AI C++ Scripting with Blueprint Performance Opinion Requested

Good Afternoon All,

Thank you in advance for looking at this. I have a functional solution but I am curious what the performance ramifications, if any, are.

I have a AI that has three basic components.

  1. The Brain Object which is an Actor Component . This component has a TArray of possible actions.
  2. Base action class that has derived classes for different actions (work, sleep, fight, etc. etc. Each of the action class’s have another TArray of possible considerations or thoughts.
  3. And lastly BaseConsideration class that the considerations are derived from. ( Am I hungry, am I tired, Am I under attack. etc. )

What I have working right now is a system where each action child class has a blueprint made from it so BaseAction->WorkAction->WorkAction_BP and I am adding the BP to the array of possible actions vs the WorkAction Class itself. I do something Similar with the Considerations being added to the Action BaseConsideration->HungryConsideration->HungryConsideration_BP.

There will be little to no code run in the BP itself. I just like the ability to more easily assign actions and considerations as well as make it easier to tweak certain variables/curves/etc.

My question is if I have 1000 actors running around with this system attached am I loosing much, if any ,performance with those nested BP components vs doing it directly in the C++ code itself. Something like just going into the WorkAction code and in the Array of considerations going TArray.Add(Add consideration1, 2, 3, etc.).

I realize that my ability to program efficiently (which is absolutely in doubt) will likely have more of an impact on performance then using the Blueprints. I am just curious what more experienced individuals think is the better approach. I am trying to simulate a very high volume of actors eventually and would like to start with the best foot forward.

Regards,
Masoric.

Just a quick update. I have changed my methodology a bit.

All of the potential actions are now actor components, and I am just attaching the ones I want directly to the NPC Controller. Considerations are still Blueprints attached to the Action.