[FEATURE REQUEST] A full rework of Blueprint system

[Moth Doctor]

Thinking about it, why not letting the Editor check every X timeunits for changed files and compiling automatically?

Because it would try to compile unfinished code/features most of the times?
I do save edited files all the time, but it doesn't mean I'm ready to compile. It would actually increase the time needed to get the job done.
It would be annoying even with blueprints - interrupting work for a moment and then complaining about half-finished code...

[DamirH]

Wrong. Blueprints get compiled automatically, C++ not.

...this is exactly what I said:

Having the convenience of compiling when you click "Play" (BPs do that) ...

Not to mention that Hot Reload sometimes (more often actually) doesn't work.

True, which is a feature that's been in active development for a long while. Should give people asking for this an idea just what the scope of the thing they're asking for actually is.

As I said, I can overlook the long compile time if I have the lazyness of skipping that compile button and clicking Play directly and having my new changes after compiling.

So effectively, you want the Play button to double as the Compile button and run the game afterwards? Considering you'd be saving the <1s it takes to click on the Play button after compiling, I am not quite convinced of the "time invested to develop / time saved" ratio.

€dit: Checking if there are any changed files in the sources (Makefiles do that) and compiling on demand would make C++ in my case much more appealing.
Thinking about it, why not letting the Editor check every X timeunits for changed files and compiling automatically?

I am not even going to bother with this, Just Krishna already explained it far more succint and polite than I ever could hope for.

Does UE even compile only files that have changed? To me it always looks like it compiles everything, even with incremental build.

Yes it does to the extent that a reflectionless programming language allows: https://docs.unrealengine.com/latest...ion/index.html <---Look for bUseUnityBuild.

[mcbobbyfresh]

"Blueprints aren't what I thought they were, so please redo them from the ground up, either breaking every existing UE4 project in the process or creating a parallel codepath that will exponentially complicate the entire engine maintenance"

Also, google is your friend: https://docs.unrealengine.com/latest...nts/index.html

PS. If I sound like a jerk, good. Requests like these are inane, have no place in what is presumably supposed to be a community of intelligent, mature developers; and are probably in large part to blame for Epic developers not being as active on the forums as before. I wouldn't want to explain why there can't be a "make an MMO" button for the umpteenth time either.

So close your mind and shy away from answering a simple question? Not simple to make, yes. But... I take this "request" as an idea. An idea that asks if implementation is possible. That's a question that any level of developer may ask. Can we implement "y" to improve "x"? I feel that's a bit different than "make MMO button". Your response falls in line with the ******* responses posted for the umpteenth time.

[TheJamsh]

Cool it guys.

To put it plainly, everything OP bullet-pointed is impossible. Take it from people who use the engine everyday and understand how it works on a fundamental level. I understand DamirH's frustration, because people who claim to have used programming languages and IDE's should easily be able to understand why that is, or at least know where to look to and work it out on their own.

Blueprint is not, and was never supposed to be a replacement for C++. Both have their own merits and have distinct, unique purposes in the UE4 workflow.

All this aside - why on *earth* would we want Epic spending their time and resources developing a C++ IDE? They are making a game engine, and there are plenty of perfectly suitable IDE's out there already. This falls into the same line of questioning as "why can't I create art assets in UE4".

People are unreasonably terrified of using C++ as if it's some kind of dark art. It really isn't.