PlayCanvas Kinematic Character Controller

A high-performance, physics-based character controller for PlayCanvas that provides smooth movement, jumping, slope handling, and moving platform support.

Screen.Recording.2025-07-19.at.5.21.23.PM.mp4

Demo: https://playcanv.as/b/c2e720c5

Project: https://playcanvas.com/editor/scene/2283593

Features

• Slope Handling: Automatic slope detection and sliding on steep surfaces
• Moving Platforms: Full support for moving and rotating platforms
• Collision Detection: Robust collision handling with walls, corners, and ceilings
• Ground Snapping: Automatic ground detection when falling
• Air Control: Configurable air movement control
• Input Agnostic: Provide your own input logic. Keyboard control example included
• Jumping: Configurable jump speed with optional continuous jumping
• Stairs: Hover height allow for adjusting max climbable stair
• Debug Visualization: Optional debug rendering for collision detection

Installation

Prerequisites

• Important: Use the included ammo.js files instead of PlayCanvas's built-in version, as the PlayCanvas version is outdated and may cause compatibility issues.
• Shape Casting: The controller requires convex-cast.js as PlayCanvas does not natively include shape casting functionality at the time of writing.

Setup

1. Copy the kcc/ folder to your PlayCanvas project
2. Copy the Ammo/ folder to your project (contains the required ammo.js files)
   1. Uncheck Preload on ammo.js
   2. Set Name to Ammo under WASM MODULE for ammo.wasm.wasm
   3. Set Glue script to ammo.js and Fallback script to ammo.wasm.js
3. Add the scripts to your character entity:
   • kcc.mjs - Main controller script
   • kccInputDesktop.mjs - Desktop input handling

Controls

• WASD: Movement
• Mouse: Look around (yaw rotation)
• Space: Jump
• Shift: Sprint (increases speed by sprintScalar)

Configuration

KCC Script Attributes

Attribute	Default	Description
speed	6	Walk speed in m/s
gravity	-9.81	Gravity acceleration in m/s²
jumpSpeed	6	Initial jump velocity in m/s
airControl	1	Air movement control (0-1)
radius	0.5	Controller collision radius in meters
maxIterations	5	Maximum collision resolution iterations
slopeLimitDeg	50	Maximum walkable slope angle in degrees
skin	0.01	Collision skin thickness in meters
groundSnap	0.3	Ground snapping distance in meters
hover	0.2	Hover distance above ground when grounded
debug	false	Enable debug visualization

KccInputDesktop Script Attributes

Attribute	Default	Description
lookSpeed	0.5	Mouse look sensitivity
sprintScalar	2.0	Speed multiplier when sprinting
continuousJump	false	Enable continuous jumping while holding space

Technical Details

Architecture

The controller uses a two-pass collision resolution system with the collide & slide algorithm:

1. Vertical Pass: Handles gravity, jumping, and ground detection
2. Horizontal Pass: Handles player movement and wall collisions

Performance

• Optimized collision detection with configurable iteration limits
• Efficient vector math operations
• Minimal memory allocation during runtime

Custom Input Integration

// Access the controller from your input script
const kcc = entity.script.kcc;

// Set input manually
kcc.setInput(horizontal, vertical, jump, yawDelta);

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

1. Character falls through ground: Increase groundSnap value or check collision layers
2. Stuck on slopes: Adjust slopeLimitDeg or skin values
3. Poor performance: Reduce maxIterations or disable debug visualization
4. Physics errors: Ensure you're using the included ammo.js files, not PlayCanvas's built-in version

Debug Mode

Enable the debug attribute to visualize:

• Controller collision sphere
• Grounded state (blue = grounded, red = not grounded)
• Collision raycasts
• Hit points and normals

Contributing

Feel free to submit issues, feature requests, or pull requests to improve the controller.