2 cents on UMG.

Am not finding UMG very easy to work with.
Am constantly dealing with crashes and unorganic workflow.
Am not going to put all the blame on Epic, but in all honesty it making me very frustrated. (And i want to yell at someone. :rolleyes:)

Now I think what a UserWidget needs most of all is something like “On User Widget Show Changed”.
Also some way of telling when the Widget Owning Controller and its Controlled Pawn first becomes valid after construction (on spawn).
Event/ state for when a widget is destroyed, and event for when Owning Controller and Owning Player pawn gets invalid.
Also I very much like to see some more documentation regarding C++ side of things and docs in general.

I think more panel widgets should be available, I don`t get way there is no templates.
e.g: Template Main Menu, Template Option Menu, Template Inventory, Template Pause Menu.

Also when trying to make anything in the UMG Editor I find that layout`s and sizes always gets messed up.
I think is very confining and I feel I need to “hack” the thing in order to get things placed where I want.
Also seems the more stuffs added the more unstable it gets.

I think a lot of nodes makes it just a hassle to use it needs to much casting and getting just to get to something as simple as Set Row in a grid.
They should be simplified in my opinion. (Way stick to the “Slate way”, when i use UMG i don`t want to deal with slots and all that mess.)

Also what happened to Widget Switcher in 4.6 there is no longer Add Child At node?

Am sure in 5 minutes after I post this I will find something else I would like to add .
But I just like to say that my experience with UMG is bad, and am not sure if its just me or what but I hope you got something planned soon.
Because right now, I cant stand UMG and how its workflow, blueprint nodes, Code Support is. I cant count the amount of bug reports I submitted since it`s release, in short unconstructive words I hate it.

Thanks for reading.

It’s only recently been added to the engine, so it has a ways to go still.
Make sure to post bugs in the Answerhub so that they know that they exist.

Most of them has been submited using the crash dialog for the editor.
And i know UMG is young, but they are overcomplicating stuff in my opinion.

If you did not have to deal with all the “useless” nodes UMG should be much better wraped form Slate.
There should not be node need to get slots and all that nonesenss it all should be easy to get to.
The UMG editor should be more “freehanded”, proper documentation and exampels for code extention.

The thing feels very hacked and slashed together and its realy the worst part of the engine.
I have yet to produce any UI that is functional and bug free, just last night discoverd that using the “Clear Children” node will make my Editor crash on Exit from PiE.
And it is checking if everything is valid…

Frustration is running high on this one.

I does not help your case that I read your first post several times and I still don’ know what is it about.

I have written pretty complex inventory system in C++ exposed to blueprint (including custom C++ widgets), and I haven’t encountered any big issues.

And it is far more complicated than your average health display or menu screen.

You should find yourse;f plastic duck or teddy bear and talk out problem to it. It helps. And then when you have more clear idea what does not work, get back and write about it, in manner that everybody understabnds.

Becausee right now if I was person responsible for UMG I would just ignore your post since, there is nothing I can understand in first reading and there are other, more specific issues waiting to be foxed, improved or added (;.

[=;191594]
I does not help your case that I read your first post several times and I still don’ know what is it about.

I have written pretty complex inventory system in C++ exposed to blueprint (including custom C++ widgets), and I haven’t encountered any big issues.

And it is far more complicated than your average health display or menu screen.

You should find yourse;f plastic duck or teddy bear and talk out problem to it. It helps. And then when you have more clear idea what does not work, get back and write about it, in manner that everybody understabnds.

Becausee right now if I was person responsible for UMG I would just ignore your post since, there is nothing I can understand in first reading and there are other, more specific issues waiting to be foxed, improved or added (;.
[/]

Excuse me but I think am explaining this as well as I can, I clearly listed some aspects/ things I like to see changed and/or added.
And I do not appreciate the attempt at insulting me, atleast that’s what it seems like.

I think I made it pretty clear on the first lines of the OP that its a bit of a rant.
Now this is the Feedback Section of the forum and this is my opinion, am not forcing my opinion on anybody.

Also I don`t think Darnell and the others in the UMG team will ignore this post.
They strive to make these tools as userfriendly as possible and when a users voices there frustration, I think Epic know how to deal with it.
What dose not help is your attitude, if I where you instead of recommending a plastic duck try to be helpful instead.

Great that you have made a inventory system way not share a tutorial on it? (I see its on Git.)
The way you behave in this thread is unhelpful and anti social, I prefer if you refrain from that type of comments in the future.

Not plastic. Rubber actually.
(;
You can also call it self code review. Whatever. It helps.

[]
Now I think what a UserWidget needs most of all is something like “On User Widget Show Changed”.
[/]

What does it is supposed to accomplish ? You haven’t explain that.

[]
Great that you have made a inventory system way not share a tutorial on it? (I see its on Git.)
The way you behave in this thread is unhelpful and anti social, I prefer if you refrain from that type of comments in the future.
[/]

I won’t make any tutorial on it. It’s pointless at this point, since API is not yet finalized and more functionality is incoming. You can though, just look at github for sources, I try to comment my work in code.

[]
Template Main Menu, Template Option Menu, Template Inventory, Template Pause Menu.
[/]

Because each game, wants to do them bit differently, and making them generic takes planing, coding, testing, which could be used to improve features of UMG, which will make creating them easier in first place.

