Unreal for Unity Users

2026-01-08 08:38 UTC gpt-5-2 Open in ChatGPT ↗

You

I am a complete beginner in unreal engine but an advanced Unity user. I am starting a project in UE aiming to do something really simple. Import a set of geometries (tiles) that I have as fbx, and scale them based on their distance from distinct objects that i move around. Can you guide me through this?

ChatGPT

Absolutely. Here’s a “Unity-experienced beginner” path to get this working in Unreal with the least friction.

Mental model translation (Unity → Unreal)

• GameObject + Components → Actor + Components
• Prefab → Blueprint Class (or a placed Actor)
• MonoBehaviour scripts → Blueprint graphs (or C++)
• Transform exists the same way (Location/Rotation/Scale), but scaling is usually done on a StaticMeshComponent (or an Instanced Mesh component) inside an Actor.

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Goal you described (in Unreal terms)

• Import FBX tile meshes as Static Meshes.
• Place many of them (or spawn them).
• Have a set of influencer objects (Actors you move around).
• Each tile scales based on distance to those influencers (nearest one, or combined effect).

I’ll show you the simplest approach first, then the “this scales to lots of tiles” approach.

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Part A — Import the FBX tiles

1. In the Content Browser: Add/Import → Import to…
2. Select your .fbx
3. In the import options, for tiles you usually want:
   • Import Type: Static Mesh
   • Combine Meshes: depends on your FBX (usually off if each tile is separate)
   • Generate Missing Collisions: optional (handy for quick testing)
4. Click Import. You’ll get one or more Static Mesh assets.

Tip: If your scale looks wrong, check your DCC export units. Unreal uses centimeters.

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Part B — Create “influencer” objects you can move

Make a simple Blueprint actor:

1. Content Browser → Add → Blueprint Class → Actor
2. Name it BP_Influencer
3. Add a StaticMeshComponent (e.g., Sphere) so you can see it
4. Compile/Save
5. Drag a few into your level
6. Move them around in the viewport (later you can make them draggable in-game, but editor movement is enough to test)

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Part C (Simple, works fast) — Each tile is its own Blueprint and updates its scale

This is easiest to understand, but not the most performant if you have thousands of tiles.

1) Make a tile Blueprint

1. Add → Blueprint Class → Actor
2. Name it BP_Tile
3. Add a StaticMeshComponent called Mesh
4. Assign one of your imported tile meshes to Mesh

2) Add variables (in BP_Tile)

• Influencers (Array of BP_Influencer Object Reference)
  • Make it Instance Editable (so you can assign influencers per tile or per group).
• MinScale (float, default e.g. 0.5)
• MaxScale (float, default e.g. 2.0)
• MaxEffectDistance (float, default e.g. 1000.0) in centimeters
• bUseNearestOnly (bool, default true)

3) Compute scale each frame (Blueprint graph)

In Event Graph of BP_Tile:

Event Tick (you can optimize later) →

• Get tile world location: GetActorLocation
• For each influencer in Influencers:
  • Get influencer location
  • Compute Distance (Vector)
  • Keep the minimum distance (if nearest-only)
• Convert distance to a 0–1 “strength”:
  • Alpha = 1 - Clamp(Distance / MaxEffectDistance, 0, 1)
• Convert alpha to scale:
  • ScaleValue = Lerp(MinScale, MaxScale, Alpha)
• Apply:
  • Mesh → SetWorldScale3D (Vector(ScaleValue, ScaleValue, ScaleValue))

That’s it.

4) Assign influencers

• Place a bunch of BP_Tile in the level
• Select them, in Details find Influencers, add the BP_Influencer actors from the level

Unity analogy: This is like each tile running Update() and reading a list of Transform references.

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Part D (Better for lots of tiles) — Use Instanced Static Meshes

If you have a big grid of tiles, you really want instancing.

The idea

• One actor BP_TileField holds an InstancedStaticMeshComponent (ISM) or Hierarchical ISM (HISM)
• It places N instances (your tiles)
• Each tick, it updates per-instance transforms (scale) based on influencers

Why HISM?

• Faster rendering for many instances.
• Great for tiles.

High-level steps

1. Create BP_TileField (Actor)
2. Add a HierarchicalInstancedStaticMeshComponent
3. Set its mesh to your tile mesh
4. On BeginPlay (or Construction Script), add instances in a grid:
   • AddInstance(Transform) in a loop
5. Store each instance’s base transform in an array (optional but useful)
6. On Tick:
   • For each instance:
     • Get instance location (from stored transform)
     • Compute nearest influencer distance
     • Compute scale
     • UpdateInstanceTransform(Index, NewTransform, bWorldSpace=true, bMarkRenderStateDirty=true, bTeleport=true)
7. Call BatchUpdateInstancesTransforms if you want extra speed (later)

Unity analogy: This is like Graphics.DrawMeshInstanced / DOTS-ish thinking.

If you only have dozens of tiles, Part C is totally fine.

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Part E — Multiple influencers: nearest vs combined

You mentioned “distinct objects” plural. You have options:

Option 1: Nearest influencer (simple and stable)

• Use minimum distance only (recommended first)

Option 2: Combine effects (e.g., add strengths)

For each influencer:

• strength_i = 1 - Clamp(dist_i / MaxEffectDistance, 0, 1) Then:
• strength = Clamp(Sum(strength_i), 0, 1) (or max) Then Lerp scale.

This makes tiles “bulge” more with multiple influencers.

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Part F — Quick optimization checklist (when it starts to hitch)

• Don’t Tick everything.
  • Use a Timer (e.g., 10–30 Hz) instead of Tick.
• Cache influencer references once.
  • E.g., in BeginPlay, GetAllActorsOfClass(BP_Influencer) if you want auto-discovery.
• If tiles are many: switch to HISM field approach.
• If influencers move rarely: only update when they move (event-driven), not every frame.

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Common gotchas for Unity users

• Units: Unreal is cm. If you think in meters, multiply by 100.
• Setting scale on Actor vs Component: If your Actor has multiple components, scaling the component is often safer.
• Construction Script vs BeginPlay: Construction Script runs in editor too (great for generating grids).
• Casting: In Blueprints, referencing specific Blueprint classes often involves “Cast To BP_Influencer”. If you type your array as BP_Influencer, you usually don’t need to cast.

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A very direct “do this now” minimal recipe

1. Import FBXs → Static Meshes
2. Create BP_Influencer (Actor with a visible sphere mesh) → place 2–3 in level
3. Create BP_Tile (Actor with your tile StaticMeshComponent)
4. In BP_Tile: Tick → compute nearest influencer distance → Lerp scale → SetWorldScale3D
5. Place tiles, assign influencers array

You’ll see tiles resizing live as you drag influencers in the editor (if you simulate/play) or at runtime.

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If you tell me roughly how many tiles you expect (50? 5,000? 200,000?) and whether tiles are one mesh repeated or many unique meshes, I’ll point you to the best structure (simple per-tile Blueprint vs HISM field) and give you an exact Blueprint node-by-node setup for that path.

You

i have a question. So here is what my tiles are like (see image). I impported them in UE as import into level. Is that correct? Do we need to adjust what you suggested?

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ChatGPT

Yes, “Import Into Level” can be correct, but it depends on what’s actually inside your FBX and what you want to scale.

What “Import Into Level” does in UE

It’s essentially FBX Scene import: Unreal reads the FBX and creates Actors in the level (often one Actor per mesh, or per FBX node), and also creates the Static Mesh assets in your Content Browser.

That’s useful if:

• you already have a layout authored in DCC (Blender/Maya) and want it placed automatically.

It’s not ideal if:

• you imported thousands of separate tile Actors (performance + workflow pain), or
• your “tiles” are actually one single mesh with lots of subdivisions (then you cannot scale each tile independently as objects).

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The key question: did Unreal import them as many objects, or one mesh?

After import, in the World Outliner, do you see:

1. A ton of separate StaticMeshActors (each tile its own Actor)?
   ✅ You can proceed, but I’d adjust to use instancing for performance.

2. One single StaticMeshActor (a single plane-looking mesh, like your screenshot suggests)?
   ⚠️ Then my earlier “scale each tile based on distance” approach won’t work as-is, because UE can’t scale individual “cells” inside one mesh as separate transforms.

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If it imported as ONE mesh (most likely from your screenshot)

You have 3 practical options:

Option A — Re-export as separate tiles (object-per-tile)

In Blender:

• Separate by loose parts / by selection into individual objects (each tile becomes its own object)
• Ensure pivots/origins make sense (usually center of each tile)
• Export FBX again

Then in UE, you’ll have real “tile objects” you can scale.

Option B — Use instancing (recommended if tiles repeat)

If you have a small set of tile shapes reused many times, the best UE way is:

• Import each unique tile mesh once
• Use a Hierarchical Instanced Static Mesh (HISM) field to place them in a grid/pattern
• Update instance transforms (scale) based on distance to influencers

This gives you the “many tiles reacting” look but stays fast.

Option C — Do it in the material (if you truly want to keep it one mesh)

If you must keep one big mesh, you’re no longer scaling tiles as objects. You’d fake it via:

• World Position Offset in the material
• Typically using a mask / ID map / vertex colors to define “tile regions”
• Then displace/scale-ish around each tile center (harder unless you have per-tile data)

This is doable, but it’s the most technical route.

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If it imported as MANY Actors (one per tile)

You can keep going, but I’d adjust what I suggested:

Quick test version (works, but not scalable)

• Put the scaling logic on each tile Actor (Tick/Timer)
• Works for hundreds, not great for thousands

Better version (recommended)

• Convert your placed tile Actors into one (or several) HISM actors
• Then compute distance per instance and call UpdateInstanceTransform

Unreal even has tools like:

• Actor Merge / Convert to Instanced Static Mesh (exact menu wording varies by UE version), which can help you consolidate.

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What I need from you (no screenshots necessary)

Just tell me which of these is true:

• A) “Outliner shows one mesh/actor for the whole thing”
• B) “Outliner shows many actors (one per tile)”
• Rough count: ~how many tiles? (100, 5k, 100k?)

And I’ll give you the exact next steps + a clean Blueprint setup for that path (nearest-influencer scaling, timer-based updates, and the fast HISM version if needed).

You

here is how they are in unreal

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ChatGPT

Got it — this screenshot is super informative.

What you have right now

You imported via FBX Scene (“Import Into Level”), and Unreal created one Actor that contains hundreds/thousands of StaticMeshComponents (Plane_fracturepart2176, etc.) under a parent node (10_Point_Star_Grid).

So: it’s not one mesh, and it’s not “many actors” either — it’s one actor with many mesh components.

✅ That’s actually workable for your goal (scale each “tile” independently), and we do adjust the approach slightly: we’ll scale components, not actors.

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Critical fix before anything: set Mobility to Movable

In your Details panel I can see Mobility: Static.

If a mesh component is Static, you generally shouldn’t animate its transform at runtime (and UE may warn / not update as expected).

Do this:

• Select the components (or the parent group) in the Components panel
• In Details → Mobility → set to Movable
• If you can set it on the parent and it propagates, great; if not, you’ll set it in Blueprint at BeginPlay (I’ll show that).

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Best way to proceed with your current import

Option 1 (fastest to get working): Scale all tile components inside this same Blueprint

Since the tiles are already components inside the imported Blueprint/Actor, you can put the scaling logic right there.

Step-by-step Blueprint logic

In the Blueprint that contains 10_Point_Star_Grid and all those mesh components:

1) Variables

Create:

• Influencers : Array of Actor (or BP_Influencer if you made that)
• MaxEffectDistance (float) e.g. 1000
• MinScale (float) e.g. 0.6
• MaxScale (float) e.g. 2.0
• UpdateInterval (float) e.g. 0.05 (20 Hz — much better than Tick)

Also create:

• TileMeshes : Array of StaticMeshComponent (this will be filled automatically)

2) On BeginPlay: gather all tile components

Blueprint nodes:

• Event BeginPlay
  • Get Components by Class → StaticMeshComponent
  • (Optional) Filter out anything you don’t want (like a ground plane, or helper meshes)
  • Save result into TileMeshes
  • For each TileMeshes: Set Mobility → Movable (safe even if already movable)

3) Use a Timer instead of Tick

• Set Timer by Event
  • Time: UpdateInterval
  • Looping: true
  • Event calls a custom event: UpdateTileScales

4) UpdateTileScales: compute nearest influencer, scale each component

For each TileMesh in TileMeshes:

• TileLoc = TileMesh -> GetWorldLocation
• Compute nearest distance:
  • Start BestDist = very large
  • For each Influencer:
    • Dist = Distance(TileLoc, InfluencerLoc)
    • BestDist = Min(BestDist, Dist)
• Convert distance → alpha:
  • Alpha = 1 - Clamp(BestDist / MaxEffectDistance, 0, 1)
• Scale:
  • S = Lerp(MinScale, MaxScale, Alpha)
• Apply:
  • Use SetRelativeScale3D on the component with (S,S,S)
    (Relative is usually what you want since these are attached under your actor)

That gives you exactly your desired behavior with no reimport.

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One more important gotcha: pivot/origin

Each tile will scale around its mesh origin (pivot). If those origins aren’t centered per tile (common if exported strangely), scaling will look like tiles “slide” or expand from a weird point.

If that happens:

• Fix in Blender: Object → Set Origin → Origin to Geometry per tile before export
• Or in UE Modeling tools you can adjust pivot, but Blender is usually cleaner.

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Performance reality check (so you don’t get surprised)

Scaling thousands of separate StaticMeshComponents every frame can get heavy.

That’s why I recommended the Timer (20–30 updates/sec often looks fine).

If you tell me roughly how many Plane_fracturepartXXXX components you have (hundreds? 4k? 40k?), I’ll tell you whether this approach is fine or whether you should switch to an Instanced Static Mesh solution.

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Should you keep “Import Into Level”?

For what you’re doing right now, yes, it’s acceptable because you already have per-tile pieces.

But longer-term, the “Unreal way” for lots of tiles is:

• fewer components/actors,
• more HISM/ISM instances.

The complicating factor: your tiles look unique (fracture parts), so instancing only helps if many pieces reuse the same mesh.

