1. Install ALS

Overview

This page prepares your Unreal project for ALS-Refactored.

By the end of this guide, you should have:

the ALS-Refactored plugin inside your project
the plugin compiled successfully for your local Unreal version
Unreal opening the project without ALS build errors
ALS plugin content visible in the editor

This guide only covers plugin setup. It does not cover retargeting or character replacement yet.

Before You Start

ALS-Refactored is a C++ Unreal plugin. Even if your project is mostly Blueprint-based, Unreal still needs C++ build tools to compile the plugin.

This guide assumes:

you are on Windows
you already have an Unreal project created
you are using Unreal Engine 5.7
you want to install ALS as a project plugin inside YourProject/Plugins/

If you are using another Unreal version, this guide may not work exactly as written.

Requirements

1. Visual Studio 2022

Unreal Engine uses Microsoft’s MSVC compiler and the Windows SDK to build C++ plugins. VS Code alone is not enough for this step because it does not include the compiler toolchain Unreal needs.

Download: Visual Studio 2022 Community Edition

During installation, select:

Desktop development with C++

Under that workload, make sure these components are installed:

MSVC v143 - VS 2022 C++ x64/x86 build tools
Windows 10 SDK or Windows 11 SDK

2. Unreal Engine 5.7

This guide is written for Unreal Engine 5.7 because the ALS version used here expects that engine version.

Install Unreal Engine through the Epic Games Launcher if possible. That is the easiest option for beginners and usually gives Unreal’s build scripts the engine registration they expect.

3. Git (Optional)

You only need Git if you want to clone the repository directly.

If you do not use Git, downloading the ZIP from GitHub is completely fine.

1. Create a `Plugins` Folder in Your Project

Open your Unreal project folder. If it does not already contain a Plugins folder, create one.

Expected structure:

YourProject/
  Plugins/

Example:

D:\Projects\Unreal\ALSX2\
  Plugins\

2. Download ALS-Refactored

You can install ALS-Refactored in one of two ways.

Option A: Download the ZIP from GitHub

Download the repository ZIP from GitHub.

Extract it into your project’s Plugins folder.

If the extracted folder is named something like ALS-Refactored-main, rename it to:

ALS-Refactored

After extraction, this file should exist at this exact level:

YourProject/Plugins/ALS-Refactored/ALS.uplugin

That check is important. If ALS.uplugin is buried inside another nested folder, Unreal may not detect the plugin correctly.

Extracting the ZIP into the Plugins folder

Option B: Clone with Git

If Git is installed, open a terminal inside your project’s Plugins folder and run:

cd D:\Projects\Unreal\ALSX2\Plugins
git clone https://github.com/Sixze/ALS-Refactored ALS-Refactored

When the clone finishes, you should have:

YourProject/Plugins/ALS-Refactored

3. Build the Plugin

Inside YourProject/Plugins/ALS-Refactored, run:

.\BuildPlugin.bat

This script uses Unreal’s build tools to:

create a temporary host project
compile the ALS plugin
package the plugin output into a Build folder

Depending on your machine, the first build may take a few minutes.

What the Build Script Expects

For the build to work, you usually need:

Unreal Engine 5.7 installed
Visual Studio 2022 with C++ build tools
Windows SDK installed

If one of those is missing, the build usually fails before packaging finishes.

What Success Looks Like

A successful build usually ends with output similar to:

BUILD SUCCESSFUL
AutomationTool exiting with ExitCode=0 (Success)

You should also see a Build folder created inside:

YourProject/Plugins/ALS-Refactored/Build

About the Registry Warning

You may see a message like this at the start of the build:

ERROR: The system was unable to find the specified registry key or value.

That message can look alarming, but by itself it does not always mean the build failed. In the sample build log, Unreal still found the engine path and the build completed successfully afterward.

What matters is the final result:

if the log ends with BUILD SUCCESSFUL, the plugin built correctly
if the script stops early or never reaches packaging, then you need to troubleshoot the setup

4. Copy the Compiled Output

After the build finishes, copy the generated plugin binaries from the packaged build output back into your project plugin folder.

At minimum, you want the compiled Binaries folder available under:

YourProject/Plugins/ALS-Refactored/Binaries

If Unreal is currently open, close it before copying files.

5. Open the Unreal Project

Open your Unreal project normally.

The first launch after adding a compiled plugin can take a little longer than usual. Unreal may need extra time for initialization, asset discovery, or shader-related work.

6. Verify That ALS Loaded Correctly

When the project opens:

make sure Unreal does not show ALS compile errors
confirm the ALS plugin is enabled
confirm ALS content is visible in the Content Drawer

You should be able to see ALS plugin content after enabling plugin content visibility if needed.

ALS Refactored content in the Content Drawer

If you do not see the assets, check whether Show Plugin Content is enabled in the Content Drawer settings.

Common Problems

Unreal does not detect the plugin

Check the folder structure first. This is the most common beginner mistake.

This is correct:

YourProject/Plugins/ALS-Refactored/ALS.uplugin

This is wrong:

YourProject/Plugins/ALS-Refactored-main/ALS-Refactored/ALS.uplugin

`BuildPlugin.bat` fails immediately

Usually this means one of these is missing:

Visual Studio 2022
C++ build tools
Windows SDK
the correct Unreal Engine version

Recheck the Requirements section before trying again.

The plugin builds, but no content appears in Unreal

Make sure:

the plugin is enabled
Show Plugin Content is turned on
the project opened the correct copy of the plugin

You are using a different Unreal Engine version

If your project is not on Unreal Engine 5.7, the current ALS branch may not build cleanly. In that case, you may need:

an older ALS release
a compatible branch
source changes for your engine version

Next Step

Once ALS is installed and visible in the project, you are ready to move on to character setup and integration.