Unreal Engine 5 Enemy AI Series #1 – Setting Up Enemy Blueprint & AI Sight Blueprint Only

Part 1 of the Enemy AI Series in UE5. Learn to set up a new project, organize folders, and create your first enemy character with AI Sight using only Blueprints—no C++ required.

Welcome to Part 1 of the Unreal Engine 5 Enemy AI Series!
In this beginner-friendly episode, we’ll start from scratch and create our first enemy character with working AI sight, entirely in Blueprints. No C++ required.

🌟 What You’ll Learn

• Creating a brand-new Unreal Engine 5.6 project using the Third Person template
• Best practices for folder organization in larger projects
• Building a custom Enemy Character Blueprint
• Assigning a skeletal mesh and linking an animation blueprint
• Adding the AI Perception component
• Configuring AI Sight: radius, lose sight, peripheral vision, and debug colors
• Placing the enemy in the level
• Using the Perception Debug Tool to confirm detection

📝 Chapters

• 0:00 – Introduction & What We’re Building
• 0:12 – Step 1: Create the Project
• 0:52 – Step 2: Create Folders for Organization
• 1:14 – Step 3: Create the Enemy Character Blueprint
• 1:33 – Step 4: Set Up the Enemy Mesh and Animation
• 2:10 – Step 5: Add the AI Perception Component
• 2:25 – Step 6: Configure AI Sight Settings
• 3:17 – Step 7: Place the Enemy in the Level
• 3:28 – Step 8: Test and Visualize AI Sight
• 4:12 – Summary & Next Steps

🔨 Step 1: Create the Project

1. Open the Unreal Project Browser.
2. Under Games, select Third Person template.
   • Do not use variants, just the standard Third Person template.
3. Set Project Type = Blueprint.
4. Target platform = Desktop.
5. Quality preset = Maximum.
6. Name your project AIUnreal.
7. Choose a location and click Create.

👉 This project will later be uploaded to GitHub so you can follow along.

📂 Step 2: Organize Folders

Inside the Content Drawer:

• Right-click → New Folder → name it AI.
• This is where all AI-related Blueprints will live.
• You’ll also see default folders like Characters, Input, LevelPrototyping, and ThirdPerson. Keep them, but focus on AI for now.

👾 Step 3: Create Enemy Character Blueprint

1. Inside the AI folder → Right-click → Blueprint Class.
2. Pick Character as the parent class.
   • This gives your enemy basic movement & collision.
3. Name it BP_EnemyGuard.

🦴 Step 4: Mesh & Animation Setup

1. Open BP_EnemyGuard.
2. Select the Mesh component in the Components panel.
3. In Details → Mesh, set Skeletal Mesh to SKM_Quinn_Simple.
4. Under Animation, set:
   • Animation Mode = Use Animation Blueprint
   • Anim Class = ABP_Unarmed
5. Under Transform, adjust:
   • Location Z = -80
   • Rotation Yaw = -90

👉 This aligns the mesh properly with the world.

👁️ Step 5: Add AI Perception

1. With BP_EnemyGuard still open, go to Components panel.
2. Click Add → search AI Perception.
3. Add it. This is Unreal’s built-in perception system.

🔧 Step 6: Configure AI Sight

1. Select AI Perception in Components.
2. In Details → Dominant Sense, set to AI Sense Sight.
3. Expand Senses Config:
   • Click + → choose AI Sight Config.
4. Adjust values:
   • Sight Radius: distance enemy can see.
   • Lose Sight Radius: how far player must go before AI loses sight.
   • Peripheral Vision Half Angle: set to 90 (for full 180° forward vision).
   • Debug Color: set to Green for visibility.
5. Expand Detection by Affiliation:
   • Check Detect Neutrals.
   • By default, the player counts as neutral. Without this, AI won’t see you.

Click Compile & Save.

🏹 Step 7: Place Enemy in Level

• Drag BP_EnemyGuard from Content Drawer into your main level.
• Position it anywhere you want testing.

🔍 Step 8: Test & Visualize

1. Click Play.
2. While the game is running:
   • Press the apostrophe (') key.
   • Then on numpad, press 4.
   • This opens the Perception Debug View.
3. You’ll see:
   • Green lines & a sphere = Sight range.
   • If player enters range → debug shows “Sight”.
   • Age counter starts when AI loses sight of player.

👉 This confirms your AI sees the player with Blueprint-only AI Sight.

🎥 Subtitle (Narration Flow)

“This is Rambod. In this first video, we’ll set up our UE5 project for the Enemy AI Series. Step 1: Create a Third Person project named AIUnreal. Step 2: Organize folders, add an AI folder. Step 3: Create BP_EnemyGuard based on Character. Step 4: Assign SKM Quinn Simple mesh, use ABP Unarmed animation, fix Z offset and yaw. Step 5: Add AI Perception component. Step 6: Configure Sight radius, lose sight radius, peripheral vision, and detection affiliation—tick Detect Neutrals. Step 7: Place BP_EnemyGuard in level. Step 8: Play, press apostrophe + numpad 4 to visualize AI sight. You’ll see green debug lines and detection info. Now your enemy has working AI sight, 100% in Blueprints. Next video, we’ll expand logic for patrol and detection responses.”

✅ Summary

By now you have:

• A clean UE5 project with organized folders
• A BP_EnemyGuard with mesh, animation, and AI Perception
• Configured AI Sight with radius, vision cone, and debug tools
• An enemy placed in the world that can visually detect the player

📦 Project files: GitHub Repo
👉 Watch the full tutorial: YouTube Link 👉 Subscribe for more: Rambod Dev Channel

💬 Questions? Drop them in comments, I answer every one.
🔔 Subscribe for Part 2: Enemy Patrol & Basic Detection Logic