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Next: I can give you the exact node layout

Tell me:

1. Approximately how many Plane_fracturepart… components are there? (ballpark)
2. Do the tiles reuse the same mesh a lot, or are they mostly unique meshes?

And I’ll tailor it:

• Simple component-scaling blueprint (what I described), or
• Optimized HISM grouping (if you have repeats), or
• Material-based deformation (if you later decide to merge).

You

How do i create an array of actors as suggested here:

Create:

Influencers : Array of Actor (or BP_Influencer if you made that)

ChatGPT

Great question — this is one of those “Unreal-is-different-from-Unity” moments 🙂

I’ll walk you through it click-by-click, and I’ll also explain why each step matters.

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Creating an Array of Actors in a Blueprint (UE5)

Step 1: Open the Blueprint

Open the Blueprint where you want the influencers list
(e.g. your imported FBX Scene Blueprint, or a manager Actor).

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Step 2: Create a new variable

1. In the My Blueprint panel (left side)
2. Click + Variable
3. Name it:
   Influencers

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Step 3: Set the variable type to Actor

1. With Influencers selected, look at the Details panel
2. Find Variable Type
3. Click the dropdown and choose:
   • Actor

💡 Unity analogy:
This is like public List<GameObject> Influencers;

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Step 4: Turn it into an Array

Still in the Details panel:

1. Click the container icon next to the type (single → array)
2. It should now say:
   Actor ▸ Array

You’ll see square brackets appear in the icon.

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Step 5 (Highly recommended): Make it editable

So you can assign influencers from the level.

In the Details panel:

• Check Instance Editable
• (Optional) Check Expose on Spawn if you’ll spawn this actor dynamically

Now Compile.

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Assigning Influencers in the Level

1. Select your Blueprint Actor in the World Outliner
2. In the Details panel, find Influencers
3. Click + to add elements
4. For each element:
   • Use the dropdown picker
   • Select an Actor from the level (your influencer objects)

✅ That’s it — you now have a live reference list.

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(Optional but better) Use a specific Blueprint class

Instead of Actor, you can restrict the array to only your influencer type.

If you created BP_Influencer:

• Variable Type → search for BP_Influencer
• Set it to BP_Influencer ▸ Array

Why this is better

• No casting needed in Blueprints
• Clear intent
• Fewer runtime errors

Unity analogy:

public List<Influencer> Influencers;

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Using the array in the Event Graph

Drag Influencers into the graph:

• Choose Get
• Plug into a ForEachLoop

Inside the loop:

• Each element is already an Actor (or BP_Influencer)
• Call GetActorLocation
• Compute distance, etc.

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Common beginner gotchas

• ❌ Forgetting to Compile → variable doesn’t appear
• ❌ Not marking Instance Editable → can’t assign in level
• ❌ Using Object instead of Actor → no transform access
• ❌ Using Get All Actors Of Class every frame (don’t do that)

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Quick sanity check

If you want, answer these and I’ll confirm you’re set:

• Do you want to manually assign influencers in the editor, or
• Do you want them auto-discovered at BeginPlay?

Either way is easy — you’re on exactly the right track 👍

You

you said this

Also create:

TileMeshes : Array of StaticMeshComponent (this will be filled automatically)

what do you mean automatically and how can i check that this worked?

ChatGPT

Great question — this is a very Unreal-specific pattern, so the confusion is totally normal.

When I said “filled automatically”, I meant:

At runtime (BeginPlay), the Blueprint gathers all StaticMeshComponents that already exist on the Actor and stores them in an array.

You do not manually add elements in the editor for this array.

Let’s go step by step.

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1️⃣ Create the TileMeshes variable

You already know the variable UI now, but for completeness:

1. In My Blueprint → + Variable
2. Name: TileMeshes
3. Variable Type: Static Mesh Component
4. Click the array icon → make it an array
5. ❌ Do NOT make it Instance Editable
6. Compile

Unity analogy:

List<MeshRenderer> tileMeshes; // filled in Start()

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2️⃣ Fill the array automatically in BeginPlay

This is the key part.

In the Event Graph:

1. Add Event BeginPlay
2. Drag off → search Get Components by Class
3. Set Component Class = StaticMeshComponent
4. Drag off the return value → Set TileMeshes

That’s it.

Visually, the logic is:

BeginPlay
   └── Get Components by Class (StaticMeshComponent)
            └── Set TileMeshes

What this does:

• Unreal looks at this Actor
• Finds every StaticMeshComponent attached to it
• Returns them as an array
• Stores that array in TileMeshes

This is why it’s “automatic” — no manual assignment.

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3️⃣ (Important) Filter out unwanted meshes (optional)

If your Actor contains helper meshes you don’t want to scale:

After Get Components by Class:

• Run a ForEachLoop
• Check:
  • Mesh name contains Plane_fracturepart
  • OR check a tag
• Add only valid ones to TileMeshes

👉 Best practice:
Select all tile components in Components panel → Add Tag = Tile

Then in Blueprint:

• Use Component Has Tag (“Tile”)

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4️⃣ Make sure they’re movable

Static meshes default to Static.

In BeginPlay, after collecting them:

• ForEach TileMeshes
  • Set Mobility → Movable

This avoids silent failures later.

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5️⃣ How to VERIFY it worked (VERY IMPORTANT)

There are several ways.

✅ Method 1: Print String (fastest)

Right after setting TileMeshes:

1. Drag TileMeshes
2. Get → Length
3. Connect to Print String

When you hit Play:

• You should see a number printed
• That number should match your tile count (or close)

If it prints 0, something is wrong.

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✅ Method 2: Watch it live (debugger)

1. Hit Play
2. In the Blueprint editor:
   • Click Debug Filter
   • Select the running instance
3. Expand TileMeshes
4. You should see elements populated

This is Unreal’s equivalent of inspecting variables in Play Mode in Unity.

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✅ Method 3: Visual proof

Temporarily do this:

• After BeginPlay:
  • ForEach TileMeshes
  • Set World Scale to (2,2,2)

If everything doubles in size → array works.

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6️⃣ Common mistakes (and symptoms)

Mistake	Symptom
Using Get All Actors of Class	Very slow, wrong scope
Component is Static	Scale doesn’t update
Variable type = StaticMesh (asset)	No transform access
Array not set at BeginPlay	Length = 0
Logic in Construction Script	Doesn’t update at runtime

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Mental model (Unity → Unreal)

Unity:

void Start() {
    tileMeshes = GetComponentsInChildren<MeshRenderer>();
}

Unreal Blueprint:

BeginPlay
   └── Get Components by Class (StaticMeshComponent)
           └── Set TileMeshes

Same idea, different UI.

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You’re doing everything right

Your import structure (one Actor, many mesh components) is actually perfect for learning Unreal’s component system.

Next logical step after this:

• implement the distance → scale loop using this array

If you want, I can:

• draw the exact node chain for UpdateTileScales, or
• help you add editor-time preview (Construction Script reacts while you move influencers).

Just tell me which 👍

You

it looks like that. I don’t think the process got assigned to eventbeginplay

ChatGPT

Yep — you’re seeing the exact symptom: your BeginPlay isn’t wired into the execution flow, so the node never runs.

In your screenshot:

• The blue wire (data) is connected (good).
• But there’s no white execution wire going into the Set Tile Meshes node (so it never fires).
• Also the graph shows that grey message: “This node is disabled and will not be called” — that happens when there’s no exec path from an event into those nodes.

Here’s how to fix it.

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Fix: wire the execution pins

1. Drag from Event BeginPlay’s white exec pin (the little arrow on the right).
2. Connect it into the Get Components by Class node’s white exec input.

⚠️ If your Get Components by Class node does not have white exec pins:

• You placed the pure version (no exec). That’s okay too — we’ll connect BeginPlay directly to Set.

Correct wiring option A (common)

BeginPlay → Set Tile Meshes

Do this:

• Connect BeginPlay exec → Set Tile Meshes exec input
• Keep the blue wire from Get Components by Class return value into Set Tile Meshes

Because Get Components by Class is pure, it will evaluate when Set runs.

So you’ll have:

• White wire: BeginPlay → Set Tile Meshes
• Blue wire: Get Components by Class → Set Tile Meshes value

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Add a quick check that it worked (Print Length)

Right after Set Tile Meshes:

1. Drag off the exec output of Set Tile Meshes
2. Add Print String
3. For the string value:
   • Drag Tile Meshes into graph → Get
   • Drag off it → Length
   • Convert to string (it’ll auto-convert if you plug it in)

When you press Play, you should see a number like 1000 etc.

---

If BeginPlay says “This node is disabled…”

Two likely reasons:

1) You’re in the wrong graph tab

Make sure you’re in:

• EventGraph (not Construction Script, not a Function)

BeginPlay only runs in EventGraph.

2) This Blueprint isn’t actually running in the level

If you’re editing a Blueprint asset that isn’t placed/spawned, BeginPlay won’t fire.

Check:

• Is this Actor actually placed in your level? (World Outliner)
• Are you pressing Play (not just Simulate in some cases)?
  • Either is fine usually, but Play is simplest.

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Tiny extra: you can also test with a breakpoint

• Right click the Set Tile Meshes node → Add Breakpoint
• Press Play
• If it hits, you’re good.

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What your fixed mini-graph should look like

• Event BeginPlay (white exec) → Set Tile Meshes
• Get Components by Class (StaticMeshComponent) return value (blue) → Set Tile Meshes value
• Set Tile Meshes exec → Print String (Length)

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If you send one more screenshot after wiring the white exec line, I can sanity-check it in 2 seconds and then we’ll move on to the scaling loop.

You

wht’s wrong here?

ChatGPT

You’re very close — the only thing wrong is the Length node you picked is the wrong “Length”.

In your screenshot the red node says:

Get Length (Target is Anim Single Node Instance)

That’s an animation-specific node, not “array length”, so it errors.

What you want is the Array Length node (works on any array).

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Fix (2 ways)

✅ Way 1: Drag from the Tile Meshes array pin (best)

1. Drag Tile Meshes into the graph as Get
2. Drag off the blue array pin
3. Type Length
4. Pick Length (the one that just says Length and shows an array input)

Then plug that into Print String.

This guarantees UE chooses the correct “Length for Array”.

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✅ Way 2: Search for “Length” but pick the right one

Right-click in empty graph → search Length
Choose:

• Array → Length (sometimes shown as “Length (Array)”)

NOT anything that mentions Anim, String, or something else.

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Also: your exec wiring is slightly overcomplicated

You don’t need the exec wire into the “Get Components by Class” node because it’s a pure node (no exec pins). That’s fine though — your current wiring is okay.

But your Print should be triggered from Set Tile Meshes:

• BeginPlay → Set Tile Meshes → Print String

Then the Length is just data feeding into Print String.

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What your corrected mini-graph should be

• Event BeginPlay (exec) → Set Tile Meshes
• Get Components by Class (StaticMeshComponent) (return value) → Set Tile Meshes value
• From Set Tile Meshes exec → Print String
• Tile Meshes (Get) → Array Length → Print String In String

When you press Play you should see a number like 3000 etc.

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Quick sanity check

If it prints 0:

• you’re editing a Blueprint that isn’t actually in the level, or
• you’re not running the correct instance (debug filter), or
• you’re in a different actor than the one containing all those fracturepart components.

If you want, tell me what number it prints after this fix, and we’ll do the next step: loop through Tile Meshes and scale each component based on nearest influencer distance.

You

ok i made it work, can you continue the scaling process from here?

ChatGPT

Nice — from here we’ll add the “distance → scale” loop using your Tile Meshes array, and we’ll do it timer-based (smooth enough, way cheaper than per-frame).

Below is a direct Blueprint recipe you can follow node-for-node.

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0) Prep: create / place influencers

You need something to measure distance to.

Option A (manual list, easiest):

• Put a few Actors in the level (Empty Actor, spheres, whatever) and you’ll assign them into an array.

Option B (recommended): make BP_Influencer

• Actor with a visible sphere mesh so you can move it.

Either works.

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1) Variables to add (in your tile-scene Blueprint)

Create these variables:

Influencers

• Influencers : Actor Array (or BP_Influencer Array)
• ✅ Instance Editable (so you can assign from the level)

Scale settings

• MinScale (float) default 0.6
• MaxScale (float) default 2.0
• MaxEffectDistance (float) default 1000.0 (cm)

Update settings

• UpdateInterval (float) default 0.05 (20 updates/sec)

---

2) Create a Custom Event: UpdateTileScales

In Event Graph:

• Right click → Add Custom Event → name it UpdateTileScales

This will contain the actual scaling loop.

---

3) Start a repeating timer on BeginPlay

You already have BeginPlay filling Tile Meshes. After that, add:

Set Timer by Event

• Time: UpdateInterval
• Looping: ✅ true
• Event: create event → bind to UpdateTileScales

Blueprint flow:

BeginPlay → (Set Tile Meshes) → Set Timer by Event (looping) → (event calls UpdateTileScales repeatedly)

---

4) Implement UpdateTileScales (the main loop)

A) Safety: if no influencers, do nothing

In UpdateTileScales:

• Length(Influencers) → <= 0
• Branch: if true, return (do nothing)

(Prevents errors if you forgot to assign them.)

---

B) For each tile mesh component, find nearest influencer

Nodes inside UpdateTileScales:

1. ForEachLoop over Tile Meshes

• Array: Tile Meshes

Inside loop, the current element is a StaticMeshComponent (call it TileComp).

2. Get tile position:

• TileComp → GetWorldLocation → TileLoc

3. Track nearest distance:

• Make a local float variable (or a normal variable used temporarily) called BestDist
• Set BestDist = 99999999 (a huge number)

4. ForEachLoop over Influencers

• For each Inf:
  • Inf → GetActorLocation → InfLoc
  • Distance (Vector) between TileLoc and InfLoc → Dist
  • BestDist = Min(BestDist, Dist)

After inner loop ends, BestDist is nearest influencer distance.

