Guides for indie game devs

GitHub Game Off 2026: dates, rules and a workflow for any engine

GitHub Game Off 2026 runs through November. The dates, the rules that matter for tools and assets, and which Cosindra tools fit your engine.

The Official 2026 Unity Game Jam: dates, rules and a Unity workflow

The Official 2026 Unity Game Jam runs November 5 to 13. The dates, the rules that matter for tools and assets, and what Cosindra exports for Unity.

Using AI tools in the 2026 Epic AI MegaJam: an Unreal workflow

What the 2026 Epic AI MegaJam rules allow for AI tools, what you can prepare before November 12, and a UE 5.7 or 5.8 workflow for a jam game.

AI Tools for Unreal Engine 5: What Actually Works

What AI and automation genuinely do in a UE5 workflow today (Blueprints, materials, environments, rigging, store pages) and how to evaluate any tool.

What Is an AI Assistant for Unreal Engine?

How in-editor AI assistants for UE5 work: the Model Context Protocol, tool calling, what they can and cannot do in your project, and how to try one free.

Connect Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI or Cursor to Unreal Engine

Connect Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, Cursor or VS Code to Unreal Engine 5.7 or 5.8 over MCP: exact steps per client, the editor tools and the limits.

UE5 Behavior Tree AI: patrol, spot, chase

A UE5 behavior tree (behaviour tree) needs a Blackboard, the tree and an AIController that runs it. Setup steps, Selector vs Sequence, Observer Aborts.

UE5 AI perception: making enemies actually see you

UE5 enemy can't see the player? Usually a missing stimuli source or Detect Neutrals. Five setup steps, then sight radius and view angle explained.

UE5 Gameplay Ability System without the C++ chapter

Do you need C++ for UE5 GAS? Only one Attribute Set class. The Blueprint steps in order, Instant, Duration and Infinite effects, and the usual mistake.

UE5 Enhanced Input: setup, and the line everyone forgets

Set up UE5 Enhanced Input in five Blueprint steps, plus the one missing call (Add Mapping Context) behind most no-response bugs. Triggers explained.

UE5 Animation Blueprint: state machines, blend spaces, slots

How an Unreal Engine 5 Animation Blueprint fits together, where blend spaces belong versus state machines, what slots are for, and why a character ends up stuck in T-pose.

UE5 PCG: sampling, density, and why nothing spawned

How Unreal Engine 5’s PCG framework fits together (Surface Sampler, Density Filter and Static Mesh Spawner) plus the volume mistake that produces an empty world.

UE5 UMG: main menus, HUDs, and the anchor trap

Building a main menu and gameplay HUD with UMG in Unreal Engine 5: why widgets drift at other resolutions, why buttons stop responding, and the calls that assemble both.

UE5 Sequencer: bindings, camera cuts, and playing it in game

How Unreal Engine 5 Sequencer bindings work (Possessable versus Spawnable) plus camera cut tracks, audio, and why a finished sequence never plays during gameplay.

UE5 replication: why it works in standalone and not as a client

Server authority, replicated variables and the three RPC types in Unreal Engine 5: why a client setting a variable does nothing, and how to test multiplayer properly in PIE.

UE5 MetaSound: sources, patches and Blueprint parameters

MetaSound is Unreal Engine 5’s node-based audio system: what separates a Source from a Patch, how to drive parameters from Blueprint, and why a finished graph plays silence.

Steam Capsule Sizes and Design: The Complete Guide

Every Steam capsule size in one table (header, small, main, vertical and library capsules) plus the design rules that make a capsule readable at thumbnail size.

The Steam Store Page Checklist: Everything Before You Hit Publish

A practical, ordered checklist for your Steam store page: capsule, screenshots, trailer, short description, tags, and the above-the-fold priorities that drive wishlists.

How to Choose Steam Tags (and Why the Order Matters)

Steam gives you 20 tag slots that drive search, More Like This, and discovery queues. How to pick them, order them, and the tagging mistakes that put your game in front of the wrong audience.

How Many Wishlists Do You Need on Steam?

What Steam wishlists actually do for your launch, the Popular Upcoming threshold, realistic indie benchmarks, and the levers that reliably grow wishlists before release.

How to Write a Steam Short Description (With a Formula)

The 300-character blurb under your capsule decides whether browsers keep reading. A concrete formula, good and bad examples, and the clichés to cut.

How to Rig a Character for Unreal Engine 5 (Three Ways Compared)

Rig a character for UE5 with Blender by hand, free Mixamo, or straight onto the Manny skeleton. Steps, a comparison table and two free file checks.

How to Rig a Character for Godot 4 and Retarget Humanoid Animations

Rig a humanoid for Godot 4, map it to SkeletonProfileHumanoid at import and play animations from other rigs, plus the one option an A-pose rig needs.

Mixamo to Unreal Engine 5: The Workflow, the Gotchas, and When to Skip It

Mixamo to UE5: download FBX Binary with skin, fix the tiny scale, add a root bone and retarget with the IK Retargeter. Plus a free browser converter.

