Here is a forums.unrealengine.com–appropriate technical problem, written with a clear title and six very very long paragraphs, focused on programming and Unreal Engine integration for your Culver menu website.
Title: Integrating Unreal Engine UI and Backend Logic with a Dynamic Restaurant Menu Website – Programming and Data Synchronization Challenges
Body:
I am currently experimenting with using Unreal Engine to create an interactive 3D front-end experience for a restaurant menu website, where users can visually browse menu items in a stylized environment rather than through a traditional flat web interface. The Unreal application communicates with the website’s backend API to fetch menu categories, item descriptions, pricing, and promotional data in real time. While the concept works at a basic level, I am facing multiple programming challenges related to API communication, asynchronous data handling, and UI updates within Unreal Engine. Specifically, the integration between C++/Blueprint logic and live backend responses is not behaving consistently, especially when dealing with dynamic updates.
One of the main issues involves making HTTP requests from Unreal Engine to retrieve menu data. I am using Unreal’s HTTP module to send REST API calls and parse JSON responses, but sometimes the requests either fail silently or return incomplete data when multiple calls are triggered simultaneously (for example, loading categories and item details at the same time). Handling asynchronous callbacks correctly within both Blueprint and C++ has proven more complex than expected, particularly when trying to update UI widgets only after all required data has been fully loaded. I would appreciate guidance on structuring network calls and managing concurrency safely in Unreal projects that rely on real-time web data.
Another programming challenge concerns updating UMG widgets dynamically after receiving backend data. The menu interface includes scrollable lists of items, expandable descriptions, dynamic pricing displays, and promotional banners that may change based on API responses. However, when new data is injected into existing widgets, some elements fail to refresh visually unless the entire widget tree is rebuilt. This creates performance overhead and occasional flickering in the UI. I am trying to understand whether this is due to improper binding, invalidation panels, or lifecycle management of widgets within Unreal, and how to ensure efficient UI updates without reconstructing the entire layout.
Performance and optimization are also becoming concerns as the dataset grows. The menu includes many high-resolution images and multiple categories, and when loaded into Unreal, memory usage increases quickly. Even though the website itself handles images efficiently through standard web optimization techniques, managing textures and assets within Unreal requires a different approach. I am unsure whether to stream textures dynamically, cache data locally, or request assets incrementally based on user interaction. Best practices for handling externally sourced content within Unreal’s rendering and memory management system would be extremely helpful.
Another area of difficulty is maintaining consistent data synchronization between the Unreal application and the live website. If pricing or item availability changes on the backend, the Unreal interface should reflect those updates immediately or on refresh. However, implementing reliable polling or push-based updates without overloading the server or the Unreal client has been challenging. I am considering using WebSockets or periodic refresh intervals, but I am not certain how to integrate these cleanly within Unreal’s architecture while keeping the application stable and responsive.
Overall, I am looking for programming advice from the Unreal Engine community on building a robust, scalable integration between Unreal Engine and a dynamic web-based backend system. This includes recommendations for HTTP handling, JSON parsing, asynchronous programming patterns, efficient UMG updates, asset management, and real-time synchronization strategies. Any insights or architectural guidance from developers who have integrated Unreal with live web services would be greatly appreciated, as I want to ensure the system remains performant, maintainable, and production-ready as the menu platform continues to evolve. Very sorry for long post