---

C) Convert distance → scale

Compute “strength” (0 near, 1 far — we want the opposite), so:

1. Normalize distance:

• T = BestDist / MaxEffectDistance
• T = Clamp(T, 0, 1)

2. Flip so closer = bigger:

• Alpha = 1 - T

3. Scale:

• S = Lerp(MinScale, MaxScale, Alpha)

4. Apply to the component:

• TileComp → SetRelativeScale3D
  • Vector: (S, S, S)

That’s the core.

---

5) Two important practical tweaks

✅ Make sure meshes are Movable

If you haven’t already, in BeginPlay after you populate Tile Meshes:

• ForEach Tile Meshes
  • Set Mobility → Movable

✅ Smooth the scaling (optional but looks nicer)

Instead of setting scale instantly, you can interpolate:

• Get current scale: TileComp → GetRelativeScale3D → take X
• S_smooth = FInterp To(CurrentScale, S, DeltaTime, InterpSpeed)
  • InterpSpeed ~ 8–15

But because we’re using a Timer (not Tick), you can also just use:

• S_smooth = Lerp(CurrentScale, S, 0.2) (simple smoothing)

Do this later if you want; start with direct set.

---

6) Assign influencers in the level

• Select your imported tile Actor in the level
• In Details → Influencers array
• Add elements and pick your influencer Actors
• Press Play and move influencers around

---

Quick troubleshooting

• Nothing scales?
  • Ensure Tile Meshes length > 0 (you already tested)
  • Ensure Influencers length > 0
  • Ensure tile components are Movable
• Tiles scale from weird corners / drift
  • Their pivots/origins in Blender are off (need per-tile origin at center)

---

If you tell me roughly how many Tile Meshes you have (hundreds vs thousands vs tens of thousands), I can suggest the best UpdateInterval and whether you should do a “distance field” optimization (only update nearby tiles, etc.).

You

how do i set a variable default value? the details menu is not coming up when i click on it

ChatGPT

This is a classic Unreal “where did my Details panel go?” moment 🙂
Nothing is broken — it’s just a UI context thing.

I’ll walk you through exactly how to set default values and how to get the Details panel back if it’s missing.

---

The key rule (important)

Variable default values are edited in the Blueprint editor’s Details panel, not in the graph.

If you click the variable node in the graph, you will not see default-value controls.

---

Step-by-step: setting a variable default value

1️⃣ Select the variable in My Blueprint

• Look at the My Blueprint panel (left side)
• Under Variables, click the variable name (e.g. MinScale)

⚠️ Do not click the node in the Event Graph
You must click the variable name itself.

---

2️⃣ Make sure the Details panel is visible

If you don’t see the Details panel:

Menu bar → Window → Details

This instantly restores it.

Unreal hides this panel surprisingly often.

---

3️⃣ Set the default value

With the variable selected and the Details panel visible:

You’ll see:

• Default Value
• For floats: a numeric field
• For arrays: an empty list
• For bools: a checkbox

Example defaults:

• MinScale → 0.6
• MaxScale → 2.0
• MaxEffectDistance → 1000
• UpdateInterval → 0.05

After changing values:

• Click Compile
• Click Save

---

Why clicking the graph node doesn’t work

Blueprint nodes represent runtime usage, not the variable definition.

Unity analogy:

• Editing a field in the Inspector = selecting the variable in My Blueprint
• Clicking a variable node in the graph ≠ Inspector

---

Special case: Instance Editable variables

If you checked Instance Editable:

• The Blueprint default is still set in the Blueprint editor
• But the per-instance override appears in the Level Editor → Details panel when you select the Actor

So:

• Blueprint editor = class defaults
• Level editor = instance overrides

---

Quick sanity checklist

If you still don’t see defaults:

• ✅ Variable selected in My Blueprint, not graph
• ✅ Details panel is open
• ✅ Blueprint is compiled
• ❌ Not inside a Function graph (variables still show, but people often get confused there)

---

Pro tip (helps a LOT)

Dock the Details panel next to My Blueprint and leave it there.
Most Unreal frustration comes from panels being closed or context-switched.

---

If you want, next we can:

• add editor-time preview (tiles react while you move influencers without pressing Play), or
• add falloff curves (non-linear scaling), or
• optimize for large tile counts.

Just tell me what you want to explore next 👍

You

i click the variablke name and nothing is coming up. Also tried Window->Details stull nothing

ChatGPT

Good, thanks for insisting — this means you’ve run into one very specific Unreal UI state, and it’s not obvious at all if you’re new.

What’s happening is you’re not in “Class Defaults” mode, so the variable-details inspector is effectively hidden.

Let’s fix it cleanly.

---

The real issue (important)

In Unreal there are TWO “Details” contexts inside the Blueprint editor:

1. Component / Graph selection details
2. Class Defaults details ← this is where variable default values live

If you don’t explicitly switch to Class Defaults, clicking variables can appear to do nothing.

---

✅ The fix (this will work)

Step 1: Open your Blueprint

You’re already here 👍

---

Step 2: Click Class Defaults

At the top toolbar of the Blueprint editor, click:

👉 Class Defaults

It’s next to:

• Class Settings
• Simulation
• Compile

This is the missing step.

⚠️ This is not the same as the Details panel toggle.

---

Step 3: Now click your variable name

• Go to My Blueprint → Variables
• Click MinScale, MaxScale, etc.

Now the Details panel will populate with:

• Default Value
• Instance Editable
• Tooltip
• Category
• etc.

You can finally edit defaults.

---

Why Window → Details didn’t help

That menu only controls panel visibility.

Your panel was visible, but it had no active context because:

• You weren’t in Class Defaults
• And graph nodes don’t expose default values

So Unreal was technically “working”, just extremely unclear.

---

Mental model (Unity comparison)

Unity:

• Inspector always shows serialized fields

Unreal:

• Blueprint editor has modes
• Variable defaults live in Class Defaults mode
• Instance overrides live in Level Editor Details

Once you know this, Unreal suddenly makes a lot more sense.

---

Quick verification

Try this:

1. Click Class Defaults
2. Select MinScale
3. Set Default Value = 0.6
4. Compile
5. Place actor in level
6. Select actor → you should see MinScale in the Level Details if it’s Instance Editable

---

If it STILL doesn’t show (rare edge case)

Do this reset:

• Window → Load Layout → Reset Layout

That fixes 99% of “Details panel vanished forever” issues.

---

You’re back on track

This is one of the most common Unreal beginner traps — even Unity veterans hit it.

Next logical steps (your choice):

• 🔄 Editor-time preview (tiles react while you move influencers without Play)
• 📈 Non-linear falloff using curves
• ⚡ Performance pass (timers vs spatial filtering)

Just tell me what you want next.

You

here is my graph variables

ChatGPT

Perfect — this screenshot clears it up 👍
You are now in the correct state, and your variables are set up correctly.

Let’s do two things:

1. Confirm your current setup is correct
2. Finish the scaling system cleanly from here

---

✅ What’s already correct (important)

From your screenshot:

• ✔ TileMeshes is a StaticMeshComponent Array
• ✔ It is being populated on BeginPlay
• ✔ Length(TileMeshes) prints correctly → array is filled
• ✔ You are in Class Defaults mode (blue button is active)
• ✔ Variables (MinScale, MaxScale, etc.) exist and are editable

So we can move on with confidence.

---

Part 1 — Set sensible default values (now that it works)

Click each variable in My Blueprint → Variables and set:

• MinScale → 0.6
• MaxScale → 2.0
• MaxEffectDistance → 1000
• UpdateInterval → 0.05

Compile + Save.

(You can tweak later.)

---

Part 2 — Create the scaling update event

Step 1: Add a Custom Event

In the Event Graph:

• Right-click → Add Custom Event
• Name it: UpdateTileScales

This is where all scaling logic will live.

---

Step 2: Start a looping timer

Extend your existing BeginPlay logic:

After Set Tile Meshes (and after your Print String, which you can remove later):

Add Set Timer by Event

• Time → UpdateInterval
• Looping → ✅ true
• Event → bind to UpdateTileScales

Execution flow:

BeginPlay
 ├─ Set Tile Meshes
 └─ Set Timer by Event → UpdateTileScales

---

Part 3 — Implement UpdateTileScales

3.1 Early-out if no influencers

Inside UpdateTileScales:

• Length(Influencers) → <= 0
• Branch
  • True → Return
  • False → continue

(Prevents crashes / wasted work.)

---

3.2 Loop over all tile components

Add:

• ForEachLoop
  • Array → TileMeshes

Inside the loop:

• Array Element → call it TileComp

---

3.3 Get tile world position

• TileComp → GetWorldLocation → TileLoc

---

3.4 Find nearest influencer

Before looping influencers:

• Create a local float variable (or temp variable)
• Name: BestDist
• Set: 10000000

Then:

• ForEachLoop over Influencers
  • Inf → GetActorLocation
  • Distance (Vector) between TileLoc and InfLoc
  • BestDist = Min(BestDist, Distance)

When this loop finishes, BestDist = distance to closest influencer.

---

3.5 Convert distance → scale

Do the math:

1. Normalize:

T = Clamp(BestDist / MaxEffectDistance, 0, 1)

2. Flip it:

Alpha = 1 - T

3. Scale:

S = Lerp(MinScale, MaxScale, Alpha)

---

3.6 Apply scale

• TileComp → SetRelativeScale3D
• Vector → (S, S, S)

That’s it — tiles now scale based on proximity.

---

Part 4 — Critical check: Mobility

If tiles don’t move:

In BeginPlay, after filling TileMeshes:

• ForEach TileMeshes
  • Set Mobility → Movable

Static meshes won’t animate transforms reliably.

---

Expected result

• Press Play
• Move your influencer Actors around
• Nearby tiles grow
• Far tiles shrink smoothly

---

Optional upgrades (later)

Once this works, easy improvements:

• 🔄 Smooth scaling (FInterpTo)
• 📉 Non-linear falloff (CurveFloat)
• ⚡ Performance filtering (only update nearby tiles)
• 🛠 Editor-time preview (Construction Script)

If you want, tell me how many tiles you have (hundreds / thousands / tens of thousands), and I’ll tailor the next step for performance or visuals.

You

the details are still not coming up

ChatGPT

[Unsupported Content]

ChatGPT

[Unsupported Content]

ChatGPT

Got it — if Class Defaults is on and Window → Details still shows nothing, it’s almost always one of these UI issues:

1) The Details panel is locked

In the (possibly empty) Details panel, look for a padlock icon in the header.

• If it’s locked, click it to unlock. A locked Details panel won’t change when you click variables, so it looks “broken”.

2) You opened Details in the main editor, not the Blueprint editor

Unreal has separate Window menus per editor. While the Blueprint window is the active window, use:

• Blueprint window menu bar → Window → Details (or Details 1 / Details 2)

(If you click the main level viewport first, you’re toggling the wrong Details panel.)

3) The Details tab is there but off-screen / collapsed

Common if you changed monitor setup.

Do this inside the Blueprint editor window:

• Window → Load Layout → Default Editor Layout
  or
• Window → Load Layout → Reset Layout (wording varies)

This forces the Details panel back into a visible docked position.

4) You’re clicking the variable, but not selecting it as a “definition”

Make sure you click the variable in My Blueprint → Variables (left panel), not the variable node in the graph. Then try clicking another variable right after (sometimes the first selection doesn’t refresh).

5) Open a second Details panel (works around weird docking bugs)

In the Blueprint editor:

• Window → Details → Details 2 Sometimes Details 1 is bugged/hidden but Details 2 appears normally.

---

Fast “this will definitely fix it” sequence

1. Click inside the Blueprint editor window
2. Window → Load Layout → Reset Layout
3. Window → Details → Details 2
4. Click Class Defaults
5. Click your variable in My Blueprint

---

If you can, tell me one thing:

• Are you using UE 5.0 / 5.1 / 5.2 / 5.3 / 5.4+?
  (Some of the UI labels differ slightly.)

You

i am here, How do i implement the updatetilescales? Please remember I am a complete UE beginner so you have to give concise instructions because I am not used to writing code with nodes

ChatGPT

Got you. You already have the timer calling UpdateTileScales — now we just need to fill that event.

Below is a very “do-this-click-that” version. No extra theory.

---

0) One important thing first

You have an Influencers Actor Array variable, but you must assign it in the level or auto-fill it.

Quick manual way (recommended for now)

1. In your Level, place 1–3 “influencer” Actors (a Sphere, Empty Actor, etc.)
2. Select your FbxScene_tiles_10pt_sample actor in the World Outliner
3. In the Details panel (level editor), find Influencers
4. Add elements and pick those actors

If Influencers is empty, nothing will happen.

---

1) Open the UpdateTileScales event graph area

In your Blueprint editor:

• In My Blueprint panel, under Graphs, double-click UpdateTileScales (the red event you created)
  • Or just zoom to the red UpdateTileScales node you already placed.

You will build nodes starting from that red node.

---

2) Early exit if no influencers

1. Drag Influencers from Variables into the graph → choose Get
2. Drag from the blue pin → search Length
3. Drag from Length output → type <= (Less or Equal float/int) and set it to 0
4. Add a Branch
5. Connect:
   • UpdateTileScales exec → Branch
   • Condition → result of Length <= 0
6. From True: do nothing (leave it unconnected)
7. From False: continue (this is where we put the loop)

---

3) Loop over Tile Meshes

1. Drag TileMeshes into the graph → Get
2. Drag off its blue pin → search ForEachLoop
3. Connect:
   • Branch False exec → ForEachLoop exec
   • TileMeshes array → ForEachLoop Array

Now you have:

• Array Element = one tile mesh component (this is what we scale)

---

4) For each tile: get its location

From the Array Element pin:

1. Drag off → search GetWorldLocation
2. This gives you TileLoc

---

5) For each tile: find nearest influencer distance

We’ll do it in the simplest readable way.

