A) I never called them slouches at epic. I love the engine and I think they have done a wonderful job with it, overall.
B) Telling people to plan ahead so that they never have to move files is unrealistic, and here is a simple example:
Team A starts project
Team B starts project
Both teams have different file structures for their completely different projects.
Team A develops a feature that would save weeks of work on Team B’s project.
Team A migrates the content to Team B.
The migration carries the file structure from team A’s project to team B’s, because that is what it does.
Now, according to you, Team B should just suck it up, because they didn’t plan ahead for something they could not have possibley predicted.
C) This check is not something that would need to happen all the time. It is a one off deal when files have been moved. So, even if it took 10 minutes to run, if it only had to be ran once a week or once a month when folder cleanup was done, it would still be worth it.
**And for the record they already keep target lists like this for other parts of the engine.
***Also, I don’t really think you are seeing the simplicity of the file:
Target1 /path/target1.uasset
Target2 /path/target2.uasset
–Updates–
Target2 /new path/target2.uasset M(moved code)
Target1 - D(deleted code)
After update
Target2 /new path/target2.uasset
–Updates–
Editing this is dead simple with a handy dandy ctrl+f