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Intended workflow
How the framework expects you to work. Following this keeps your project updatable when a new framework version ships.
The golden rule
Never edit the framework plugins. Everything you build lives in your project's own content and subclasses or references the framework. This is what lets you drop in a new version without merging.
The normal build order
- Set up the level. Create the
PDA_Level, the map and theBP_MapInfoactor. Get the right pawn spawning before anything else — most confusing early problems are the wrong pawn. - Subclass the pawns. Derive from the showroom pawns and add the abilities your project needs. Remove the ones it does not.
- Build interactables. Add interaction components to your actors. Start with the simplest capability that works, then add conditions.
- Add UI last. The UI system binds to state; build the state first and the UI has something to bind to.
Where things belong
| What | Where |
|---|---|
| Your interactable actors | Project content, subclassing nothing framework-specific |
| Your pawns | Project content, subclassing the showroom pawns |
| Your themes | Project content, new BP_PDA_Theme assets |
| Your settings | Project content, subclassing BP_Value_Settings_* |
| Your widgets | Project content, deriving from WBP_Base |
| Your levels | Project content, with a PDA_Level each |
Iteration tips
Tip
Set Pawn Select to Force Desktop on a working copy of your level data asset while iterating. Launching VR preview for every change is the single biggest time sink in VR development.
Tip
The example maps are the fastest reference. When something is not behaving, open the example map for that feature and compare component settings — the difference is usually one property.