5.1 Create a variable BestDist

In the Blueprint variables list:

• + Variable → name BestDist
• Type: Float
• (Don’t make it editable; it’s just temp)

In the graph (inside the TileMeshes ForEachLoop body):

1. Drag BestDist into graph → Set
2. Set value to 1000000 (one million)
3. Connect ForEachLoop Loop Body exec → Set BestDist

5.2 Loop through Influencers

1. Drag Influencers into graph → Get
2. Drag off → ForEachLoop
3. Connect Set BestDist exec → Influencers ForEachLoop exec

Now inside the Influencers loop:

• From Influencer Array Element drag off → GetActorLocation
• Use Distance (Vector):
  • Drag from TileLoc → search Distance
  • Plug TileLoc and InfluencerLoc into Distance

Now update BestDist with the minimum:

1. Drag BestDist into graph → Get
2. Add Min (float) node
3. Plug:
   • A = BestDist (Get)
   • B = Distance result
4. Drag BestDist into graph → Set
5. Set value = output of Min
6. Connect Influencer ForEachLoop Loop Body exec → Set BestDist

After this influencer loop completes, BestDist holds the nearest distance.

---

6) Convert distance to scale and apply it

Use the Completed pin of the Influencers ForEachLoop.

6.1 Compute Alpha

1. Divide:
   • BestDist (Get) / MaxEffectDistance (Get) → use a / node
2. Clamp 0..1:
   • Drag off division result → Clamp (float), set Min=0 Max=1
3. Flip it:
   • 1 - clampedValue → use a - node with A=1

Now you have Alpha (1 near influencer, 0 far away).

6.2 Lerp scale

1. Add Lerp (float)
2. A = MinScale
3. B = MaxScale
4. Alpha = your flipped value

This outputs S.

6.3 Set scale on the tile component

You need the tile component reference (the TileMeshes ForEachLoop’s Array Element).
The easiest beginner way:

1. From the TileMeshes ForEachLoop Array Element, drag off → SetRelativeScale3D
2. Make a Vector:
   • Add Make Vector
   • X = S, Y = S, Z = S
3. Plug Make Vector into SetRelativeScale3D

Connect exec:

• Influencers ForEachLoop Completed → SetRelativeScale3D exec

That’s it.

---

7) One more critical thing: make components Movable

If you don’t do this, scaling may not work properly.

On BeginPlay (after you set TileMeshes):

1. Add ForEachLoop over TileMeshes
2. For each Array Element:
   • Set Mobility → Movable

(If you can’t find “Set Mobility”, click the component pin and search “Mobility”.)

---

Quick “Does it work?” test

• Set defaults:
  • MinScale 0.6
  • MaxScale 2.0
  • MaxEffectDistance 1000
  • UpdateInterval 0.05
• Assign 1 influencer in the level
• Press Play
• Move influencer around → nearby tiles should change size

---

If you get stuck, tell me which step breaks

If you can send a screenshot of your UpdateTileScales node area after you add:

• Branch (Influencers length check)
• Outer ForEachLoop (TileMeshes)

…I’ll tell you exactly what node to add next from where you are.

You

I did compile and this error came up. Yeah i don’t understand how we conncet all of that functionality to the actual event

ChatGPT

You’re super close. The error is happening for two simple reasons in your screenshot:

1. Your UpdateTileScales custom event is NOT connected to the white execution chain of the nodes you built (so the compiler “purges” them).
2. You accidentally used a getter node with a Target pin for UpdateInterval (that red “Target self / Update interval” node). That’s the wrong node type for reading your float variable.

Let’s fix both with very concrete steps.

---

A) Connect the functionality to the actual event (exec wiring)

1) Find your red node: UpdateTileScales (Custom Event)

It’s at the top-left of your screenshot.

2) Connect its white exec pin into your first node

Right now your first real logic node is the Branch (after checking Influencers length).

Do this:

• Drag a white wire from UpdateTileScales (right-side white triangle)
• Plug it into the Branch node’s left-side white exec input.

That’s it.
Now the whole chain is actually “called” when the event runs.

Important: In Unreal, EVERYTHING must be connected by white exec wires from an event (BeginPlay, Tick, Custom Event, Timer event, etc.). Blue wires don’t run anything by themselves.

---

B) Fix the UpdateInterval error (wrong node)

In your screenshot you have a red error node that looks like: Target self → Update interval (with a Target input)

That is not a normal float variable get.

Fix:

1. Delete that red error node entirely.
2. From the Variables list (left), drag UpdateInterval into the graph
3. Choose Get
4. Plug that green output directly into the Time pin on Set Timer by Event

That’s the correct way.

✅ After this, that compiler message about “invalid target” will disappear.

---

C) Make sure your Timer is set up correctly

Right now, you want:

BeginPlay → Set Timer by Event (Looping) → calls UpdateTileScales

Correct wiring:

1. On BeginPlay, after Set Tile Meshes, connect the white exec to Set Timer by Event
2. On Set Timer by Event:
   • Check Looping
   • Time = UpdateInterval (the correct variable Get)
   • Event pin must be linked to UpdateTileScales

How to link the Event pin properly:

• Drag off the red Event pin on Set Timer by Event
• Search Create Event
• In the “Create Event” dropdown, choose your function/event: UpdateTileScales

(Some UE versions let you just connect the red wire to the Custom Event node like you did — but if it’s acting weird, use Create Event.)

---

D) One more thing I see: your outer loop is wrong

In your screenshot, you’re doing ForEachLoop on Influencers first.

But the outer loop should be TileMeshes (scale each tile), and inside that you loop Influencers (find nearest).

So restructure like this:

UpdateTileScales:

1. Check Influencers.Length > 0 (Branch)
2. ForEachLoop(TileMeshes) ← OUTER
   • Set BestDist = big number
   • Get TileLoc from TileComp
   • ForEachLoop(Influencers) ← INNER
     • compute distance
     • BestDist = Min(BestDist, distance)
   • After inner loop Completed:
     • compute scale and apply to TileComp

You don’t need to finish it all right now—just get the event execution correct and compiling first.

---

Minimal “make it compile” checklist (do these now)

1. ✅ White exec from UpdateTileScales → Branch
2. ✅ Delete the red error UpdateInterval node
3. ✅ Drag UpdateInterval variable → Get → plug into Timer Time
4. ✅ Compile

If you do only those 4, your compile error should go away.

---

If you send one more screenshot after those fixes

I’ll tell you exactly where to place the TileMeshes ForEachLoop and how to wire the inner Influencers loop cleanly, with the fewest nodes possible.

You

I think now I am all good, right?

ChatGPT

Short answer: yes — this is basically correct and should work 👍
Long answer: you’re 95% there, and there are two small but important fixes I want you to make so it behaves reliably and doesn’t bite you later.

I’ll keep this very concrete and beginner-friendly.

---

✅ What you got right (important)

Looking at your graph:

• ✔ BeginPlay
  → collects TileMeshes
  → prints length (good debug)
  → starts Set Timer by Event
• ✔ Timer is looping and uses UpdateInterval
• ✔ UpdateTileScales is now actually connected (white exec wire ✅)
• ✔ Logic order is correct:
  • check Influencers length
  • loop over TileMeshes
  • reset BestDist
  • loop over Influencers
  • compute min distance
  • normalize → clamp → invert → lerp
  • SetRelativeScale3D

Conceptually and structurally: correct.

---

⚠️ Two things you MUST fix

1️⃣ Your timer Event wiring is wrong (subtle but important)

Right now, you have:

• UpdateTileScales feeding into Set Timer by Event

That is backwards.

❌ Current (wrong)

UpdateTileScales → Set Timer by Event

✅ Correct

BeginPlay → Set Timer by Event → (calls) UpdateTileScales

How to fix (exact steps):

1. Disconnect the white exec wire going from UpdateTileScales into Set Timer by Event
2. From BeginPlay, connect the white exec wire into Set Timer by Event
3. On Set Timer by Event:
   • The Event pin should reference UpdateTileScales
   • (Use Create Event → UpdateTileScales if needed)

👉 UpdateTileScales should never call the timer.
The timer calls it.

If you leave it as-is, you risk:

• multiple timers being created
• exponential updates
• weird performance bugs later

---

2️⃣ Move SetRelativeScale3D to the correct exec pin

Right now it looks like your SetRelativeScale3D may fire too early or inconsistently.

Correct rule:

You should only set the scale after the Influencers loop is fully finished

Make sure:

• SetRelativeScale3D exec input is connected to: Influencers ForEachLoop → Completed

Not Loop Body.

If it’s already connected that way: 👍 you’re good.

---

🧪 Quick final sanity checklist

Do these and you’re done:

• ⬜ BeginPlay → Set Timer by Event (looping)
• ⬜ Timer Event → UpdateTileScales
• ⬜ UpdateTileScales → Branch (Influencers length)
• ⬜ Outer loop = TileMeshes
• ⬜ Inner loop = Influencers
• ⬜ SetRelativeScale3D happens after inner loop completes
• ⬜ Tile mesh components are Movable
• ⬜ Influencers array is populated in the level

---

✅ Expected behavior

When you press Play:

• Tiles near an influencer grow
• Tiles far away shrink
• Moving the influencer causes live updates
• No compile errors
• Stable performance (timer-based, not Tick)

---

Final note (important reassurance)

What you just built is not beginner-level Unreal.
You successfully handled:

• component arrays
• nested loops
• timers
• exec flow vs data flow
• runtime mesh manipulation

That’s a big step coming from Unity.

If you want next:

• 🔄 smooth interpolation
• 📈 non-linear falloff curves
• 🛠 editor-time preview (no Play button)
• ⚡ performance optimization for thousands of tiles

Just tell me what you want to improve next.

You

you say this:

Disconnect the white exec wire going from UpdateTileScales into Set Timer by Event

but actually the white wire from UpdtaeTileScales is going to the the branch. so I am abit confused

ChatGPT

Ah — thank you for calling this out. You’re right to be confused, and this is on me for not being precise enough given how dense the graph is.

Let’s clear this up very concretely and visually, using your actual graph.

---

What is ACTUALLY happening in your graph

In your screenshot:

• ✅ White exec from UpdateTileScales goes into the Branch
  → this part is CORRECT

• ❌ There is ALSO a white exec wire going into Set Timer by Event from the upper logic chain
  → this is the part we need to double-check

So the confusion is because:

• UpdateTileScales → Branch is good
• The timer setup must only happen once, on BeginPlay

Let’s isolate the correct intent.

---

The rule (memorize this)

Timers are started once (BeginPlay).
Custom Events are called repeatedly by the timer.

So:

BeginPlay
 └── Set Timer by Event (looping)
       └── calls UpdateTileScales

UpdateTileScales
 └── Branch
     └── scaling logic

---

What to check in YOUR graph (step-by-step)

1️⃣ Look at Set Timer by Event

Ask yourself:

• Is BeginPlay connected to its white exec input?

✅ YES → good
❌ NO → fix it

2️⃣ Look at UpdateTileScales

Ask yourself:

• Is UpdateTileScales connected to the Branch via a white wire?

✅ YES → good
❌ NO → fix it

3️⃣ Make sure this is NOT happening

There should NOT be a white exec wire like this:

UpdateTileScales → Set Timer by Event

If you see that wire:

• Delete it

If you do not see that wire:

• You’re already correct, and you can ignore my earlier warning

---

Why I warned you (context)

In many beginner graphs, people accidentally:

• start a new timer inside the timer callback
• which creates infinite timers

Your graph is large and zoomed out, and I saw the timer node close to your update logic, so I flagged it defensively.

From your clarification:

“the white wire from UpdateTileScales is going to the branch”

That is exactly correct behavior 👍
You do not need to change that.

---

So, final verdict (for real this time)

✔ UpdateTileScales → Branch
✔ BeginPlay → Set Timer by Event
✔ Set Timer by Event → UpdateTileScales (event binding)

If all three are true, then:

👉 You are all good. Do not change anything.

---

Final tiny check (optional but useful)

Hit Play and watch:

• Tile scale updates
• No log spam
• No sudden performance drop over time

If yes → you’re done.

---

If you want, next we can:

• clean the graph (collapse into functions),
• preview in-editor without Play,
• or optimize for very large tile counts.

Just say the word.

You

here is what’s happening at beginplay

ChatGPT

Thanks — this close-up helps a lot.

✅ Your white exec chain at BeginPlay is correct

BeginPlay → Set Tile Meshes → Print String → Set Timer by Event

That part is fine.

⚠️ The one thing that’s wrong is the red “Event” wire

In your screenshot, the red wire is coming from the left and going into the Event pin on Set Timer by Event, but I don’t see it coming from a proper Create Event node (or from the correct binding). In UE, that Event pin must be fed by a Create Event (delegate) that points to your UpdateTileScales custom event.

Right now, it looks like the Event pin might be connected incorrectly / ambiguously.

---

Fix it in the simplest way (do exactly this)

Step 1: Disconnect the red wire

• Click the red wire going into Set Timer by Event → press Delete.

Step 2: Create the correct event binding

• Drag off the red Event pin on Set Timer by Event
• Search: Create Event
• Place the Create Event node
• On the Create Event node, there’s a dropdown where you choose which event/function it calls:
  • Choose UpdateTileScales

Now you will have:

Set Timer by Event (Event pin) ← Create Event (UpdateTileScales)

Step 3: Compile

• Compile and Play.

That’s the “official” / reliable way.

---

Quick sanity check

After this:

• The timer will call UpdateTileScales repeatedly.
• UpdateTileScales should already be connected to your Branch and scaling logic (white wire).

---

Optional: remove Print String later

Your Print String is fine for debugging, but once you confirm it works you can remove it so it doesn’t spam.

---

If you want to verify the timer is firing:

1. Temporarily add a Print String at the start of UpdateTileScales that prints "tick"
2. Press Play
3. You should see it printing repeatedly

If you send a close-up of your Set Timer by Event after you add Create Event, I can confirm it’s wired 100% correctly.

You

ChatGPT

Yep — now I can see the real issue clearly:

❌ You connected the UpdateTileScales node itself into the Timer’s red Event pin.

That looks reasonable, but it’s not the right type of connection in Blueprints. The Timer’s Event pin expects a delegate (made by a Create Event node), not the custom event node directly.

So let’s fix it the one reliable way.

---

Fix the Timer event binding (exact steps)

1) Delete the current red wire

• Click the red wire from UpdateTileScales to the timer’s Event pin
• Press Delete

2) Add a “Create Event” node

• Drag from the red Event pin on Set Timer by Event
• Type Create Event
• Place the node

3) Tell it to call UpdateTileScales

On the Create Event node:

• Click the dropdown that says something like Select Function
• Choose UpdateTileScales

4) Compile

Now it will work as intended.