From AI-Generated Model to Playable UE5 Character (Meshy, Tripo & Co.)

Turn a Meshy, Tripo or other AI-generated character into a playable UE5 character: mesh checks, a rig on the Manny skeleton, import, and honest limits.

Meshy character to Unreal Engine 5: rig it for the Manny skeleton

Make a Meshy character play UE5 Manny animations: what Meshy's rig exports, why it needs retargeting, the IK Retargeter and RigMaster routes, mesh fixes.

Tripo character to Unreal Engine 5: rig it for the Manny skeleton

Make a Tripo character play UE5 Manny animations: Tripo's rig and export options, its Unreal naming option, and the IK Retargeter and RigMaster routes.

Rodin (Hyper3D) character to Unreal Engine 5: rig it for the Manny skeleton

Get a Rodin character playing UE5 Manny animations: Rodin's rig and Unreal template, the IK Retargeter route, RigMaster, fingers, face and mesh tips.

Meshy, Tripo, Rodin or Hunyuan3D character in Unreal Engine 5: the rig routes compared

Which generator rigs what, which skeleton you get, and how a Meshy, Tripo, Rodin or Hunyuan3D character ends up playing UE5 Manny animations.

How to Retarget Animations in UE5 (IK Rig + IK Retargeter)

The full UE5 retargeting workflow: building IK Rigs, mapping retarget chains, fixing the retarget pose, batch-retargeting animation sets, and the four failures that produce twisted limbs, sunken feet or lost root motion.

The UE5 Manny Skeleton, Explained

Manny and Quinn share one skeleton, SK_Mannequin. Every bone name by region, how to export the Manny FBX, and a free checker for your own model.

Mixamo bone names, with the UE5 Manny and Godot names side by side

The full Mixamo bone list next to UE5 Manny and Godot humanoid names: spine, arms, fingers, legs, the bones with no match, and how to map between them.

Rigify to Unreal Engine 5: export a Rigify character and play Manny animations on it

Export a Rigify character to UE5 with only its deform bones, fix the scale and retarget Manny animations onto it, or rig the mesh to Manny directly.

AccuRIG to UE5: get an AccuRIG character playing Manny animations

Bring an AccuRIG character into UE5 and play Manny and Quinn animations on it: export, scale, the IK Retargeter, or rigging the mesh to Manny instead.

MetaHuman to Manny: share animations between MetaHumans and the UE5 mannequins

Play Manny animations on a MetaHuman, or MetaHuman animations on Manny: Retarget Animations, a custom IK Retargeter, compatible skeletons and the limits.

Avaturn to Unreal Engine 5: Rig Your Avatar to the Manny Skeleton, Keep Its Skin

Get an Avaturn avatar into UE5 as a Manny-compatible skeletal mesh: upload the GLB, keep the original skin weights and blendshapes, download an FBX that plays Manny/Quinn animations with no IK Retargeter.

Ready Player Me to Unreal Engine 5: A Manny-Skeleton Rig That Keeps the Avatar’s Skin

Bring a Ready Player Me avatar into UE5 on the Manny skeleton: upload the full-body GLB, keep its skin weights, download a UE-ready FBX that plays Manny/Quinn animations without the IK Retargeter.

GLB to FBX with animation in Blender (and FBX to GLB)

Convert GLB to FBX with every animation in Blender: import the glTF, check the clips, export FBX with All Actions. Plus FBX to GLB, and GLB vs FBX.

Text to animation for Unreal Engine 5: from one sentence to an FBX on Manny

Text to animation for UE5: write one sentence, compare 4 takes and import an FBX on the Manny skeleton with root motion. Tools compared, limits and price.

A Mixamo alternative for Unreal Engine 5: animations already on the Manny skeleton

Mixamo’s library is free, but its skeleton is not UE5’s. Compare it with text-to-motion that exports an FBX on SK_Mannequin with root motion, and see when each fits.

Ready-made animations for the UE5 Mannequin (Manny and Quinn)

What to check before you import an animation for Manny and Quinn, where Mannequin-ready animations come from, and a gallery of ready-made motions with root motion.

How to animate your own character in Unreal Engine 5

Get motion onto your own character: check its skeleton, watch takes on it before you download, export an FBX on its own skeleton, and rig it first when it has none.

Root motion animations in UE5: how they work and where to get them

What root motion is in Unreal Engine 5, when to use it instead of in-place clips, how to turn it on, why the IK bones matter, and how to get root motion clips on Manny.

How to Make a PBR Material From a Text Prompt

Describe a surface, get tileable Base Color, Normal, Roughness, AO, Metallic and Height maps plus an Unreal material. Steps, files, import settings.

How to Generate a Heightmap and Import It as an Unreal Landscape

Generate a 16-bit PNG heightmap from a written brief and import it as a sculptable UE5 Landscape: resolution, section size, X, Y and Z scale, and steps.