Confusing for VS-newcomers: Inconsistency of Defaulting in VS to Editor-Debug, but the main install shortcut uses regular .dll

Development Platform & Builds Debugging, Optimization, & Profiling
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1

Dear Friends at Epic,

I’ve just spent about 2 hours debugging why my game was not reflecting my coding changes

I realized all of my shortcuts were using just -game, not -game -debug

and the way that VS is set up now, it only writes out to the editor-debug .dll file

#Logical Inconsistency for Code Project Makers

It is a logical inconsistency

to have the UE4 rocket main shortcut that comes with the installation point to the standard .dll of a project

when you are confined within VS to only using the Editor-debug build!!

possible solutions

a. The rocket install shortcut should either point to the debug build of a project by default

b. or the only available VS target should create the standard .dll

my solution in meantime has been to add -debug to all my shortcuts

but this took me about 2 hours to figure out

so please

create a consistency

between

  1. how the shortcut gets created for the main rocket editor upon installation

and

  1. the .dll created by the only VS editor debug solution.

#How do I change editor debug VS to write out to the standard name .dll file?

I would like to only use the standard game .dll since having multiple .dll files is very confusing to me :slight_smile:

How do I change VS to only use standard .dll?

Please let me know what you think the best way to address this issue is

it sounds minor but it had me veeeery confused for a loooong time

Rama

2

#Happy Feedback About Beta5

Now that I got basic project loading with this recent revelation

I got a change to actually play around

Oh My Good Heavens

I love Beta5!

more positive feedback here

http://forums.epicgames.com/threads/975089-Things-You-Love-About-UE4-Rocket-amp-Thank-You-Epic-Thread?p=31708798&viewfull=1#post31708798

(I’ve only just started getting in game)

3

I found answer to my own question,

To cause VS to output the same .dll that the default rocket install icon will be loading, the one that works with -game and not also -debug,

in VS

go to Build-> Configuration Manager

and switch to Development_Editor

Now all future compiles will go to the main .dll in binaries

#Love You Epic

Love you Epic, but please, for the uninitiated regarding VS, such as my self, please

please

change the default VS configuration to Development_Editor as the default for the next Beta

since that is what the default editor icon uses!

will save some ppl lot of confusion :slight_smile:

I am sure for pro VS users this all makes sense

but I’ve only know VS for the amount of time I’ve known about Rocket :slight_smile:

Thanks!

Rama

4

Hi Rama,

Thank you for your feedback. Do you have any specific changes for the Compiling Game Projects documentation that would better clarify this workflow?

Currently there is a only a small information box that reads “When running Rocket, it is important to add the -game flag if you rebuilt your project in any Uncooked configuration, and the -debug flag if you rebuilt your project in any Debug configuration.” It is located at the bottom of the “Building the Project” section.

Thank you,

Alexander

5

Great to hear from you Alexander!

Well in my opinion, Visual Studio can be a bit intimidating even for programmers who are just not used to it.

I really only use it for compiling to be honest.

So to have the standard rocket install have consistency between the default Visual Studio output build and the rocket icon that appears on the deskop would help to minimize confusion for people just arriving to the UE4 C++ scene.

This would mean changing Visual Studio default build from

Debug_editor

to

Development_Editor

#Documentation

For beta5 you could certainly add a Initial Setup Step that indicates doing 1 of

a. changing the VS build to Develoment_Editor, or

b. adding -debug to the install-rocket-shortcut

I would recommend making this initial step a little green info icon highlighted thing like the 2012 tip, since it is a very essential first step

Regarding documentation, no matter how much documentation there is, the fact is that there is an inconsistency / action required from the new Rocket C++ programmer the moment they install, before they will ever see their changes reflected in the editor.

This extra setup-step by new UE4 C++ programmers should not be required, it should be a step that they learn later in the learning curve at their convenience, not a required pre-requisite to seeing anything change from their programming efforts

:slight_smile:

Rama

PS: overall, I absolutely adore beta5, fyi :slight_smile:

6

Hey Rama,

Thank you for your feedback. I will pass this information along to a doc specialist for their consideration.