✅ The correct pattern is:

BeginPlay → Set Timer by Event (Looping)
and the Event pin is fed by: Create Event → UpdateTileScales

---

Quick verify (super simple)

To confirm the timer is firing:

1. Put a Print String directly off the exec pin of UpdateTileScales
2. Print "UpdateTileScales called"
3. Press Play

If you see it spamming, the timer is set correctly.

---

Why your current wiring doesn’t work

Unreal separates:

• calling an event (white exec wires) from
• passing an event as a callback (red delegate wires)

That’s why you need Create Event.

---

If you post one more screenshot after adding Create Event, I’ll confirm it’s correct, and then we’ll sanity-check the scaling loop (outer TileMeshes loop + inner Influencers loop) for any small wiring mistakes.

You

great. when i hit play is it possible to go to the editor window?

ChatGPT

Yes — this is absolutely possible, and it’s something Unreal does very differently from Unity.

Here are the three ways, from “most common” to “power-user”.

---

✅ The one you want: Eject

This is the Unreal equivalent of “Play but keep editor control”.

While the game is running:

• Press F8
• OR click the Eject button (top toolbar, next to Play)

What this does:

• The game keeps running
• You regain control of the Editor viewport
• You can:
  • Select Actors
  • Move your influencers
  • Inspect variables
  • Watch tiles react in real time

This is exactly what you want for your system.

💡 Unity analogy:
This is like Play Mode + Scene View unlocked.

---

🟡 Alternative: Simulate

Instead of Play, click the dropdown next to Play and choose Simulate.

Behavior:

• Game logic runs
• You stay in the editor viewport the whole time
• No player pawn possession

For your tile-scaling system, Simulate works great.

⚠️ Caveat:

• Some gameplay logic that depends on PlayerController / Pawn possession won’t run exactly the same
• For pure world logic (like yours), it’s fine

---

🔵 Advanced: Play → New Editor Window

From the Play dropdown:

• Play in New Editor Window

This keeps:

• One window = running game
• One window = editor

Not needed here, but useful later.

---

Recommended workflow for you (right now)

1. Click Play
2. Press F8 (Eject)
3. Move influencer Actors around in the editor
4. Watch tiles update live

This is the standard Unreal dev loop for systems like this.

---

Bonus: live debugging (very useful)

While playing + ejected:

1. Open your Blueprint
2. At the top, set Debug Filter to your running Actor instance
3. Watch variables like:
   • BestDist
   • TileMeshes
   • Influencer distances

This is extremely powerful once you get used to it.

---

If you want next, we can:

• make the system update in editor without Play (Construction Script preview), or
• add gizmos to visualize influence radius, or
• add falloff curves for nicer motion.

Just tell me 👍

You

everything was working and i would see the flow in the blueprint graph but now when i hit play i just see black in the main view and nothing flowing on the blueprint

ChatGPT

[Unsupported Content]

ChatGPT

[Unsupported Content]

ChatGPT

Totally fixable — those two symptoms usually come from two separate “editor state” things, not from your logic breaking.

1) Black screen in the main viewport when you press Play

This usually means the game is running but you have no camera / you’re viewing from a camera that sees nothing.

Try these in order:

A) Eject back to the editor camera

• Press F8 (Eject)

If you can see the level again after F8, then the black screen was just the game camera.

B) If you can’t click anything (mouse captured)

• Press Shift + F1 to release the mouse cursor.

C) If you actually have no camera/pawn set

Quick fix:

• In the level, place a CameraActor
• Then in Play settings, choose Play From Here near the tiles (Play dropdown → “Play From Here”) Or just use Simulate instead of Play (Play dropdown → Simulate) which keeps you in the editor view.

---

2) “Nothing flowing” in the Blueprint graph

This is almost always because you’re not debugging the running instance.

In Unreal, Blueprint wires only “light up” when:

• the Blueprint is running and
• the Blueprint editor is set to debug a specific instance.

Do this:

1. Press Play
2. Open your Blueprint (the one with UpdateTileScales)
3. In the Blueprint editor toolbar, find Debug Filter (dropdown near the top)
4. Select the instance of your actor in the world (it’ll be something like FbxScene_tiles_10pt_sample_C_0)

After you pick the instance, the exec wires should start animating again.

If Debug Filter says “No Debug Object Selected”, you won’t see flow even if it’s working.

Quick proof the logic is running

Add this temporarily:

• Put a Print String at the start of UpdateTileScales that prints "Update" If you see spam, the timer is firing even if wires aren’t visible.

---

3) Two common “it suddenly stopped” gotchas

A) The actor isn’t in the level anymore

Make sure your FbxScene_tiles_10pt_sample Actor is still placed in the level (World Outliner).

B) You’re playing in a different mode/window

If you accidentally switched Play mode (dropdown next to Play), you might be playing in a separate window. If so:

• Use Simulate, or
• Use Play in Selected Viewport

---

Fastest recovery sequence

1. Press Play
2. Press Shift+F1
3. Press F8
4. In Blueprint window set Debug Filter to your actor instance

If you tell me whether F8 brings the level back (yes/no), I can pinpoint the black-screen cause immediately.

You

I think this might have happened when i did file/save all

ChatGPT

[Unsupported Content]

ChatGPT

[Unsupported Content]

ChatGPT

Yep — Save All can make it feel like things “broke” even though your logic is fine. It commonly changes/solidifies editor state: Play settings, level defaults, viewport/camera, and which Blueprint instance you’re debugging.

Here’s the quickest way to get back to “I see my level + I see blueprint flow”.

---

1) Fix the black screen first (camera / play mode)

Do this in the Level Editor:

1. Click the little ▼ next to Play
2. Set Play Mode to Selected Viewport (or “Play in Viewport”)
3. Try Simulate instead of Play (also in that dropdown)

Why: Simulate keeps you in the editor camera, so you won’t get a black “player camera” view.

While running:

• Press Shift + F1 (release mouse)
• Press F8 (Eject back to editor camera)

If F8 shows your scene again → nothing is wrong, it was just the game camera.

---

2) Get Blueprint “flow lines” back (Debug Filter)

After Save All, Unreal often resets which instance you’re watching.

1. Press Play (or Simulate)
2. Open your Blueprint (FbxScene_tiles_…)
3. In the Blueprint window, find Debug Filter (top toolbar)
4. Choose the running instance:
   • something like FbxScene_tiles_10pt_sample_C_0

If it says No Debug Object Selected, you won’t see any exec wires animate even if it’s working.

---

3) Confirm the timer is still firing (2-second test)

In UpdateTileScales, temporarily add:

• Print String: "UpdateTileScales"

Press Play/Simulate:

• If it prints repeatedly → your system is running; the issue was just camera/debug view.

Remove it afterwards.

---

4) If it’s still black even in Simulate

That suggests your viewport might be in an odd mode.

Try:

• Window → Load Layout → Reset Layout
• Or in the viewport: click Perspective dropdown → choose Perspective again
• Press F on a selected object in the Outliner (focus camera)

---

Most likely fix for you

Use Simulate + set the Debug Filter to your placed actor instance. That usually restores both “I can see things” and “I can see execution flow”.

If you tell me one thing—does Simulate show the level normally?—I’ll pinpoint whether this is purely camera/play mode or if something else changed.

You

why do i see everythin black? am i missing a camera?

ChatGPT

Yeah — a missing/invalid camera (or spawning with no pawn) is the most common cause of “Play = black screen” in UE.

From your Outliner I can see you have a PlayerStart, but I don’t see a placed CameraActor or anything obvious that would guarantee a view when you hit Play. If the GameMode doesn’t spawn a pawn with a camera (or it spawns something with no camera / inside geometry), you’ll get black.

Here are the quickest fixes (pick the easiest):

---

Fastest fix for testing: use Simulate or Eject

Option A: Simulate

• Click the ▼ next to Play
• Choose Simulate This keeps the editor viewport as your camera (so no black), and your timer/blueprints will still run.

Option B: Eject after Play

• Press Play
• Press F8 (Eject) If you can see the level after ejecting, then your game camera is the issue, not your level.

---

Fix the actual camera/pawn setup (so Play works normally)

Option 1: Place a camera and force it

1. Place Actors panel → search CameraActor
2. Drag a CameraActor into the level and aim it at your tiles
3. Select the CameraActor
4. In the viewport, click Pilot (or right-click camera → Pilot ‘CameraActor’) to frame it

Now to force the game to use it:

• In the Level Blueprint (or a simple “manager” actor) on BeginPlay:
  • Get Player Controller
  • Set View Target with Blend
  • New View Target = your CameraActor

This guarantees a view.

(If you want, I’ll give you the exact 3 nodes for this.)

---

Option 2: Use the default pawn (quick)

If you just want a basic controllable camera:

1. Go to World Settings (Settings dropdown → World Settings)
2. In GameMode Override, pick something like GameModeBase (or your game mode)
3. Set Default Pawn Class to:
   • DefaultPawn (flying camera)
     or
   • ThirdPersonCharacter if you created a third person template project

If the project has no pawn set, black screen is likely.

---

Quick checks that confirm it’s camera-related

1) Does Simulate show the world?

• If yes → camera/pawn in Play mode is the problem.

2) When you press Play, does the Outliner show a spawned pawn?

During Play, expand the Outliner and look for:

• DefaultPawn, ThirdPersonCharacter, etc.

If none appears → GameMode/pawn not spawning.

---

One more thing: your level might be unlit

Even with a camera, a level can look almost black if there’s no lighting.

In Outliner you have a “Lighting” folder — but just to rule it out:

• In the viewport, change view mode to Lit
• Then try Unlit If Unlit shows geometry clearly but Lit is black, it’s a lighting issue (no directional light / skylight).

---

The simplest recommendation right now

Use Simulate while you iterate on your tile scaling. It avoids all camera/game mode complexity.

If you tell me:

• are you using a Blank template project or Third Person template? I’ll tell you the exact minimal “set up a camera/pawn” path for that setup.

You

I used a blank tenmplate and before saving i could see the landscape while now i can’t at all

ChatGPT

Blank template explains a lot. In a Blank level, “Play” can easily end up with no pawn/camera, and after Save All you may also have flipped a viewport setting (or ended up piloting a camera / in a different view mode). Since you say you could see the landscape before, I’d treat this as viewport state first, then camera.

Do these in order (each is quick):

---

1) Make sure you’re not in a weird viewport mode

In the main viewport (top-left of viewport):

A) Click the view mode dropdown (usually says Lit)

• Switch to Unlit If you suddenly see everything in Unlit → it’s a lighting/exposure issue, not camera.

B) Press G

This toggles “Game View”. Sometimes it hides editor helpers and can look like “nothing”.

C) Press F on an object

• In Outliner, click your Landscape or FbxScene_tiles_10pt_sample
• Press F (focus).
  If you were just looking into empty space, this fixes it instantly.

---

2) Reset the editor layout (common after saves / window changes)

In the main editor:

• Window → Load Layout → Reset Layout (or “Default Editor Layout”)

This fixes “viewport went black” surprisingly often.

---

3) Check exposure (Blank levels can go fully black)

If your scene is lit but exposure is broken, it can appear black.

Quick test:

• In viewport, Show → Post Processing → uncheck “Enable Post Processing” (if available) Or:
• Place an actor: Post Process Volume
  • Check Infinite Extent (Unbound)
  • Set Exposure → Metering Mode to Manual
  • Set Exposure Compensation to something like +2 (temporary)

If that fixes it, we’ll tune it properly.

---

4) Play-mode black screen: add a camera/pawn (Blank template often has none)

This affects Play, but not editor view. Still, do it now so Play is stable.

Quickest: set a default pawn that has a camera

1. Settings → World Settings
2. Under GameMode Override, set it to GameModeBase
3. In the GameModeBase settings:
   • Default Pawn Class → DefaultPawn

Now Play will always give you a fly camera.

---

5) If you literally can’t see anything even in the editor viewport

That’s almost always one of these:

• You’re in Unlit/Lit mismatch due to lighting/exposure
• Your camera is far away / inside something (use F to focus)
• Viewport got set to a different “view” (reset layout)

---

The fastest “tell me what it is” test

In the editor viewport (not Play):

1. Switch to Unlit
2. Select Landscape → press F

Tell me what happens:

• You can see it in Unlit → lighting/exposure issue
• F zooms you to it and you see it → you were just off in space
• Still black → viewport state/layout issue (reset layout will fix)

If you reply with just: “Unlit shows it / Unlit still black”, I’ll give the exact next action.

You

ok i have a major question what is the landscape and why can’t i turn it off?

ChatGPT

This is a very good question, and it gets to the heart of why Unreal feels confusing coming from Unity.

I’ll explain what Landscape is, why it behaves “special”, and how you control or remove it — clearly and practically.

---

What is “Landscape” in Unreal?

Landscape is Unreal’s built-in terrain system.

Think of it as Unreal’s equivalent of:

• Unity Terrain, not a Mesh

Key properties:

• It is not a Static Mesh
• It is not meant to be toggled like a normal object
• It has its own rendering, LOD, collision, and material pipeline
• It is optimized for huge outdoor worlds

So when you see Landscape in the Outliner:

• That’s Unreal’s terrain actor
• It’s treated as a core world feature, not just “another mesh”

---

Why you “can’t turn it off” like other actors

Landscape is special because:

• It’s rendered by the Landscape system, not the Static Mesh system
• Some visibility toggles don’t affect it the same way
• In Game View (G) and Play, it will always render unless:
  • You hide it explicitly
  • Or remove it entirely

This is exactly the same concept as Unity’s Terrain being “special”.

---

How to HIDE or REMOVE the Landscape (exact steps)

Option 1 — Hide it (temporary, editor-safe)

In the World Outliner:

1. Click the eye icon next to Landscape
   • This hides it in the editor viewport

⚠️ Note:

• It may still appear in Play if Game View is on
• This is editor-only visibility

---

Option 2 — Disable rendering (proper “off” switch)

Select the Landscape actor:

1. In the Details panel
2. Search for Rendering
3. Uncheck Visible

This hides it both in editor and in Play.

