Unchained
Major overhaul to the Procedural Chain & Cuffs plugin pair.
Original asset - https://www.loverslab.com/files/file/7856-vam-cuffs-and-chains-and-rope/
Ever wanted a chain that actually behaves like a chain? One that swings, sags, and pulls — not a rigid prop glued to the air?
Unchained is a two-part plugin system that generates a fully physics-driven chain at runtime and snaps a cuff onto the end of it.
No baking, no rigging, no fuss. Drop it in, dial in your settings, and watch it react to the scene in real time.
Here's what changed:
Bug Fixes
- Chain link count now rebuilds correctly on scene load — no more needing to nudge the slider to get the right number of links
- Links update as you adjust the sliders, no more "update" button needed.
- Color callbacks no longer crash when loading a preset (the color picker widget doesn't have to be open anymore)
- Fixed a subtle off-by-one bug where each chain rebuild was adding an extra link
Chain and Cuff settings can now be saved and loaded as presets. Presets are also fully exposed in VaM's trigger system, so you can swap looks via timeline or scene triggers.
New: Collider Toggle (Chain)
Chain colliders can now be switched on and off at runtime. Default is OFF — the chain still holds together and constrains perfectly via joints, but can't cause physics explosions during setup. Flip it on only when you need the chain to physically interact with the environment.
Improved: Physics Slider Labels & Ranges
The physics controls have been renamed and rescaled so they actually make sense:
| Before | After | Range |
|---|---|---|
| Mass Scale | Joint Stiffness | 0 – 500 |
| Connected Mass Scale | Connected Stiffness | 0 – 500 |
| Chain Link Mass | Chain Link Mass | 0 – 2 |
| Angular Damper | Rotation Damping | 0 – 50 |
| Linear Damper | Movement Damping | 0 – 100 |
Improved: Default Colors
Chain now ships with near-black diffuse and medium gray specular out of the box — a neutral base that works with any material workflow instead of defaulting to red.
Unchained — Setup Guide
Getting up and running takes about two minutes. Here's how:
Step 1 — Create the Chain
- Add a CustomUnityAsset atom to your scene
- Set the asset to ProceduralChain.prefab or Chain.prefab from unchained.assetbundle
- Open the atom's Plugin tab and add ProceduralChainV2.cs
- The chain will appear immediately with default settings
- Add a second CustomUnityAsset atom — this will be your cuff model
- Open its Plugin tab and add Cuffs.cs
- In the Cuffs plugin panel, open the Connect to Atom dropdown and select your chain atom
- The cuff snaps onto the end of the chain automatically
- Turn Physics and Collision OFF on the cuff atom so you can move it freely without fighting the chain
- Always set the cuff atom's controls to Off
- Use the Selected Material dropdown to pick a material on your cuff, then adjust color, smoothness, and bump to taste
- Save your look with the Save Preset button so you can reuse it later
Step 4 — Tune the Chain
| Slider | What it does |
|---|---|
| Chain Link Count | How many links long the chain is |
| Chain Link Scale | How big each link is |
| Chain Link Mass | How heavy each link feels |
| Joint Stiffness | How hard the joints resist movement |
| Connected Stiffness | Stiffness on the connected end |
| Rotation Damping | How quickly spinning slows down |
| Movement Damping | How quickly swinging slows down |
- Start with Colliders OFF while positioning — turn them on only if you need the chain to push against other objects
- Chain parameters interact with each other. If something looks wrong, try adjusting mass and stiffness together
Tips
- If your cuff slips or clips — especially on the left arm — that's a VaM limitation; the left arm collider is slightly smaller than the right
- If the chain explodes or goes haywire, toggle Colliders Enabled off and back on to reset it
- Presets save all visual and physics settings — set up once, reuse everywhere
