save.

In game, X › PAINT: < > picks the channel, then click a quick colour or click / drag on the colour palette (hue left to right, white at the top, black at the bottom, greys on the right). The headlight and underglow colours under LIGHTS use the same palette.

Random colours: Random Color On Spawn / Respawn give every channel with Randomize ticked a new colour (only from Paint Palette if you fill it). With no paint channels, the car uses one body colour set through Paint Parameter on every body slot.

Missing materials, slots or parameters are skipped quietly: nothing errors, the colour just doesn't show.

Use your car in the game

The car is spawned by a game mode. Make a Blueprint child of DriftGameMode (or duplicate BP_DriftGameMode) and set its Default Pawn Class to your car. Then choose where it's used:

• One map: open the map, Window › World Settings › GameMode Override: your drift game mode. The map needs a Player Start.
• Every map: Project Settings › Maps & Modes › Default GameMode: your drift game mode. Maps with their own GameMode Override still use theirs.
• Force it on every map, even maps with their own override (handy for testing): make a Blueprint child of DriftGameInstance, tick Force Drift Game Mode, set Drift Game Mode Class to your game mode, and pick it in Project Settings › Maps & Modes › Game Instance Class. Careful: while it's on, World Settings › GameMode Override is ignored on every map.

The drift game mode also sets the player controller (input, debug menu, camera), the HUD and the player state. To use your own, change them in your game mode Blueprint (use Blueprint children of the DriftHeaven classes so everything keeps working).

Main menu & settings

DriftHeaven includes a main menu built in C++: the DRIFT HEAVEN title, TRAINING, SETTINGS and QUIT on the left, and DISCORD and WEBSITE buttons at the bottom right. It works with mouse, keyboard and gamepad. The 3D scene behind it is your own map.

Set up a menu map

1. Make a map (the plugin's is Maps/DriftHeaven_Menu) with your scene: a garage, a car Blueprint placed in it for show, lights.
2. World Settings › GameMode Override: DriftMenuGameMode (or a Blueprint child). It spawns no player car and shows the menu.
3. Camera: place a Camera Actor and give it the tag MenuCamera (Details › Actor › Tags). With no camera, the menu slowly orbits the first drift car in the map.
4. Project Settings › Maps & Modes › Game Default Map: your menu map, so the game starts on it.

In game, BACKSPACE (gamepad Start) goes back to the menu map set in the player controller's Menu Map.

Menu settings

On DriftMenuPlayerController (make a Blueprint child and set it in your menu game mode):

Override On Training Pressed or On Quit Pressed in the Blueprint to do something else (a loading screen, a confirmation...). Open URL, Show Menu, Hide Menu and Open Settings can be called from anywhere.

SETTINGS

Changes apply and save instantly. Q / E (gamepad bumpers) switch tabs, Esc / Backspace (gamepad B) goes back. The car's sounds follow the audio volumes automatically.

Driving modes

There are three driving styles. Each one is a full set of Tuning values:

Where to change it

• In your Blueprint car: Class Defaults › Drift | Tuning › Start Style. Custom uses your Tuning values exactly as you set them; Drift, Road Race or Straight Speed load that style when the car spawns.
• In game: debug menu (X) › CAR TUNING › DRIFT / ROAD RACE / STRAIGHT SPEED buttons.
• From Blueprint: call Set Style on the car (0 Drift, 1 Road Race, 2 Straight Speed), for example from a menu.

What a style changes

A style changes the handling values (engine, grip, steering, drift angles, gears). It keeps your stance and lights. The full list of what each style sets is in the Tuning reference (the small "Road · Straight" line under each default). To make your own mode, pick the nearest style, adjust the sliders and press SAVE SETUP, or set Start Style to Custom and type your values into Tuning.

Assist and gearbox

• Assist Level (0 off, 1 normal, 2 strong) makes drifts easier to hold. See Assist levels.
• Manual starts the car with the manual gearbox (M toggles, Q / E shift).

Debug menu (X)

Press X while playing. The mouse cursor appears and the car still drives. Every change is live.

