Bro, (or Sis I guess), I have been working with ISMs for about a month now and here’s what I’ve found. Unreal devs, feel free to weigh in with some explanation:
InstancedStaticMeshes (ISMs) created in the editor by the editor have the new functionality that allows you to select a single instance of the ISM and move it around. Very cool, really handy. You can use Alt-Drag to create more instances but you can’t click on one Instance and have it select the parent actor.
ISMs created via blueprint or code (Or Houdini I posit) have the ‘old’ functionality where you cannot move each individual instance via the editor and instead when you click on one it selects the parent and highlights all of the instances.
I have been creating a lot of ISMs via code and I find this functionality frustrating. If there was a way to switch back and forth between those two modes that would be awesome.
Hint: If you create an ISM via Blueprint/code/Houdini, by adding an instance in the editor (Via the little + button (Add instance) in the ISM component) it instantly switches ‘modes’. You can now select each individual instance, but you cannot go back to the previous mode where clicking on one selects the actor.
If you figure something out, please post it!