Ask Epic Anything: Programming & Scripting | May 24th, 2023 at 12:30PM EST

[Conan_Reis]

@DRAGONSTUDIO

Do you prefer coding to Level Design/Game Design? And between the two, which one do you feel is the most challenging?

I think that they ideally go hand in hand. The best results are a melding of both. It also makes them both more fun to work on.

[Ray-Benefield]

@im_a_lama

Idk if my question is relevant here but, will we have a roadmap or anything to track what is actually being done by the team ?

I’d love to have that in order to anticipate my developments, because I sometimes write workarounds that I could do without… (also it could prevent us from posting bugs that are already being worked on)

There was a loose roadmap of high level game genre roadmap we are hoping to address throughout the next year that was presented at GDC.

We are definitely aware of the desire to be able to keep track of top bugs in UEFN and once we have an update to the process we’ll communicate accordingly.

In terms of a more detailed roadmap of features we are unable to promise timelines. We will often acknowledge when a feature is something we want or if it is even something we are working on, but timings can change often, so we are unable to speak on that unless we’re 1,000% certain.

[Conan_Reis]

@Megaspace

Do you see the API moving away from this device centric architecture into one maybe more like Unreal where we can control the game directly in Verse code?

Devices will always be available, though there could be more points of entry for Verse in the future.

That being said - right now - you could make a device that provides Verse code for an entire game with little or no placed devices. Some devices are still black boxes that don’t have a full representation in Verse equivalent code - though that should be less the case over time.

[alk3ovation]

What is the timeline for functional text localization to be available?

[Conan_Reis]

@DRAGONSTUDIO

Would you like to see Verse morph into, or provide an option to use it as, a visual scripting system? (i.e - like that of UE blueprints)

It would be great to easily toggle between a textual and visual representation of Verse one day. At Epic we have been experimenting with a number of ideas and implementations for graphically visualizing Verse, though we aren’t sure if we will go in that direction or any sort of ETA if we do.

[Conan_Reis]

@DRAGONSTUDIO

How does Verse compare to that of Python?

It has some surface similarities such as Verse allowing significant indentation - though other forms of specifying block scope are also allowed.

Verse is strongly typed while Python is not.

Python has a huge number of libraries whereas Verse has a burgeoning API within UEFN.

Verse has simulations and concurrency built into it from the start and Python more or less added these sorts of things as later add-ons.

In the future, as Verse is more able to stand on its own, a comparison with Python will be more interesting.

See more of the high level aspects of Verse here - Verse Language Reference

[Conan_Reis]

@DRAGONSTUDIO

Do you see Verse replacing C++ in the future?

We talk about it - it could one day.

Verse aims to at least be the language of the Metaverse.

Right now it is an embedded language that works in tandem with C++. Both have their advantages and disadvantages.

It could near term replace Lua and other languages used for game scripting.

A next more lofty goal might be having Verse in the area where you might find Python.

[Perigee_Digital]

Hello, congrats on such an ambitious and inspiring project for the Fortnite world.
My question is with regards to the Verse language: Will there be resources in a library of functions, actions, syntax, etc that identify their synonym in Unreal coding approaches. I am looking at things like Trigger Volumes(colliders) and the like.

[kamilek4910]

I have a question why are there same annoying items getting added to battle royale eg webshooters lightsabers raptors etc also why is there same boss staying for another season (slone) it looks like lack of ideas because new items can be added instead also why was competetive mode ruined by bots addiction arena and ssyphon removal?

[Conan_Reis]

@Megaspace

What are the biggest architectural challenges behind implementing new features in Verse/Fortnite?

As to Verse some of the key challenges are:

• working within a large pre-existing system with many teams, considerations, priorities and legacy features and content - UEFN, Fortnite and Unreal
• trying to come up with an API that is conducive to long-term backwards compatibility
• working with the Blueprint Virtual Machine (VM) until the new Verse VM is created

[Conan_Reis]

@Star-Wyse

For someone like me who has zero knowledge in coding, what would be a good way to learn Verse as a first programming language?

• Go through the Verse examples and tutorials and run them - Learn Programming with Verse
• Tinker with them making little changes and see what happens.
• Look through the example templates and projects and do the same.
• Look at the Verse examples and questions here in the forums.
• Many UEFN users are making tutorials for Verse that they post about on YouTube and on Twitter - https://twitter.com/hashtag/UEFN

In the future we will have more examples and tutorials and more tools helping to learn and experiment with Verse.

