Minor - Docs: "Converting Assets Into Props" tutorial focuses solely on destruction/harvesting, doesn't mention that you need to convert meshes into props to use Prop Mover, Phone Selector, etc

As a creator who isn’t primarily interested in incorporating the classic Fortnite destruction, harvesting, and building mechanics into my game, I found it misleading that the Adding Custom Content modules seemed to imply that the only reason I needed to convert an asset to a prop was so that players could destroy it for harvesting resources. This is a functionality I don’t need for my game, and I’m sure some other creators don’t need it either. But in practice, there are broader uses for prop conversion, like making an asset compatible with devices like the Prop Mover, Prop Manipulator, and Prop Gun. And because I skipped the prop step I couldn’t do these things.

Edit: TinyWorks pointed out that we also need to convert meshes into props in order for the phone tool to work on them in Creative mode!

Because I didn’t need my prop to be harvested by creators, in fact I specifically do not want players to damage and destroy my mesh, I skipped the “Creating a Building Prop Blueprint,” “Converting Assets into Prop,” and “Playtesting Custom Assets” modules. I assumed that I was ready to move on after “Creating a Material Instance”. I think that other creators like me might make the same mistake.

Then when I tried to move my mesh using the Prop Mover and it didn’t work, I was disappointed because I assumed that UEFN must not support using devices on custom assets. Or that something was wrong with my Verse script, or with the way I had positioned the device. Until Rynex in Discord told me I needed to convert to a prop, and then I did that and it worked great. And I saw that I can uncheck “Can Be Destroyed”.

Even just the name “Building Prop” implies that this is a prop for harvesting and building with, not for general use. The word Prop is in there, which matches the name for Prop Mover etc, but for me it was still not intuitive enough. Creators who don’t come from FNC may not be familiar with device names.

Below are examples of how the docs describe the purpose of converting a mesh into an prop. All of it revolves around destruction:

At the end of “Creating a Material Instance” module (this is the point where I left the webpage because I didn’t need destructibility):

Once you’ve created the material instance for your asset, you’re ready to create a BuildingProp that allows you to determine the destruction and damage properties of your asset and the resource type it drops when destroyed.

The end of Creating a Prop Blueprint:

After the Building Prop Blueprint is created, you need to convert your asset into a prop by adding details to your Blueprint by configuring the resource settings, damage and destruction for the asset.

The beginning of "Converting Assets into Props:

By converting your asset into a prop, you can determine how your asset handles gameplay elements like damage and destruction, and which resource type is dropped when the asset is destroyed.

The following workflow configures resource, damage and destruction properties into the empty BluePrint you created.

I suggest the docs include some copy that keeps creators who aren’t interested in building mechanics on board with the tutorial, by explaining broader uses for Building Props.

I agree with this! Converting assets into props / FN actor has much more functionality then the tutorial may imply. It should be part of your/everyone’s asset creation process every time.

Another thing I wanted to add is that Converting it into a proper actor will allow your mesh to be selectable with the phone tool in Creative Edit which comes in handy for teammates building on your island or just moving some of your assets around in Creative Edit.

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This is a great addition, I’m gonna add it to the original post! Thanks Tiny!

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Agree with everything you’ve laid out, plus want to add that conversion to a “prop” is actually a very tedious process and should somehow be streamlined by a “wizard” of sorts.

Futhermore a lot of info is missing from the docs. Information on what each of the many many options provides is nowhere to be found!

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I agree that some info is confusing. Like why do we choose “2” for Initialization Subcategory?

Thanks for the feedback. I believe we are looking into being able to move custom meshes with the phone tool, without needing to turn them into a Prop. It would be nice if that process was easier though…

Oh cool, that would be great! :slightly_smiling_face: :+1: In addition to the phone tool, would we be able to use the custom meshes with devices like the Prop Mover, Prop Manipulator, and Prop Gun? Later when it’s possible I would plan on using Verse for transformations instead of devices.

I didn’t have much trouble converting my mesh into a prop once I realized I needed to. But because the docs didn’t mention it, it took some asking around for me to realize that the reason I couldn’t use devices on my mesh was because I needed to convert it into a prop.

Also sorry if my tone in the post sounded kind of intense. I’m a wordy writer when I’m trying to give precise information. :slightly_smiling_face:

This might be something that we need to fix in the documentation, thank you for pointing it out BlueClairy, here are somethings that might be worth pointing out:

  1. There is no requirement for your prop to be destructible, in fact there is a checkmark to toggle that on/off and certainly no requirement to add a destruction socket to it.
  2. There is no requirement for the prop to have to drop resources that is also optional
  3. The only requirement is for the mesh to have a collision defined
  4. As long as your Static Mesh is slotted in to BuildingProp it should just work with the Phone Tool.

If you try any of the above and something doesn’t work with the phone tool please feel free to tag me here so I can follow up.

Your arguments are completely valid, and Jiras have been created to address each document and where it falls flat. Sorry, these weren’t updated sooner. If there’s anything further, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

Hi Art3mysz! Thanks for checking in!

So for me once I had converted my mesh into a BuildingProp I was easily able to do the things you’re talking about like use the Phone Tool and opt out of destrictibility and resource dropping in the blueprint. However my issue was that I didn’t know that it was necessary for me to convert my mesh into a BuildingProp in the first place, because the docs made it seem to me like the destructibility and harvesting were the main reasons for converting the mesh. I didn’t know this BuildingProp step was needed in order for creators to use the Prop Tool or to use Devices on our meshes.

And I didn’t know that I could opt out of damage, because that information about the opting out checkbox isn’t introduced until you start reading the module on Asset Conversion. I postponed reading that module and moved onto my project after the Textures module, because I didn’t need destructibility. I had assumed from the way the copy at the end of Textures described the Converting module that the module was geared toward destructibility. There was no mention in the docs of other reasons to convert, like the Phone or Devices. Could you add a line to the end of the Textures module, explaining why the next steps for conversion are important beyond harvesting mechanics?

Ideally, creators like me should follow all of the modules, not quit after Textures. But if creators don’t see a reason to continue with the modules because they think they’ve done all they need to for their purposes, then some people are likely to skip Asset Conversion and be confused when they can’t use the Phone Tool or Devices on their asset. Artists are excited to dump their art into the game and start using it, and they might rush past docs steps that don’t seem immediately necessary.

An issue we might be running into is that I come from a UGC background, not from professional software like Unreal or Unity. So, I’m used to just dragging models into the scene and having them function immediately. No BluePrints, no extra steps. In Roblox for example, you just import your mesh, and it works. People coming from Unreal may expect extra steps, but UGC creators might not.

Such a useful thread, thank you <3

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Thanks! The docs for converting static meshes to props have gotten a lot better since I first wrote this old post. They now include a section for indestructible props. Converting Assets into Props
:blue_heart:

Nice! That’s one of the upcoming sections in my reading of the documentation :slight_smile:
I’m going quite linear, reading all the doc from top to bottom.