We are using 5.7 Preview to check out the latest MassAI implementation with StateTree and mostly replication support state.
There are some major problems with replication the entities transform and Crowd LOD system. (using MassEnityTest.MassRepicationTrait) Any chance to get some roadmap about MassAI replication? Name “*Test” suggest that maybe it’s not your focus now. We are not sure if we:
a) should implement our own Crowd LOD system with replication using MassAI
b) do the same but without using the MassAI (maybe repplication is something that is long ahead of you guys)
c) wait for you guys
Any info about the MassAI replication state/plans would be nice!
We are investigating using Iris for Mass replication currently. It will not be in 5.7, but there is a chance for something to be in 5.8. There are still some issue to be addressed in using Iris as it requires UObject, but it is something one of our devs is currently working on.
As for the test MassReplication, it was done with limited support in 5.0, but has not seen much since that time. There were issues with using FastArray for replicating Mass that caused us to look at other ways to replicate.
You can wait for us to have a possible solution, but I do not have a firm ETA on when it will be available or the production readiness status of it when it is first released. If it is something needed now for testing and building, I would look at making your own system. If you can wait a release or two, we may have something at that point to at least be a starting point with minor adjustments.
I do not have anything for it currently. A member of the team is currently working through everything and I do not know if we have a working prototype for it yet internally. It is a much requested feature, and once we have a working implementation in the engine, we will work on getting some docs and tutorials for Mass replication.
There is no special Iris code for Mass, but rather we were waiting for Iris to power the replication of Mass. Our current work towards MassReplication is not available in a public branch quite yet as we are still actively in dev on it.
Hi, are there any updates on Mass replication in 5.8? I’ve tried using it in the preview, and it crashes with:
Assertion failed: false [File:E:\EpicGames\UnrealEngine_5_8\Engine\Source\Runtime\MassEntity\Private\MassProcessingQueueTypes.cpp] [Line: 541]
Query not found! Processor attempting to run a query it doesn't own.
It seems like it cannot match the entity query that’s modified in the AddRequirements function in the MassReplicator. I’ve tracked it down to the change of CVar mass.UseProcessingQueue now defaulting to True, so a quick workaround is to set it to False. However it would be nice to know if we should keep using the current FastArray replication method, or if we should wait for the upcoming “Iris” way.
Working on Mass Replication currently. The work is still not in the Main stream, but we are hoping to finalize it in time for 5.8 release. I was unaware of the issue with the new Mass processing queue and the replication that was used for 5.0 release.
Hi @James.Keeling, first of all thanks for the replies. I’m taking a look at the mass framework major overhaul features announced in the 5.8 roadmap and I have a few questions:
If I understood correctly, these improvements are not yet included in 5.8 preview? (for example I don’t see the announced MassCore module)
I’m also curious about the GIF shown in the mass roadmap, is that a new mass sample project you are developing alongside the framework overhaul? We’ve been lacking documentation and gameplay examples for quite some time now.
Do you know if there are any efforts on the team to make Mass Entity listen server compatible- add QoL features for listen server? (I’ve noticed that Mass Crowd Replication is heavily geared towards dedicated server model)
Replication improvements are in development but unlikely to land in time for 5.8. I believe the first commit for Iris usage in Mass happened last week in Main. So things are still early, and I would not expect production-ready for this just yet.
The GIF is from a presentation that is being done at Unreal Fest in Chicago. I do not believe we have plans to make the demo project public, but the talk will hopefully be available online after the event. The talk itself is about DOD usage for real game systems such as combat positioning, and it goes into some of the new improvements to Mass for perf.
I do not believe we have made any efforts at making Mass more listen server oriented. Can you describe what issues you are seeing in listen server?