I’ve been waiting for the Unreal Engine 5.2 update, fingers crossed that it would fix a problem that’s been bugging me. Working with Packed Level Actors has been a real pain because of this issue. But after the update, the problem is still there. It’s like a stubborn bug that just won’t go away, making my work with Unreal Engine more of a chore than it should be. So, I’m turning to you guys, hoping someone out there might have a solution to this annoying problem.
EDIT: I have placed a Packed Level Actor inside a Level Instance as I wanted to simulate a scenario of using mega assemblies in sub-levels like for example Points of Interest or other locations that can be clustered into a Level Instance.
To illustrate this more clearly, I’ve prepared some visuals:
I’ve got this Level Instance. Inside it, there’s a sphere and a Packed Level Actor that’s full of cubes.
However, when I select the cube, only a single instance is selected. This is frustrating as I would prefer the entire PLA to be selected in the Outliner.
From what it looks like, you have two levels going on in one level. I have no clue how you did that. I think you packed the level into a packed blueprint actor. Don’t select the world map, select only the objects that you want to be a packed bp actor. Like I said, I think you selected the level too. The last screen is a shot looks like the packed BP editor view.
You packed a packed level actor inside of a level instance; that’s just the result of doing so. I think it’s treating them as such, because the cubes are a packed level actor inside of an instance? I don’t know if they can be both?
Hi dblzeero! I have placed a Packed Level Actor inside a Level Instance as I wanted to simulate a scenario of using mega assemblies in sub-levels like for example Points of Interest or other locations that can be clustered into a Level Instance. It may seem convoluted, but it offers more control and can help mitigate some performance issues. This process allows me to treat complex structures as single objects, which can then be managed more easily. That’s why I value this approach and look forward to finding a solution. However, I understand it can cause some confusion, so I’ll make sure to be clearer in my future instructions. Thank you for your feedback, I appreciate your insights. Let me know if you have any other queries or suggestions!
PLA’s are pretty good in certain conditions, but they’re not as fast as they could be - I did a number of benchmarks and they were never the fastest or best:
I get what you’re wanting though - a scene which you can edit as assemblies, but it renders as all ISMs or HISMs for speed. That’s why I created rdBPtools (on the marketplace) - it’s made to create nested assemblies which can all be assimilated into just one actor and global HISMs - when using the C++ rdInst instance handler, it’s the fastest way by a lot!
Your tool sounds intriguing and promising - benefits of both worlds: the editability of assemblies and the rendering speed of HISMs/ISMs. I’m very eager to give rdBPtools a try.
Just to confirm, will this plug-in solve the issue of not being able to select a HISM/ISM from within a Level Instance? If so, you can consider me your next satisfied customer.
Actually you can’t select the HISM/ISM using this tool either - there is a flag to make them selectable in the HISMC and ISMC’s but it doesn’t work quite that way. One of the reasons that instances are a lot faster in the editor is because it’s not checking all of those instances when the mouse is clicked/moved.
With the Blueprints that rdBPtools creates, you select them and drag from an icon at the front of the BP - you can also easily just add a simple mesh component to your BP and use that as a selector (just hide at play).
If you’re wanting to edit those objects in the BP - there is a tool to copy them all back to a level (any level) and you can edit them as straight actors again - then convert back to instances at any time.
I have never contemplated this perspective before; it now appears logical. However, I fail to discern any rationale as to why every one of these instances, which can be selected within the viewport (SMInstanceSomethingProxyObject class), is incapable of possessing an additional reference to its parent. Nevertheless, the employment of a selectable billboard serves as a satisfactory temporary solution. I am eagerly anticipating the opportunity to test your tool and showcase it to my team. Upon experimenting with your proposed suggestions, I shall deem your response as resolved. Thank you!
