Blueprint - Export to text / meta data on image - make it easier to share blueprints on forrums

General Feedback & Requests
1

One of the downsides of a visual scripting tool is the easy of sharing.

Code / Text can be copy / pasted.

Typically people will take a screenshot and post a blueprint.

This means if someone wants to replicate, they have to recreate the blueprint from scratch.

Two solutions come to mind

  1. If there was some way to easily share the blueprints in a text based way that’d be great.
    Somehow simplifying the .uasset so that it can easily be copy / pasted
    With 4.11 having the auto-alignment tools, the actual layout is not necessarily important. Just the function of the blueprint.
  2. “Share” button within Unreal Editor which would actually package the .uasset as meta data within the blueprint image and then put a little watermark on it stating the image has meta data to extract.

Thanks for reading.

2

I think that a solution would be a javascript library that takes the text copied from a blueprint and transform that into an image.

something like:
Copying from blueprint => text => javascript load text => show image

3

That’s an interesting idea, I like it! :slight_smile:

4

Seems like it is already possible, just not sure how.

On this youtube clip by Peter L. Newton (Blueprints - Shooting Projectiles At Mouse Location - Unreal Engine 4)
He has a link to a blueprint in text: http://pastebin.com/E3eyDBsw

5

Are you aware of this?

Just select you nodes and copy/paste into notepad.

6

“Forehead slap”

Well, I think I’ve been GameJaming enough for today…

If you select any blueprint item or the whole blueprint, it does paste as human readable text…

eg: The Event Begin Play element



Begin Object Class=K2Node_Event Name="K2Node_Event_489"
   Begin Object Class=EdGraphPin Name="EdGraphPin_5314"
   End Object
   Begin Object Class=EdGraphPin Name="EdGraphPin_5315"
   End Object
   Begin Object Name="EdGraphPin_5314"
      PinName="OutputDelegate"
      Direction=EGPD_Output
      PinType=(PinCategory="delegate",PinSubCategoryMemberReference=(MemberParent=Class'/Script/Engine.Actor',MemberName="ReceiveBeginPlay"))
   End Object
   Begin Object Name="EdGraphPin_5315"
      PinName="then"
      Direction=EGPD_Output
      PinType=(PinCategory="exec")
      LinkedTo(0)=EdGraphPin'K2Node_MacroInstance_90.EdGraphPin_5320'
   End Object
   EventReference=(MemberParent=Class'/Script/Engine.Actor',MemberName="ReceiveBeginPlay")
   bOverrideFunction=True
   Pins(0)=EdGraphPin'EdGraphPin_5314'
   Pins(1)=EdGraphPin'EdGraphPin_5315'
   NodePosX=-1360
   NodePosY=-256
   NodeGuid=BD7BB7924218AB6D4871B4BFBCFD1951
End Object
7

I know that :slight_smile:

Copying from blueprint => text => share on answerhub/forum => javascript load text => show image

8

Get in contact with owner of www.blueprintue.com. Maybe it’s possible to add his widget into the forum/answerhub engine or make a smart link - something that is used for youtube videos for example. I’m not a web dev so might be talking nonsense :stuck_out_tongue:

9

Any web developer that’s worth their salt can do that :smiley: I do see a pretty major problem with this though, there is really no full-proof way for the developer to keep it bug-free, or even update his thing to the latest versions of the engine in a timely manner :(, which could cause some pretty big issues if you are reporting a bug on the forums for 4.10 and your nodes don’t copy over right.