---

Option 3 — Delete it (cleanest if you don’t need terrain)

If your project is just tiles and you don’t want terrain:

1. Select Landscape in the Outliner
2. Press Delete
3. Confirm

That’s it — it’s completely gone.

💡 You can always add one back later via: Place Actors → Landscape

---

Why your scene went “black” and Landscape matters

What likely happened:

• You were relying on the Landscape’s default material and lighting
• After Save / Play / Viewport changes:
  • exposure or camera changed
  • lighting changed
• With no proper lights or camera, the Landscape became invisible (or very dark)

This is common in Blank template projects, because:

• They don’t include:
  • a directional light
  • a sky light
  • a default camera/pawn

---

Recommended setup for YOUR project

Since your project is:

• procedural tiles
• no terrain-based gameplay

I strongly recommend:

👉 Delete the Landscape entirely

Then:

• Use your tile grid as the ground
• Add a simple Directional Light + Sky Light

This gives you:

• predictable lighting
• no “special terrain behavior”
• less confusion while learning UE

---

Unity → Unreal mental translation

Unity	Unreal
Terrain	Landscape
MeshRenderer	StaticMeshComponent
Scene View	Editor Viewport
Play Mode camera	Pawn + Camera

Landscape = Terrain.
It’s special by design.

---

Next logical step (suggested)

If you want, next we can:

• set up a clean lighting + camera baseline for your tile project, or
• remove Landscape and make your tile grid the only ground, or
• explain World Partition / Large World features you’re seeing in the Outliner.

Just tell me which one you want.

You

actually i can’t delete it at all

ChatGPT

This is a known Unreal “gotcha”, and you’re not doing anything wrong.

If you cannot delete the Landscape at all, it’s almost certainly because of World Partition / Data Layers / Landscape Edit mode, not because Landscape is “undeletable”.

Let’s fix it safely and step-by-step.

---

Why you can’t delete the Landscape (most common reasons)

1️⃣ You are in Landscape Edit Mode

When Landscape mode is active, Unreal locks the Landscape actor.

Fix

1. Look at the top-left toolbar (modes icons)
2. If Landscape is selected:
   • Switch back to Select Mode (arrow icon)
3. Now try deleting the Landscape again

This alone fixes it for ~50% of people.

---

2️⃣ World Partition is enabled (very likely in UE5)

Your Outliner shows:

WorldDataLayers
WorldPartitionMiniMap

This means World Partition is ON, and Landscapes are often assigned to a Data Layer.

If the Data Layer is locked or unloaded → you can’t delete.

---

✅ Correct way to delete Landscape in a World Partition level

Step A — Open Data Layers panel

1. Window → World Partition → Data Layers
2. A panel opens (usually docked)

---

Step B — Unlock and load all layers

In the Data Layers panel:

• Make sure:
  • The layer containing Landscape is Loaded
  • The lock icon is OFF

If it’s locked:

• Click the 🔒 icon to unlock

---

Step C — Delete the Landscape

1. Select Landscape in the World Outliner
2. Press Delete
3. Confirm

Now it should work.

---

3️⃣ Landscape belongs to a different Level (sublevel)

If your level uses streaming:

In the Outliner, check:

• Is Landscape under a Level entry?
• Is that level Current?

Fix

1. Window → Levels
2. Right-click the level containing Landscape
3. Choose Make Current
4. Delete Landscape

---

4️⃣ Nuclear option (guaranteed to work)

If you don’t care about this level and just want a clean slate:

Create a new empty level

1. File → New Level
2. Choose Empty Level
3. Save it
4. Re-add only:
   • your tile actor
   • a Directional Light
   • a Sky Light

This avoids Landscape entirely.

---

Why Unreal does this (important context)

Landscape is treated as:

• a world-scale system
• tightly integrated with World Partition
• sometimes auto-protected to prevent accidental deletion

Unity Terrain feels similar when locked by tools — same idea, just more aggressive in UE.

---

What I recommend for YOU

Given your project:

• procedural tiles
• no terrain gameplay
• learning UE basics

👉 Do NOT fight Landscape right now

Best path:

• Create a new Empty Level
• Don’t add Landscape at all
• Use your tiles as the ground

This removes ~30% of early Unreal confusion instantly.

---

Quick diagnostic question (one answer only)

When you select Landscape, do you see:

• “Landscape” tool active at the top?
  or
• a lock icon in Data Layers?

Tell me which one you see, and I’ll give you the exact click sequence for your case.

You

what is the outliner?

ChatGPT

Great question — this is one of those “Unreal vocabulary” things that trips everyone at first.

I’ll explain it plainly and relate it to Unity.

---

What is the Outliner?

The Outliner (officially World Outliner) is:

The list of everything that exists in your level.

Every object you can see (and many you can’t) appears there.

---

Unity → Unreal translation

Unity	Unreal
Hierarchy window	World Outliner
GameObject	Actor
Child GameObject	Attached Actor / Component
Scene	Level

So:

• Unity Hierarchy = Unreal Outliner

---

Where is it?

By default, it’s on the right side of the Unreal editor and titled:

World Outliner

If you don’t see it:

1. Window → World Outliner
2. It will pop back up

---

What you’re seeing in your Outliner screenshot

From your earlier image, entries like:

• FbxScene_tiles_10pt_sample
• Landscape
• PlayerStart
• Tile_BP
• Tile_BP2

These are all Actors placed in the level.

The little arrows mean:

• ▶ Expand = see children/components
• Folders are just organizational

---

Why the Outliner matters (especially for you)

You use the Outliner to:

• Select actors when you can’t click them in the viewport
• Delete things (like Landscape)
• See what actually exists in the level
• Debug “why is this still here?”
• Verify your Blueprint actor is placed in the level

Example: If your tiles aren’t scaling:

• Check the Outliner
• Select FbxScene_tiles_10pt_sample
• Confirm it exists and is not hidden

---

How to use it right now (2-minute exercise)

1. Open World Outliner
2. Click on Landscape
3. Watch it highlight in the viewport
4. Click the eye icon next to it → it hides

That’s the Outliner doing its job.

---

Important Unreal difference vs Unity

In Unity:

• Everything is a GameObject In Unreal:
• Some things are Actors
• Some things are Components
• Some things (Landscape, WorldPartition) are systems

The Outliner shows Actors only, not every component.

---

Why this confused you

You’re using:

• a Blank template
• with World Partition
• and Landscape

That’s a very advanced default for a beginner.

You’re doing fine — this confusion is 100% normal.

---

If you want, next I can:

• give you a “minimal Unreal mental model” in 10 minutes, or
• help you make a clean empty level with no Landscape, or
• explain Components vs Actors clearly using your tile setup.

Just tell me what you want next 🙂

You

ok now a bit of UE technical stuff. Let’s say i wanna attach this same blueprint to another imported tiles fbx how do i go about that? How do we approach modularity here?

ChatGPT

[Unsupported Content]

ChatGPT

[Unsupported Content]

ChatGPT

In UE, the clean “Unity-style modularity” move here is: don’t copy the whole graph into every imported FBX blueprint. Instead, put the logic into a reusable ActorComponent you can add to any imported tile actor.

Think: MonoBehaviour → ActorComponent.

---

Best modular approach: make a reusable Blueprint Actor Component

1) Create the component

1. Content Browser → Add → Blueprint Class
2. Pick ActorComponent
3. Name it BP_TileScalerComponent

2) Move your variables into the component

Inside BP_TileScalerComponent, create:

• Influencers (Actor Array) → Instance Editable
• MinScale (float)
• MaxScale (float)
• MaxEffectDistance (float)
• UpdateInterval (float)
• TileMeshes (StaticMeshComponent Array) (not editable)

3) Implement the same logic, but using GetOwner

In the component’s Event Graph:

Event BeginPlay

• Get Owner
• Get Components by Class (StaticMeshComponent) on the Owner
• Set TileMeshes
• (Optional) ForEach TileMeshes → Set Mobility = Movable
• Set Timer by Event (looping) using UpdateInterval
  • Event uses Create Event → calls a custom event inside the component: UpdateTileScales

Custom Event: UpdateTileScales

• Same nested loops you already built:
  • ForEach TileMeshes
    • Find nearest influencer distance
    • Lerp scale
    • SetRelativeScale3D on the component

✅ Now the scaler logic is portable.

---

4) Attach it to any imported FBX tiles actor

When you import a new tiles FBX (Import Into Level), UE creates an Actor (often a Blueprint instance like your FbxScene_tiles...).

To use the same scaling on the new one:

1. Select the imported tiles Actor in the World Outliner
2. In the Details panel → click Add Component
3. Search and add BP_TileScalerComponent
4. In the component’s settings (in Details):
   • Assign Influencers
   • Set Min/MaxScale etc.

Press Play → it should work immediately.

That’s your modular system.

---

If “Add Component” isn’t available / you can’t add it

Sometimes the imported actor type is restrictive, or you’re selecting something that isn’t the root actor you think.

Two reliable fallbacks:

Fallback A: Convert the imported actor to a Blueprint you own

1. Select the imported tiles actor in the level
2. In the top toolbar: Blueprints → Convert Selected Actor to Blueprint Class
3. Save it as BP_Tiles_X
4. Open BP_Tiles_X → Add Component → BP_TileScalerComponent

Fallback B: Make a wrapper Blueprint (“manager”)

Create BP_TileScalerManager (Actor) with:

• TargetActor (Actor reference, Instance Editable)
• In BeginPlay: GetComponentsByClass from TargetActor instead of owner This scales a referenced imported actor without modifying it.

---

How UE modularity typically looks (mental model)

• Reusable behavior → ActorComponent (like a Unity script)
• Reusable placed object → Actor Blueprint (like a Prefab)
• Different imported tile sets → different Actors, same component attached

---

If you tell me which import route you’re using for the new tiles:

• Import Into Level again (FBX Scene), or
• importing meshes and placing them manually

…I’ll tell you the exact “best” variant (component vs wrapper) for that workflow.

You

I did all that but the tiles aren’t changing

ChatGPT

[Unsupported Content]

ChatGPT

[Unsupported Content]

ChatGPT

Got it. When you move the logic into an ActorComponent, “nothing happens” is almost always one of these: the component isn’t running, it isn’t finding any mesh components, or it has no influencers / bad parameters.

Here’s a very direct way to diagnose and fix it.

---

1) Prove the component is actually running

Open BP_TileScalerComponent.

In Event BeginPlay add a Print String

• Text: TileScaler BeginPlay
• Duration: 2

Hit Play.

✅ If you see the print: component is running
❌ If you don’t: the component is not active/attached to the actor you think (skip to section 6).

---

2) Check it found your tile meshes

Right after you set TileMeshes from Get Components by Class, add:

• Length(TileMeshes) → Print String

Expected: a big number (like your original setup).

If it prints 0, then your new imported tiles actor does not contain StaticMeshComponents the way your first one did.

Common reason

The new import might be using:

• InstancedStaticMeshComponent / HierarchicalInstancedStaticMeshComponent (ISM/HISM), not StaticMeshComponents

Fix (easy):

• Duplicate your “Get Components by Class” step for these types too:
  • Get Components by Class (InstancedStaticMeshComponent)
  • Get Components by Class (HierarchicalInstancedStaticMeshComponent)

But note: ISM/HISM scaling is per instance, not via SetRelativeScale3D on the component. If you have ISM/HISM, tell me and I’ll give the correct per-instance update version.

---

3) Make sure Influencers isn’t empty

In BeginPlay (or at start of Update), print:

• Length(Influencers) → Print String

If it’s 0, tiles won’t change.

Fix

Select the tiles actor in the level → Details → your component → Influencers → add your influencer actors.

---

4) Make sure your timer is firing

At the very start of UpdateTileScales add:

• Print String: Update

Hit Play.

• If you see BeginPlay print but no Update prints → timer binding is wrong (delegate not set).
  • Re-check that Set Timer by Event uses Create Event → UpdateTileScales (inside the component).

---

5) Make sure your settings aren’t “neutral”

Check these values (in the component on the placed actor instance):

• UpdateInterval > 0 (try 0.05)
• MaxEffectDistance > 0 (try 1000)
• MinScale and MaxScale different (try 0.5 and 2.0)

If MaxEffectDistance is 0, you’ll get divide-by-zero weirdness and no visible effect.

---

6) Make sure the component is attached to the RIGHT actor

This one happens constantly with “Import Into Level”.

In the World Outliner, expand the imported FBX scene actor:

• You want the component on the top-level imported actor (the one that owns all the mesh components), not on a child piece.

Quick check:

• Select the actor that has your component
• In the component, print Length(TileMeshes)
• If 0 → you attached it to the wrong actor (a child with no mesh components).

---

7) Mobility (only if it almost works)

If it finds meshes and updates but scaling still doesn’t visually change:

• In BeginPlay: ForEach TileMeshes → Set Mobility = Movable

(Some imported components come in as Static.)

---

Tell me just ONE number and I’ll pinpoint it

After adding the two prints in BeginPlay, tell me what you get:

• TileMeshes length = ?
• Influencers length = ?

With just those two values I can tell you exactly which branch you’re in (wrong actor vs wrong component type vs empty influencers) and give the precise fix.

You

ok it’s all working now. I do have a new request. I really need to optimize the performance of this so I was wondering how I’d go about instancing the tiles as many of them have the same geometry albeit rotated. see the sample in my image. What are the instancing options I have in unreal engine? Give me the simplest first but if there is a solution that will significantly improve efficiency please elaborate on that too even if it is technically harder

ChatGPT

You’re at the exact point where UE performance “clicks”: instancing is the main lever, and rotated repeats are perfect for it.

Below are your instancing options in Unreal, ordered from simplest to most efficient, with notes on what changes for your “scale by distance to influencers” behavior.

---

1) Simplest: Merge Actors (one mesh)

What it is: Combine many placed meshes into one Static Mesh asset.

Pros

• Very easy
• Big draw-call reduction vs thousands of components/actors

Cons

• You lose per-tile control (you can’t scale each tile independently as objects)
• Only useful if you’re okay with “the whole floor reacts” or you switch to a material trick

When to use: Almost never for your current “each tile scales”.