Saving

Multiplayer

DriftHeaven cars work in multiplayer out of the box (listen server or dedicated server). Each player drives their own car on their own machine, so drifting feels exactly like single player with no input lag. Their car's position, drift state, inputs, gear, stance, lights, air ride and paint are sent to everyone else, and other players' cars are drawn smoothly blended between updates.

Try it

1. Place a few Player Starts in your map, so cars don't spawn inside each other.
2. In the editor: Play button menu › Number of Players: 2, Net Mode: Play As Listen Server, then Play.
3. In a packaged game: one player opens the map with ?listen (for example open DriftHeaven_Demo?listen in the console), the others connect with open <host IP>.

What everyone sees

• Other players' cars, with their drift angle, wheels, burnouts, stance, lights, air ride and paint. Their engine, tyre, shift and air sounds play in 3D and fade with distance (Audio › Other Cars Full Volume Radius / Falloff Distance). Your own car stays 2D.
• Name tags over other cars: name, level and the drift they're doing right now (HUD › Show Name Tags, Name Tag Max Distance).
• A player list at the top right with everyone's session score and level, sorted by score (HUD › Show Player List, only with 2+ players).

The scores come from DriftPlayerState: Drift Level, Best Drift, Session Score, Current Drift and Current Multiplier are replicated and can be read in Blueprint for your own scoreboard. The name is Unreal's Player Name: call Set Name on the player controller to change it.

Network settings (car Blueprint › Drift | Network)

Chat

Text chat for single player and multiplayer, built into the drift player controller (the Chat component). Press T or Enter to open the chat box, type, Enter to send, Esc to cancel. While typing, the car lets go of every control. Messages show bottom left and fade after a few seconds; system messages are orange and replies only for you are blue. On touch screens use the CHAT button.

• Checked by the server: length limit, cooldown and burst limit (no spam), and the profanity filter.
• System messages: players joining and leaving, big drifts (25,000+ points), level ups and name changes.
• Commands: /help lists them, /name NewName changes your player name. Add your own: type the name in Custom Commands (for example respawn) and bind On Chat Command in your controller Blueprint, it runs on the server.
• Your own UI: bind On Chat Message and call Send Chat Message. To hide the built-in lines, untick the HUD's Draw Default HUD or draw your own.
• Server announcements: call Broadcast System Message from your game mode (race started, winner...).

Chat settings (player controller › Chat component)

Touch controls

On phones and tablets, on-screen controls appear automatically: a steering pad bottom left (slide your thumb left and right), GAS, BRAKE and HAND (handbrake) bottom right, and RESET, CAM, AIR, LIGHTS and CHAT above the pad. On a PC with a touch screen they appear as soon as the screen is touched. Several fingers work at once.

Player controller › Drift | Touch: Touch Controls (Auto / Always / Never), Touch Button Scale and Touch Opacity. To test them in the editor, tick Project Settings › Input › Use Mouse For Touch or set Touch Controls to Always.

Steering wheel

Wheels that work as an Xbox controller (many Logitech / Thrustmaster wheels in Xbox mode) work straight away: the wheel steers and the pedals act as the triggers. For other wheels (DirectInput):

1. Edit › Plugins: enable Raw Input and restart.
2. Project Settings › Raw Input: add your wheel's Vendor ID and Product ID (Windows Device Manager › your wheel › Details › Hardware Ids: VID_xxxx&PID_xxxx) and map its axes.
3. Play and turn the wheel: it takes over as soon as it moves. If an axis is wrong, change it on the player controller (Drift | Steering Wheel).

If the car accelerates on its own or the pedals do nothing, change Pedals Full Range / Invert Pedals. If steering is reversed, tick Invert Wheel Steer. Wheel Steer Scale sets how much you turn for full lock. Keyboard, gamepad, wheel and touch all work at the same time. There's no force feedback.

Reference: Tuning

Found on the car under Class Defaults › Drift | Tuning › Tuning. Units are metres and seconds (m/s × 3.6 = km/h). The "Road · Straight" line shows what the Road Race and Straight Speed styles set; values without it are the same in every style.