[]
Also when trying to make anything in the UMG Editor I find that layout`s and sizes always gets messed up.
[/]

Be more specific. I haven’t had any problems with layout. Slate works in certain way (every UI system does), and by that impose certain requriments of how things should be done. In case of slate it is Widget nesting in slots.

[]
They should be simplified in my opinion. (Way stick to the “Slate way”, when i use UMG i don`t want to deal with slots and all that mess.)
[/]

How do you want them to simplify ? Last time I checked (right now), I dont have to do any casting to add widget into specifc row/column in Uniform Grid.

Slots, are useful for procedurally generating layouts (on runtime), removing/adding widgets. However you call them, they still be slots, and you must have a way to access widgets within widgets.

[]
Also I don`t think Darnell and the others in the UMG team will ignore this post.
[/]

Of course they will read it. But you are not specific enough, you just throw general ideas that something is not working, and not providing what you think should be done to improve that. With such general feedback, you can’t do anything.

I’m really trying to help you, by trying to narrow issues to specific places and get you to think how they could be fixed or improved.

[=;191645]
Excuse me but I think am explaining this as well as I can, I clearly listed some aspects/ things I like to see changed and/or added.
And I do not appreciate the attempt at insulting me, atleast that’s what it seems like.

I think I made it pretty clear on the first lines of the OP that its a bit of a rant.
Now this is the Feedback Section of the forum and this is my opinion, am not forcing my opinion on anybody.

Also I don`t think Darnell and the others in the UMG team will ignore this post.
They strive to make these tools as userfriendly as possible and when a users voices there frustration, I think Epic know how to deal with it.
What dose not help is your attitude, if I where you instead of recommending a plastic duck try to be helpful instead.

Great that you have made a inventory system way not share a tutorial on it? (I see its on Git.)
The way you behave in this thread is unhelpful and anti social, I prefer if you refrain from that type of comments in the future.
[/]

While I think may have been more tactful in his response, I must concur with him that you are being too inarticulate in your complaint. It would be much better if you offered more actionable items. Perhaps you could specify a specific scenario and the way you expect to go about it (in psuedocode, if possible). Then it at least would be clear what your actual problem is. I would also point out that they need to balance “user friendliness” with “flexibility” and they can’t go too far in either direction. Especially if the path is clear, I would prefer the latter when possible.

I have my own issues with UMG at the moment as well. The fact that animations only support linear interpolation for keyframes is a major sore spot, and also seemingly against the intention of the tool in the first place (it may have been a mistake to develop Sequencer and UMG in tandem). The lack of navigation control in the editor (only in code so far, and doesn’t look like it will change for 4.7 either) is also a sore spot. I’m sure there are a number of people for whom “controller support in the UI” is simply not true because of this limitation.

As for including templates, that sounds like a good thing for the community to take on. Games all have different requirements, and it would be good to have a number of options. Perhaps its something I might look into when I have time. I’d also perhaps suggest the existing demos be updated to include UMG support (especially Shooter Game). That right there would be a major step in the right direction.

Yes after reading Inside`s second post i do agree with you both some things are not so clear as it was in my head. lol
And i will make a point of sitting down this weekend and realy detail the problems i am having.

And yes he could have been more tactful but the second post i think shows that his intentions where good.
( I guess am just not used to that type of reply on this forum, we are all so nice. :))
I know to admit when am wrong, so I will keep this in mind in the future.

But i stand by my first statement i don`t like UMG. :stuck_out_tongue:

Today I learned about Rubber Duck Debugging and it’s adorable.

i’m with on this. i chose not to describe my frustration but in my opinion UMG is probably the most awkward software i have ever used and should still be in the experimental section. i was foolish enough to use it as a simple menu and HUD for an iOS game i intended to release for the christmas holidays. this is not likely to happen due to an UMG bug preventing tilt motion input. since using OMG UMG i don’t think i have ever had to shut down the editor manually. right now if I was person responsible for UMG I would just ignore your post since, i would be embarrassed. anyway whats all this about Ducks being Foxed? :smiley:

Guys, I appreciate your frustrations but saying things like “I would be embarrassed” and “should still be in the experimental section” are colorful but really not constructive. If you have a grievance with the system please vocalize it in detail. Words like these just serve to make people feel bad without highlighting the actual problem so the software can improve and it helps nobody.

UMG is not the best part of UE4 yet but it certainly is usable to great extent for creation of almost anything. I know for a fact that there are some things it can do that people think it can’t because we haven’t had proper training in UMG yet, most of us. For one, I didn’t know exactly what scale box did and assumed there was no way to automatically size longer text strings. Scale box does what I assumed was not possible yet.

I suppose we could say that one of UMG’s actual shortcomings is not being very intuitive, though that will be remedied with some training videos and documentation which are being worked on this month, according to Trello.

Hi ,

We want to make sure that users have a great experience with the engine and appreciate all of the feedback you are posting ! If you have a bug, please make sure to report it to the answerhub so we can better assist you. You can find the answerhub : http://answers.unrealengine.com. This is especially helpful when you have bugs that are blocking development, so please make sure to list it there so we can assess the bug promptly. Are there any particular areas where you are getting stuck or feel could use improvements?

InsertChildAt had to go away. It wasn’t intended to be used by user code, it’s something the designer uses to rearrange elements because it is about to completely rebuild the UI. The function wouldn’t work in game code because it can’t insert at a specific index after construction and the widget is live. So you may as well just use AddChild, or AddChild…container specific version, since you clearly know the order to add things. Rather than keep a seemingly buggy piece of API callable by the user, we made it editor only.