Overview

In this article, I’ll explain how to set the internal color when using Chaos Destruction in Unreal Engine 5.5.

Why I Wrote This Post

While following a tutorial on Chaos Destruction, I ran into an issue when trying to set the internal color. In the tutorial, the geometry collection had multiple material slots, so setting the internal color was simple. But in my case, I only had one material slot—probably because of a version change in Unreal Engine. It took me about an hour to figure it out, which was frustrating.

It would be great if Epic Games could automatically update or add notes to older tutorials when things change in newer engine versions.

Environment

• Unreal Engine 5.5
• Windows 11 Pro

Using Chaos Destruction

If you’ve never used Chaos Destruction before, watch these tutorials first—they’re both great. I’ll skip the basics like enabling the Chaos Destruction plugin and creating a geometry collection.

Unreal Engine 5 - Chaos Destruction Basics | Tutorial
Chaos Destruction - Geometry Collections

• Quick tip from the video 👇
  • Shift + B: Toggle bone color display

This article will focus only on how to set the internal color in UE5.5, since it differs from the tutorial.

Setting Internal Color for Geometry Collection in UE5.5

When following the tutorial and fracturing the geometry collection, I noticed I only had one material slot. In contrast, the tutorial showed three slots, with the second one used for the internal color.

To solve this issue, I found the solution for setting the internal color in UE5.5 on the Unreal Engine forums:
Inner Material Issue - Geometry Collection

Step 1: Add a Material Slot

In Fracture Mode, scroll down the tool list.
Click "Material", then click "Add Material Slot".

Step 2: Assign the Internal Color

In Asset Materials, use index [1] to select your internal color material.
In the Assign Material section, set the index to [1], and under To Faces, choose "Only Internal Faces".
Click "Assign Materials".

That’s it. test it out!

Feel free to leave a comment if you have any questions!

And please leave a 💗 if you found this helpful (you’ll need to sign in).
It really encourages me to keep sharing useful UE5 tips. Let’s support each other! 🙂

References

• Unreal Engine 5 - Chaos Destruction Basics | Tutorial
• Chaos Destruction - Geometry Collections
• UE Forums: Inner material issue, geometry collection