Engine

How fast the car gets going, how it slows down and its top speed.

Grip

How hard the tyres stop the car sliding sideways (m/s of sideways speed removed every second).

Steering

Normal (grip) steering.

Drift

When a drift starts and ends, and the angle the drift assist holds.

Counter-steer

What happens when you steer against the slide.

Assist

Used by the drift assist levels (see Assist Level).

Gearbox

Gears for the automatic and manual gearbox (M switches, Q up, E down).

Crashes

Hitting walls.

Stance

Looks only, never changes the handling. In the debug menu under STANCE.

Lights

Looks only. In the debug menu under LIGHTS. H toggles headlights, U toggles underglow.

World

Reference: Car settings

Found on the car under Class Defaults.

Drift | Tuning

Drift | Meshes

Drift | Body

Drift | Wheels

Drift | Lights

Drift | Air Ride

Drift | Paint

Drift | Engine

Reference: Assist levels

Set with Assist Level on the car or in the debug menu.

Reference: Drift points

Points build up while drifting (drift angle × speed) and in burnouts. Drifts linked within the combo window form a chain and grow the multiplier. When you stop drifting for longer than the combo window the chain is banked (chain × multiplier goes to the EXP system); a hard wall hit loses it.

Select the Scorer component in your car Blueprint to edit these:

Blueprint: override Get Points Per Second in a Blueprint child of DriftScorer to change how points are earned.

Reference: EXP and levels

The EXP system is the XP component on the car (DriftXPComponent). Select it in your car Blueprint's Components panel to edit every value. Banked drifts give EXP (points × XP Per Point × XP Multiplier); when the EXP in a level reaches what the level needs, the player levels up, and anything left over carries into the next level. Level, EXP, best drift score and totals are saved automatically.

How much EXP each level needs

Level n needs Base XP Per Level + (n − 1) × Extra XP Per Level. With the defaults:

Your own curve: fill XP Table on the XP component. Entry 0 is the EXP for level 1 → 2, entry 1 for 2 → 3, and so on (for example 500, 800, 1200, 2000, 3500). Levels past the end of the table use the last entry plus Extra XP Per Level for each level after it. Leave it empty to use the formula above.

Settings

Values you can read

Functions

Examples

• Give 500 EXP for finishing a race: Get the car › XP › Add XP (Amount 500).
• Double EXP weekend: set XP Multiplier to 2.
• Unlock something at level 10: bind On Level Up on the XP component and check NewLevel ≥ 10.
• A level cap of 50: set Max Level to 50 and bind On Max Level Reached.
• Separate profiles per save file: set Save Slot (for example "Profile_1") before the car spawns, or call Load Profile after changing it.

Reference: Camera

On DriftCameraManager. Make a Blueprint child and set it as the player controller's Player Camera Manager Class to change the defaults, or tweak live in the debug menu.

Reference: Sound

On the car's Audio component (select it in your Blueprint). The sounds are Sound Wave assets in the plugin's Content/Audio folder, set by default on every car. To use your own, pick them in Drift | Sound | Assets (any Sound Wave or Sound Cue). The six engine loops and the two tyre sounds are looped automatically. Any slot left empty is just skipped. You're free to use the included sounds in your own games. Play One Shot plays any sound once.

Reference: Controller

On DriftPlayerController (make a Blueprint child and set it in your game mode to change these).

HUD: untick Draw Default HUD on a Blueprint child of DriftHUD to draw your own HUD (UMG or Event Receive Draw HUD).

Blueprint events

In your car Blueprint, select the car (Self) or a component and click + next to the event in the Details panel, or right-click in the Event Graph and search "Assign On ..." / "Bind Event to ...".

On the car

Points and EXP

Blueprint functions

Drag off a reference to the car and search for these. All the car's settings and state (speed, drift angle, gear, RPM, velocity...) can also be read directly as variables.

Troubleshooting

Drift Heaven v2.0 · Unreal Engine 5.7 / 5.8 · © 2026 ZEXP