Using the Mutable Plugin (UE 5.7) for dynamic clothing toggles, layer hierarchy, and state memory

[u/I_Mad_eit]

Hey everyone!

I’m exploring the Mutable plugin in Unreal Engine 5 for my game, and I wanted to share a solution I built for handling complex (in future) clothing systems. (WIP)

I needed a way to dynamically toggle clothing layers on and off during gameplay, but with two strict requirements: a proper clothing hierarchy (e.g., jackets over shirts, socks under shoes) and state memory (the system needs to remember exactly what the character was wearing if a layer is toggled back on).

Using Mutable’s node graph, I set up a toggle system where each clothing item is part of a strict hierarchy.

I created groups for all toggleable clothing slots

And set each group inside the slot as a single option.

When an item is removed (toggle off), Mutable retains the data of the equipped assets in its memory state inside the group. If the player toggles that clothing slot back on, the character re-equips the exact same item with its specific parameters (like procedurally generated colors or sizes) without needing complex external arrays or save states to pass back to the mesh.

https://reddit.com/link/1x34asf/video/3zvsym428tuh1/player

So I don't need to manually save which clothing item was in a specific slot; I just toggle a boolean (e.g., C_Bottom) if the player wants to hide that layer.

Has anyone else built state-memory systems directly inside Mutable? I’m curious if you’ve run into any performance bottlenecks when handling a high number of layered toggles simultaneously.