niagara data channels won't spawn

Development Rendering
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Hello everyone,

I’ve been trying to spawn some Niagara effects using data channels, but just can’t get them to work. I need some help to understand what I’m doing wrong here. I’m using UE version 5.5

First, the workflow as I understand:

  1. create niagara data channel asset
  2. create variables in the data channel asset, in my case ‘Position’ as a type of position
  3. In niagara system: set system variable of type ‘data channel reader’ and set it to the created data channel asset
  4. add ‘complete if unused’ under system update
  5. under template: under emitter update: spawn from data channel asset → this is natively implemented in 5.5 so I didn’t have to manually make scratch pads.
  6. disable ‘spawn burst instantaneous’
  7. under particle spawn: ‘init particle from ndc’ before ‘initialize particle’
  8. under initialize particle: set position to mode ‘direct set’, ‘output, init particle from ndc’ position
  9. In actor blueprint: Write to niagara channel: set data channel to created channel, position from hit location
  10. make search params with root component as owning component and link it to ‘write to niagara channel’
  11. add niagara system in data channel asset

I did all this, but nothing would spawn when I trigger the event. I enabled the debug draw in the data channel settings, and the Islands are visible. when the character moves, the islands are reassigned. However, nothing would spawn.

What am I missing or doing wrong here?

2

Also getting random crashes with EmitterInstData.NDCSpawnCounts.Num() == InstanceData->NDCElementCountAtSpawn , which on my reasearch should have been fixed with https://github.com/EpicGames/UnrealEngine/commit/d66478f5023738afcb71b0b6af61032d42705d03/ according to this( Hitting check(EmitterInstData.NDCSpawnCounts.Num() == InstanceData->NDCElementCountAtSpawn) ) post, but apparently has not been.