How To Pause Game But Not Camera Unreal Engine 5

Dianna Russini

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Apr 02, 2025

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How to Pause Game But Not Camera in Unreal Engine 5

Many Unreal Engine 5 projects require the ability to pause the game's logic while keeping the camera active, perhaps for cinematic sequences, debugging, or specific gameplay mechanics. This tutorial will guide you through different methods to achieve this effect, explaining the pros and cons of each approach. We'll focus on solutions that are efficient and easy to implement.

Understanding the Challenge

The default pause functionality in Unreal Engine 5 typically halts all game processes, including the camera's movement and updates. Our goal is to decouple the game's pause state from the camera's behavior.

Method 1: Using a Separate Game State

This is arguably the cleanest and most scalable approach. We'll create a custom game state that handles the paused state separately from the camera's functionality.

Steps:

1. Create a Custom GameState Class: In your Unreal Engine project, create a new Blueprint Class inheriting from GameState. Name it something descriptive like PauseGameState.

2. Add a Boolean Variable: Add a boolean variable to your PauseGameState class. Name it something like bPauseGame. This will control whether the game logic is paused.

3. Override the Tick Function: Override the Tick function in your PauseGameState Blueprint. Inside this function, check the value of bPauseGame. If true, use GetWorld()->GetTimerManager().Pause(); to pause the world's timer manager. This effectively pauses most game logic. Crucially, it does not affect the camera.

4. Unpause Logic: Add a corresponding section to unpause the game using GetWorld()->GetTimerManager().UnPause(); when bPauseGame is false.

5. Implement Pause/Unpause Mechanisms: Create a system (e.g., using input actions or a UI button) to toggle the bPauseGame variable. This might involve calling functions within your PauseGameState to set the boolean.

6. Camera Control: Your camera's movement and logic should remain independent of the bPauseGame variable. It will continue to function normally even when the game logic is paused.

Pros: Clean, organized, easily scalable, and doesn't require modifying core gameplay systems.

Cons: Requires some Blueprint scripting knowledge.

Method 2: Ticking the Camera Separately (Less Recommended)

This method involves directly manipulating the camera's Tick function. While it might seem simpler, it's generally less robust and can lead to maintenance issues as your project grows.

Steps:

1. Access Your Camera Actor: Get a reference to your camera actor in your gameplay code (PlayerController or other relevant class).

2. Conditional Tick: In your camera's Tick function, add a check to ensure it continues to update even when the game is paused. This could involve a global boolean variable or a check against the game's pause state.

Pros: Potentially simpler for very small projects.

Cons: Highly prone to errors and makes your code less maintainable. It couples camera behavior directly to the pause system, creating tight dependencies. Not recommended for larger or complex projects.

Choosing the Right Method

For most projects, Method 1 (using a separate GameState) is the superior approach. It's cleaner, more maintainable, and promotes better code organization. Method 2 should be considered only for the simplest of projects, where the added complexity of a GameState might be considered unnecessary overhead. Remember to thoroughly test your chosen method to ensure the camera behaves as expected when the game is paused. Always prioritize clean and well-structured code for easier debugging and future expansion.