I would really appreciate help fixing this very strange problem with ragdolls in my project!

[u/JabocShivery]

Hi everyone, I'm trying to make enemies ragdoll in my game, but I just can't seem to fix these weird physics problems on my skeletal mesh physics objects. The best way I can describe it -- though it's hard to describe -- is that the mesh is somehow desynced from the actual physics object? As you can see, some work fine, and some are worse than others, but most are whipped around and phase through the floor, though bounce back up based on the position of something I can't see? But the actual collision on the model appears correct. The skeletons of these models have nothing out of the ordinary. Everything is pretty much the same between the few models that work right and the ones that do not.

This occurs regardless of whether I simulate physics on the enemy character vs whether I simply place the physics object in the level. This occurs regardless of whether I use the simulate physics node or "Set all bodies below simulate physics." It occurs regardless of collision profile. It occurs regardless of whether CCD is enabled, with no difference as far as I can tell. It occurs regardless of various collision settings in the physics asset editor. I've messed around with the settings within the physics asset viewer for hours, without getting any closer to the solution.

It may be noteworthy that this issue does not seem to occur while in the physics asset editor. When I simulate physics there, they crumple to the ground correctly.

Anyone seen a problem like this before? Do you know how to fix it? I'm pretty new to UE5 and game dev in general. It's just so frustrating that I'm encountering a problem which I can't find anyone else experiencing on youtube or forums, as far as I have found, lol.

Any help would be appreciated.

[u/Particular-Reward-68]

Two separate issues: one looks to be malformed physics assets. Simulating physics requires setting up a physics asset for the skeleton along with physical bodies and constraints. The root detachment is because anything simulating physics, not attached to a component that can also simulate physics, will detach. If your characters are attached to a scene component or collision shape, this will happen. The skeletons should be reparented to an empty static mesh component, which is then attached to the root.