---

2) Simple + good: ISM (Instanced Static Mesh Component)

What it is: One component renders many copies of the same mesh with different transforms (position/rotation/scale).

Pros

• Huge draw-call savings
• Easy to implement in Blueprint
• Great if you have a few tile meshes repeated many times (even rotated)

Cons

• Updating per-instance transforms every frame can still be heavy if you have tens of thousands
• No automatic per-instance culling beyond basic bounds (less good than HISM)

Best for: Hundreds to low-thousands of repeated tiles with per-instance scaling.

---

3) Best general-purpose: HISM (Hierarchical Instanced Static Mesh)

What it is: Like ISM but with a hierarchy for fast culling (chunks get culled when off-screen).

Pros

• Same draw-call savings as ISM
• Much better for large counts because of hierarchical culling
• The “default best choice” for repeated environment pieces

Cons

• Slightly more complex than ISM
• Still not free if you update every instance very often

Best for: Thousands to tens of thousands of tiles.

---

4) Efficient scaling without touching transforms: Material-based “fake scaling” (WPO)

What it is: You don’t change instance transforms. Instead you drive a material parameter (or a texture/field) and the material deforms vertices.

Pros

• Very fast for massive counts
• CPU cost is low (you’re not calling UpdateInstanceTransform a ton)
• Looks great for “pulsing / breathing / bulging” effects

Cons

• It’s not true transform scaling (collision doesn’t scale)
• You need per-tile data (tile center positions or UV mapping) or a grid mapping
• Harder to set up initially

Best for: Very large tile fields where you want visuals more than physics accuracy.

---

5) If you end up truly huge: GPU-driven via Niagara / custom rendering

Mentioning for completeness. Usually overkill for your case unless you’re doing hundreds of thousands+.

---

What I’d recommend for your situation

Since you said: “many tiles have the same geometry albeit rotated”:

✅ Use HISM grouped by mesh (and optionally by rotation variant)

This is the biggest real win without changing the look/behavior.

You will create:

• One Actor (e.g. BP_TileFieldInstanced)
• Inside it: one HISM component per unique tile mesh (or per mesh+material)
• You then add instances with transforms (including rotation)
• In your update loop you scale instances by distance

---

The “Unreal way” to instance your tiles (practical plan)

Step A — Identify your unique tile meshes

You need to know:

• How many unique meshes repeat? (like 5? 50? 500?) Instancing helps when repeats are meaningful.

Step B — Build a “TileInstancer” actor

Blueprint Actor: BP_TileInstancer

Inside it:

• HISMComponents (Map: StaticMesh → HISM Component) (or just an array if you have a fixed set)
• Influencers array (same as before)
• InstanceBaseTransforms array (store each instance transform so you can edit scale later)

Step C — Populate instances

You have two ways:

Option 1 (simpler): spawn from data you generate

If your tiles are grid-based or generated: you just add instances in a loop.

Option 2 (works with your existing imported FBX scene): “Convert placed meshes into instances”

This is the workflow you want:

1. You keep your imported FBX tiles Actor in the level (temporarily).
2. The instancer reads all its mesh components:
   • For each component:
     • Get its StaticMesh asset
     • Get its world transform (location/rotation/scale)
     • Add an instance to the matching HISM
3. Then you delete/hide the original components (or the whole imported actor).

This is the best bridge from “FBX scene import” → “instanced optimized”.

---

Updating scale with HISM (key difference)

With separate StaticMeshComponents you used:

• SetRelativeScale3D on each component ✅

With HISM you must use:

• Update Instance Transform (Index, Transform)

So you need to track:

• which instance index corresponds to which “tile”
• and its original transform (location/rotation) so you can rebuild with new scale

This is the main technical jump.

---

Performance tips for instance scaling

If you have lots of tiles, you’ll want at least one of these:

1) Don’t update every tile every tick

• Use a timer (you already do)
• Consider updating at 10–20 Hz instead of 60

2) Only update tiles near influencers

Instead of scaling all instances:

• For each influencer:
  • Only update instances within MaxEffectDistance This can be done with spatial hashing / grid indexing (harder but huge payoff)

3) Batch updates

HISM supports faster batch updates if you build arrays of transforms and update in chunks (depending on UE version / nodes available).

---

If you want the simplest instancing that still gives a big win

✅ HISM per mesh + timer update at ~0.05–0.1 sec

That will usually take you from “laggy” → “smooth” for thousands of tiles.

---

Quick decision guide

• < 1,000 tiles: your current component approach is fine; timer helps.
• 1,000–20,000 tiles: HISM is the sweet spot.
• 20,000–200,000 tiles: HISM + “only update near influencers” or material-based.
• 200,000+ tiles: material/GPU approach.

---

If you want, I can give you the exact Blueprint build

To do that, tell me just two numbers:

1. Rough tile count (1k? 10k? 50k?)
2. Rough unique meshes count (like 1? 10? 100?)

Then I’ll give you a very explicit, beginner-friendly node plan for:

• “Convert imported FBX tiles actor → HISM instances”
• “Store instance indices”
• “Scale by distance” update loop using UpdateInstanceTransform

You

ok let’s set instancing aside for a moment

You

I want to focus more on the scaling effect and its nuances. I was wondering if UE has something like Unity’s animation curves. I am looking to affect the style/strength of the scaling transitions.

ChatGPT

Yes — Unreal has the same idea as Unity’s Animation Curves, and you can use it to shape your scaling falloff and the “feel” of transitions.

The two main tools are:

1. Curve assets (like Unity AnimationCurve)
2. Timelines (a curve player inside a Blueprint)

For your case (distance → scale), the best match is a Curve Float asset.

---

Option A (recommended): Curve Float asset (distance falloff)

This is the closest to Unity’s AnimationCurve.Evaluate(x).

1) Create a Curve Float

1. Content Browser → Add (+)
2. Miscellaneous → Curve → Curve Float
3. Name it: C_ScaleFalloff

2) Edit the curve

Double-click it.

• X axis = input (we’ll feed it 0..1)
• Y axis = output (0..1)

A good starting shape:

• At X=0 → Y=1 (strong at center)
• At X=1 → Y=0 (no effect at max distance) Then shape it:
• Ease out, ease in, sharp peak, etc.

3) Use it in your Blueprint

In your scaling code you already compute something like:

• T = Clamp(Distance / MaxEffectDistance, 0..1) (0 near, 1 far)

Now instead of Alpha = 1 - T, do:

1. Add a variable: FalloffCurve of type CurveFloat
   • Set its default to C_ScaleFalloff (or instance-editable)
2. Use node: Get Float Value (from the curve)
   • Input = T
   • Output = Alpha

Then:

• S = Lerp(MinScale, MaxScale, Alpha)
• Apply scale

✅ This gives you Unity-style artistic control over the distance falloff.

Common curve styles

• Soft / blobby: slow drop then faster near the edge
• Sharp “ring”: quick drop, flat, then tiny tail
• Plateau: strong effect for a while, then drop suddenly

---

Option B: Timeline (best for time-based transitions / smoothing)

A Timeline is like an animation curve that plays over time.

Use this if you want:

• tiles to “pop” up then settle
• overshoot / bounce
• easing on the transition itself

But: a Timeline per tile is expensive if you have many tiles. Better to use:

• FInterpTo or Lerp smoothing per update (cheap),
• or one global timeline controlling parameters.

---

The simplest “nice transition” trick (no curves needed)

If you want smoother motion without timelines:

Instead of immediately setting scale to S, smooth it:

1. Read current scale:

• Current = TileComp → GetRelativeScale3D (X)

2. Smooth:

• New = FInterp To (Current, S, DeltaTime, InterpSpeed)
  • InterpSpeed ~ 8–15

3. Set scale using New.

Where to get DeltaTime if you’re using a timer:

• Just use UpdateInterval as “DeltaTime” (good enough)
  • So plug UpdateInterval into the DeltaTime pin.

This makes scaling feel “animated” even though you’re updating discretely.

---

Best combo for your project

For “style/strength of scaling transitions”, do this:

1. Curve Float for falloff shape (distance → alpha)
2. FInterpTo for temporal smoothing (currentScale → targetScale)

That gives you:

• artistic control (curve)
• nice motion (interp)
• still efficient

---

Quick node recipe (matches your current graph)

You already have:

• T = Clamp(Distance / MaxEffectDistance, 0..1)

Replace your “1 - T” with:

• Alpha = FalloffCurve → Get Float Value(T)

Then:

• TargetScale = Lerp(MinScale, MaxScale, Alpha)
• SmoothedScale = FInterpTo(CurrentScale, TargetScale, UpdateInterval, InterpSpeed)
• Set scale to SmoothedScale

---

If you tell me what vibe you want (choose one):

• soft blob
• sharp spike
• plateau then drop
• ring / ripple …I’ll describe exactly how to shape the curve (where to put keys and tangents) for that look.

You

I want the tiles to scale up fast BUT scale down slowly

ChatGPT

[Unsupported Content]

ChatGPT

[Unsupported Content]

ChatGPT

Yes — you can do this cleanly in UE by using different smoothing speeds depending on whether the tile is growing or shrinking.

In Unity terms, it’s like using two different damping values for rising vs falling.

---

The core idea

Each update you compute:

• TargetScale (from distance, curve, etc.)
• CurrentScale (what the tile is currently at)

Then:

• If TargetScale > CurrentScale → scale up fast
• Else → scale down slowly

---

Easiest Blueprint way (works great)

Use FInterp To twice with two different speeds.

1) Add variables

In your scaler (Blueprint or component), add:

• InterpSpeedUp (float) e.g. 20
• InterpSpeedDown (float) e.g. 3

(Up should be much bigger than down.)

2) In your update loop, after you compute TargetScale

For each tile:

1. Get current scale

• CurrentVec = TileComp → GetRelativeScale3D
• Current = CurrentVec.X (or Break Vector)

2. Compare

• TargetScale > Current (Float > Float)

3. Select speed

• Add node Select Float
  • Condition = result of comparison
  • True = InterpSpeedUp
  • False = InterpSpeedDown

4. Interpolate

• New = FInterp To
  • Current = Current
  • Target = TargetScale
  • Delta Time = UpdateInterval (since you’re using a timer)
  • Interp Speed = output of Select Float

5. Apply

• SetRelativeScale3D( New, New, New )

That’s it.

---

Recommended starting values

• InterpSpeedUp = 25
• InterpSpeedDown = 4
• UpdateInterval = 0.05 (20 Hz)

If you want it snappier up: raise Up to 40–60.
If you want it “floaty” down: lower Down to 1–2.

---

Keep your Curve Float too (optional but powerful)

This controls where the effect is strong (distance falloff), while the two interp speeds control how it moves over time.

So the best combo is:

• CurveFloat shapes TargetScale vs distance
• Two-speed FInterpTo shapes the animation feel

---

Common gotcha

If your MinScale/MaxScale are far apart and UpdateInterval is large, scaling can feel stepped. Either:

• lower UpdateInterval (e.g. 0.03), or
• keep it and rely on interpolation (usually fine)

---

If you want, tell me whether you want the “scale up fast” to be instant pop (almost no smoothing) or quick but not instant, and I’ll suggest exact Up/Down numbers that match.

You

actually I think it was wrong of me to introduce the aspect of transition speed. Shouldn’t that be managed by the Curve and the movement of influencers?

ChatGPT

You’re thinking about it the right way, but there’s an important distinction:

• A Curve Float (Unity AnimationCurve / UE CurveFloat) controls the mapping from input → output (e.g., distance → scale strength).
  It does not inherently control how fast the value changes over time.

• Transition speed is a time/temporal behavior. That depends on:

  • how fast the influencer moves (yes),
  • and whether you add any smoothing/hysteresis (interp speeds, spring, timeline, etc.).

So: if you use only a distance→scale curve and directly set scale each update, then the “speed” of scaling is purely a consequence of influencer velocity (and your update rate). But you cannot get “fast up, slow down” consistently from the curve alone unless you bake direction/time into the input somehow.

Why the curve alone can’t do “fast up, slow down”

At any moment, your scale is basically:

Scale = f(distance)

A curve f has no memory. If the influencer is at the same distance while moving toward or away, f(distance) returns the same result. There’s nothing in that function that says “approaching” vs “receding”, so it can’t asymmetrically control rise vs fall.

To get “fast up, slow down” you need one of:

1. Memory / state (smoothing, damping, different rise/fall rates)
2. Extra input (e.g., include velocity or “approaching vs receding” sign)
3. A time-based animation (timeline / spring) triggered by events

That said, you can keep things very clean and still “curve-driven”.

---

Clean approach 1: Curve for falloff + influencer movement for speed (no smoothing)

This is the purest mapping approach:

• Every update:
  • T = Clamp(Distance / MaxDist, 0..1)
  • Alpha = CurveFloat.GetFloatValue(T)
  • Scale = Lerp(MinScale, MaxScale, Alpha)
  • Set scale immediately

Result: Speed depends only on influencer movement.
Tradeoff: No “fast up slow down” unless influencer itself moves that way.

---

Clean approach 2 (recommended): Curve for falloff + separate curve for “response”

If you want stylistic temporal behavior but still “curve-authored”, do this:

Keep your distance curve (spatial)

AlphaTarget = FalloffCurve(T)

Add a response curve (temporal)

You store a per-tile AlphaCurrent and update it toward AlphaTarget each tick using a curve that shapes the response over time. That’s basically a Timeline behavior, but you can implement it with one value:

• If AlphaTarget > AlphaCurrent use a fast response
• else slow response

This is exactly what the two-speed interp did — but you can think of it as a response model, not “transition speed hack”.

---

If your real goal is “style/strength” (not asymmetric rise/fall)

Then yes: CurveFloat + influencer motion is enough, and you should not add interp yet. Just:

• Use a CurveFloat to shape the falloff
• Update at a decent rate (timer 0.03–0.05)

You’ll get very direct, controllable results.

---

Practical recommendation for where you are

1. Start with only a CurveFloat falloff (distance → alpha).
2. If you later decide you want “snappy vs floaty” regardless of influencer speed, reintroduce temporal smoothing (that’s the correct tool).

