I am still digesting what we've gotten in this massive update:
1) All the new pet galleries (I absolutely love them, btw) do not support Scene Graph, even though the Static Meshes are exposed. Wasn't SG the target logic for it?
2) Weapon templates are cool, hopefully we can get more variety from the game soon, so we have some options to play with. Fundamentals are great, but content is missing. Also, custom weapons block the camera and have no SFX for faraway shots.
3) The pet template doesn't have any functionality built into it; it's only visual. Would love to see what we can do with pets, but there is no example atm.
4) The persona device was overhauled without any documentation or communication. Heard there is a way to make it work still, but a little weird.
5) Scene graph material instances broke? Haven't seen people mention it, and it seems like a big issue.
6) Monitor performance and new memory metrics feel not useful without knowing what the verse or scene graph is doing; these two usually take the most memory and cause the "stop point" in all maps.
7) Live edit load times still feel long to me, even on a new project with basic stuff built into it. Something about "initializing validation checks" (why do I care as a creator if this has to load, feels useless for a simple live edit session)
8) Even though URC mentioned speed fixes for various things like naming/duplicating, it's still as slow as it was when it regressed a year ago. To compare, duplicate any material on UEFN and UE5, and notice the difference in how long it takes.
9) New gizmo broke the combinational gizmo; to fix, enable the legacy gizmo in editor prefs. I haven't fully given it a go yet, but I will soon, so I can't comment on it.
In general, I absolutely love the massive update we've gotten and its content. Still, I wish we had a little more focus on improving the overall editor experience rather than jumping into new shiny things all the time.
What I want to see:
- Core UEFN missing functionality patched - really basic things like controlling the player, camera transitions, overlapping cutscenes to work, player instigation on cutscenes given correctly or through choice, audio in general
- Features for memory optimization: Verse device memory breakdown, Scene graph memory breakdown, counting memory per data layer, and showing memory as an outliner column, combine all memory menus/UI into one cohesive stat that is always updating without user feedback (and show everything affected).
- Editor experience: polish naming/duplicating assets, don't prevent renaming, fix directors with a user popup prompt, auto-fix wrong naming rather than give error, remove dirty asset edits and useless popup clutter from the editor, explain better how data layers work to the user (and visualize them as well). Reduce clicks in viewbinding / verse field workflows.
- Large features: Ability to add more levels to a project, or unload logic to give back memory, render widgets in space that DONT face the player, add index on verse fields, ability to use verse fields and viewmodels together, live edit to sync with landscape edits and UMG, Audio volumes effects, Post process/particles in screen space, connect FN assets with SG, visualize connections from verse and SG to other actors in scene, control player's skin with head/torso settings (for helmets), their animations and facial animations.
Additive animation curves to work, UMG tinting to work on all things, not just fonts.