[Conan_Reis]

@MBroNetwork

What made you choose to create Verse instead of choosing to use a programming language like Lua or JavaScript or C++ like UE5 uses?

• Verse needs to be able to run within Fortnite on all its platforms so that makes C++ tricky to use.
• It targets the Metaverse and its massive scalability- such as concurrency and parallelism.
• In order to persist across its evolution and the programs that use it, the language needed to be designed from the ground up to support backwards compatibility.
• The language needed to take advantage of the fact that that it is for simulations where many things run over time and it works in tandem with world editors and associated tools.
• Dependable stability and security needs.

Many more considerations can be found here - Verse Language Reference

[Flak]

So happy to see so many familiar faces here! Thanks for all of your questions.

[Conan_Reis]

@Wertandrew

Are there any plans to directly inject code while a specific sequencer is running (so we can make tags within the sequence that Verse subscribes), or raycasting as an input so we can do logic such as track if the player is outside?

We are working to tie Verse into sequencer - several mechanisms are being discussed and no ETA yet.

Not sure about raycasting as an input specifically, though we are expanding the Verse API with many different sorts of events to be notified about.

[Conan_Reis]

@Patothief

How many developers are working on UEFN post-release, for example on patch 24.40?

Many many on many teams all across Epic.

[Conan_Reis]

@Patothief

Is there larger patch being worked on in the background or is this the pace at which things will get improved/fixed (like in 24.30 and 24.40)?

Since UEFN (and Verse) exist within Fortnite, their update schedule is in step with Fortnite updates. Some fixes, changes, features will appear with minor Fortnite patches / minor updates and some larger initiatives will span multiple patches or major Fortnite releases. Most Fortnite updates will have a mix of large and small UEFN and Verse updates.

[Conan_Reis]

@LoudSilencer

Are there any plans to extend Verse functionality across many other Unreal Engine features, such as Niagra Components and Level Sequences? Specific examples would be running functions in Verse code through Level Sequences Events, or activating/editing Niagra component values.

Yes - we plan to sprinkle magic Verse dust on any part of the Epic ecosystem that makes sense over time.

[Conan_Reis]

@PiEqualsThree3

If you had to give an estimate, on a scale of 1-10, how “complete” do you think Verse is as of this point in time. Specifically, should we expect new methods/classes/functionality or even modules to be added (Looking at you UnrealEngine.com/Temporary ), or should we expect mostly small bug fixes/changes, and at what pace? Any hints as to what we can expect by the end of 2023?

Verse - the language - still has a fair amount to grow and evolve over time. Considering how much other actively used languages evolve over time - this is just the beginning. The Verse tooling is just in its infancy - we plan many more riches of sophistication, power and ease of use.

As to the Verse API - we’re just scratching the surface - 0 out of 10. Eventually we will allow end users to submit their own Verse modules and other code so things should increase exponentially.

[Conan_Reis]

@Megaspace

What features are missing in Verse that bother you the most? Those things that you really wanted to get done for this first cut but weren’t able to.

Iterated forms of concurrency expressions. So sync, race and rush etc. that work sort of like a for loop but concurrently. These are planned and partially implemented though not finished in time for UEFN Beta. Working with arrays of objects concurrently without them is a pain - and it is a common need.

sync(Item:List):
    Item.Coro()
    DoStuff(Item)

Which is essentially the same as:

sync:
    if(Item0 := List[0]):
        Item0.Coro()
        DoStuff(Item0)
    if(Item1 := List[1]):
        Item1.Coro()
        DoStuff(Item1)
    # ...
    if(ItemN := List[N]):
        ItemN.Coro()
        DoStuff(ItemN)

For tooling it would probably Verse Debugging. It can be tricky to do debugging in a live environment with multiple users - you cannot just stop everything. We have some ideas on how to move forward though. Also - while it is there I’d also say more aware and comprehensive auto-complete.

For the API - well, many things. It will take a while to get to the same mass of features as exposed in the Unreal Engine - though with Metaverse considerations in mind.

There are numerous other aspects that I felt acute pain that we didn’t have time to get in for Beta. I won’t be able to specify them since we may never get to some of them and if we do many do not yet have a specific ETA. We have no shortage of ideas of awesomeness.

[Rodney_Houle]

@Nman_Pkr

Will we ever get the ability to have variable persistence across rounds? For example consider the following psuedo attribute applied to a variable:

This is currently on our radar as a limitation for creating different game types in Verse. We are discussing internally the best way to handle this.