---

Quick check to decide

If you move the influencer:

• slowly toward a tile and it still scales “slowly” but you want it to “pop” → you need temporal behavior (smoothing/rise rate).
• If you’re happy with it matching movement speed → curve-only is correct.

If you tell me what you want to feel “snappy” (the start of scaling near influence, or the peak, or the falloff edge), I’ll tell you whether that’s best solved with the distance curve or with temporal response.

You

Cool yeah I added the speed after all as you suggested above. I have one technical question. I have noticed that In the Actor Component I have created for the scaling affect I can’t affect the variables in realtime as the game plays. Why is that? Is it a setting I am missing. It feels stange to not be able to affect floats in realtime

ChatGPT

That’s normal in Unreal, and it’s mostly about where the value lives and whether you’re looking at the running instance.

In UE there are 3 different “places” a float can come from:

1. Class Defaults (the asset) → not editable at runtime
2. Instance values (the placed actor/component in the level) → can be edited while playing (with the right setup)
3. Runtime state (values you compute/set in BeginPlay/Tick) → may overwrite whatever you type

Here’s how to make it work.

---

1) Make sure you’re editing the instance, not the asset

If you open the component Blueprint asset (BP_TileScalerComponent) and try to change defaults while playing, it won’t affect the running game.

✅ Do this instead:

1. Press Play
2. Press F8 (Eject) so you can select things
3. In the World Outliner, select the actor that has your component
4. In the Details panel, expand your component (e.g. BP_TileScalerComponent)
5. Change InterpSpeedUp, InterpSpeedDown, etc.

That edits the instance live.

Unity analogy: editing the script file vs editing the component values on a GameObject in the scene.

---

2) Ensure those variables are marked “Instance Editable”

In your BP_TileScalerComponent:

• Click the variable (in My Blueprint)
• In Details, enable:
  • ✅ Instance Editable
  • (Optional) ✅ Expose on Spawn

Without Instance Editable, the variable won’t show in the level Details panel during play.

---

3) Make sure you’re not overwriting the variable at runtime

A super common reason changes “don’t stick”:

If your BeginPlay (or Update) does something like:

• Set InterpSpeedUp = 20
• Set UpdateInterval = 0.05

…then whatever you type in Details will get overwritten.

✅ Fix:

• Don’t “Set” those tuning variables in BeginPlay.
• Only read them.

(Setting TileMeshes, BestDist, etc. is fine—those are runtime vars.)

---

4) Make sure you’re debugging the correct running instance

Blueprint variables “not changing” can also be you looking at the wrong object.

In the Blueprint editor:

1. While playing, use Debug Filter
2. Pick the live instance of your actor/component

Then you’ll see live values update.

---

5) One setting that can block it: “Run Under One Process / PIE” is fine, but…

If you’re using Play In New Window, you might be editing the editor instance but watching a different window.

For easiest live tuning:

• Use Selected Viewport Play mode, or Simulate
• Then Eject (F8) and edit Details

---

Quick “make it tunable in 30 seconds” checklist

For each tuning float you want to tweak live (UpSpeed/DownSpeed/MaxEffectDistance/etc.):

• ✅ Variable in component set to Instance Editable
• ✅ You edit it on the placed actor’s component in the Level Details while playing
• ✅ You are not setting it in BeginPlay/Update
• ✅ You are ejected so you can select the actor

---

If you tell me which specific variable you tried to change (e.g. InterpSpeedUp or MaxEffectDistance) and whether it’s currently being “Set” anywhere in your graph, I can point to the exact node to remove so your live edits take effect instantly.

You

I am working on instanced variables but for example I can’t change the MaxEffectDistance here. My game just got stuck when i changed this number

ChatGPT

What you’re seeing is a very Unreal/PIE thing: you can edit instance variables while the game runs, but if that variable is used inside a heavy loop that runs on a timer/tick, changing it can cause a sudden expensive update (or even math edge cases), which looks like the game “stuck”.

In your screenshot you changed Max Effect Distance while you have three big tile fields updating. That can spike hard because it changes the scale target for every tile, so your next timer tick recomputes + applies transforms for everything.

Here’s how to make it safe and smooth.

---

Why it “stuck” when you changed MaxEffectDistance

Common causes:

1) You’re updating all tiles every update

When you change MaxEffectDistance, the next UpdateTileScales does:

• loop all tile meshes (maybe thousands)
• loop all influencers (3)
• update scale on each mesh/component That can hitch hard.

2) You edited while the timer was mid-update

Blueprint is single-threaded on the game thread. If the loop is long, the editor UI can feel frozen.

3) Edge case: MaxEffectDistance gets very small / 0

If it hits 0 (even briefly while typing), you get divide-by-zero or huge values → can cause wild results and heavy updates.

---

Fixes (pick the simplest first)

✅ Fix A: Prevent “bad values” (do this no matter what)

In your Update code, clamp MaxEffectDistance before dividing:

• Make a local SafeMaxDist = Max(MaxEffectDistance, 1.0)
  (use Max (float) node)

Then use SafeMaxDist in:

• BestDist / SafeMaxDist

This prevents “0” from freezing things when you type.

Blueprint nodes:

• MaxEffectDistance → Max (float) with 1.0 → use that output for division

---

✅ Fix B: Only apply changes at safe times (don’t react mid-typing)

In UE, when you type 1000, it goes through 1, 10, 100, 1000.
Each intermediate value triggers a huge recalculation.

Easiest workflow fix:

• Instead of typing, drag the value with the mouse, or
• Type it, then press Enter, and don’t keep the mouse over the field

But better is a code-side fix:

Better: Update the timer less often while tuning

Set UpdateInterval temporarily to something like:

• 0.15 or 0.25

This gives you time to type without triggering 20 updates per second.

---

✅ Fix C: Add a “dirty flag” and skip work if nothing moved

This is the biggest “simple win”.

Add:

• bNeedsUpdate (bool)

Set it to true when:

• influencers moved (or you changed a parameter)

Then in UpdateTileScales:

• If bNeedsUpdate is false → return

For tuning parameters, you can set bNeedsUpdate when a value changes, but Blueprints don’t have automatic property-change callbacks in runtime, so the practical version is:

• Add a key input (like U) to toggle updates on/off while tuning.

Super simple:

• bEnableUpdates bool
• At top of UpdateTileScales: if false → return

So you can pause updates, change values, then unpause.

---

✅ Fix D: Reduce work per update (chunking)

If you have many tiles, update them in batches:

Add:

• CurrentTileIndex int
• TilesPerTick int (e.g. 200)

Each Update:

• update only indices [CurrentTileIndex .. CurrentTileIndex+TilesPerTick)
• advance index, wrap around

This prevents big frame hitches and makes live tweaking safe.

This is the most reliable “no hitch” approach if tile count is high.

---

Quick “do this now” to stop freezes

If you want the shortest path:

1. In your Update logic, replace:

• BestDist / MaxEffectDistance with:
• BestDist / Max(MaxEffectDistance, 1.0)

2. Temporarily set:

• UpdateInterval = 0.2

3. Change MaxEffectDistance again.

That should stop the “stuck” feeling immediately.

---

One more likely issue I see from your screenshot

You have 3 Tile_BP actors (Tile_BP, Tile_BP2, Tile_BP3) plus the big FBX scene actor. If each has its own scaler component updating thousands of tiles, you might be multiplying the work.

Make sure each scaler component is only handling the tiles it should.

---

Tell me this and I’ll give the best optimization path

Roughly how many tile pieces are in one of those fields?

• ~200?
• ~2,000?
• ~20,000?

If it’s in the thousands+, I’d strongly recommend the batching (TilesPerTick) approach so you can tweak variables live with no stalls.

You

Could it be caused due to the ste timer by event logic I have introduced? What if i wanted scaling to occur on event tick?

ChatGPT

It could be related to the timer setup — but not because timers are “bad”. It’s usually one of these two things:

1. You accidentally create the timer more than once (so you end up with multiple UpdateTileScales calls stacking up).
2. Your UpdateTileScales work is heavy, and changing MaxEffectDistance causes a big recompute, so the next timer fire hitches hard.

Your screenshot shows a correct-looking pattern (Create Event → Set Timer by Event). So the timer itself is fine as long as it only runs once.

---

1) Quick check: are you starting multiple timers?

This is the #1 cause of “it was fine, then it freezes/hitches”.

Make sure:

• Set Timer by Event is only called from BeginPlay once
• Not from UpdateTileScales
• Not from Construction Script
• Not from something that can run repeatedly (like OnRegister, OnComponentActivated, etc.)

Easiest “bulletproof” fix:

Right before Set Timer by Event, add:

• Clear and Invalidate Timer by Handle (or Clear Timer by Handle) using a stored TimerHandle

Blueprint steps:

1. Create variable: UpdateTimerHandle (type: TimerHandle)
2. In BeginPlay:
   • Clear and Invalidate Timer by Handle (UpdateTimerHandle)
   • Set Timer by Event
   • Save return value into UpdateTimerHandle

That guarantees you’ll never accumulate timers.

---

2) Would Event Tick be better?

Not for performance. Tick runs every frame (often 60+ times/sec). Your timer at 0.05 runs ~20/sec, so it’s already cheaper.

However, Tick can feel “smoother”, and it avoids timer delegate wiring complexity. But if your loop is heavy, Tick will hitch more, not less.

So:

• Timer = best default for heavy updates
• Tick = fine if you either:
  • have few tiles, or
  • do only a small amount of work per frame (batching)

---

3) If you want to switch to Tick anyway (simple and safe)

A) Remove the timer

• Delete Set Timer by Event and Create Event

B) Use Tick in the component

In the ActorComponent:

1. Ensure tick is enabled:

   • In the component defaults: Start with Tick Enabled = true
   • Or add Set Component Tick Enabled(true) in BeginPlay

2. Use:

• Event Tick → call UpdateTileScales

C) Important: don’t run the full heavy loop every frame

If you have many tiles, do a throttle:

Add float variable: AccumTime

In Tick:

• AccumTime += DeltaSeconds
• If AccumTime < UpdateInterval → return
• Else:
  • AccumTime = 0
  • call UpdateTileScales

This gives you “Tick-driven scheduling” but still runs at 20 Hz (like your timer), without delegate stuff.

This is a really nice beginner-friendly pattern.

---

4) Why changing MaxEffectDistance “freezes” (regardless of timer/tick)

Even with Tick, this can happen because:

• Editing the field briefly passes through small values (e.g., typing 1000 goes 1→10→100→1000)
• If it hits 0, you can get divide-by-zero or huge alpha changes
• Next update recalculates and applies transforms for all tiles

So do these two safeguards no matter what scheduling you use:

Safeguard 1: never divide by 0

Use:

• SafeMaxDist = Max(MaxEffectDistance, 1.0)

Safeguard 2: clamp how often you apply

Even if influencer moves fast, you don’t need full recompute 60/sec for thousands of tiles.

---

What I recommend (best of both worlds)

If you want it simple and controllable:

✅ Use Event Tick + Accumulator (throttled)

• No timers
• Still runs at your chosen UpdateInterval
• Easier to debug

And add the SafeMaxDist clamp.

---

Tiny checklist for your specific screenshot

Your timer wiring looks correct. So I’d do this:

1. Add UpdateTimerHandle and clear it before setting the timer (prevents duplicates)
2. Add SafeMaxDist = Max(MaxEffectDistance, 1.0) before dividing
3. When tuning, temporarily set UpdateInterval to 0.15–0.25

---

If you tell me roughly how many tile components are being updated (hundreds vs thousands), I’ll tell you whether Tick is safe or whether you should keep timer + batching.

You

I just don’t understand why it’s not working. I only have 180 tiles

ChatGPT

[Unsupported Content]

ChatGPT

[Unsupported Content]

ChatGPT

With 180 tiles, your approach (timer or tick) should be totally fine. So if it “freezes” or “stops working”, it’s almost certainly not performance — it’s one of a few logic/state gotchas.

Here are the 3 most common causes in your exact situation, and the quickest way to confirm/fix each.

---

1) You’re accidentally hitting MaxEffectDistance = 0 while typing

This is the #1 reason editing that field can “break everything” mid-play.

When you type 1000, the editor often applies intermediate values (1, 10, 100, …). If at any moment it becomes 0 (or extremely small), then:

• BestDist / MaxEffectDistance → divide-by-zero → INF/NaN
• NaN then flows into Clamp/Lerp/Scale → can cause weird behavior / hitch / nothing updates

✅ Fix (do this no matter what): Before you divide, make a safe value:

• SafeMaxDist = Max(MaxEffectDistance, 1.0)
• Use SafeMaxDist in the divide

In Blueprints this is literally:

• Max (float) node with inputs: MaxEffectDistance and 1.0

---

2) You are creating multiple timers (even once per click = bad)

Even with 180 tiles, if you accidentally start the timer more than once, you can end up calling UpdateTileScales multiple times per interval, and it can feel like the editor “locks up”.

✅ The bulletproof fix: store and clear the timer handle.

Steps:

1. Create variable: UpdateTimerHandle (type TimerHandle)
2. In BeginPlay, do this sequence:

• Clear and Invalidate Timer by Handle (UpdateTimerHandle)
• Set Timer by Event
• Plug the Return Value from Set Timer into Set UpdateTimerHandle

This guarantees you will never stack timers.

Quick test:

Put a Print String right before Set Timer by Event that prints "Setting Timer". If you see that print more than once per Play session → you found the bug.

---

3) It is working, but your edit made the effect invisible

If MaxEffectDistance gets very large, the falloff becomes gentle and the tiles may look “unchanged”. If it gets very small, almost everything becomes “far” and clamps to min.

✅ Quick visibility test:

• Set MinScale = 0.2
• Set MaxScale = 2.0
• Set MaxEffectDistance = 300
• Move an influencer very close to tiles

If you now see obvious scaling, your system is fine — it was just a parameter range issue.

---

If you want to switch to Event Tick anyway (safe version)

Tick is fine with 180 tiles, but don’t run full logic every frame while tuning. Use a throttle:

• On Tick:
  • Accumulate DeltaSeconds
  • Only call Update when accumulated time > UpdateInterval

This behaves like your timer but is simpler to reason about (no delegates).

---

The fastest way to pinpoint the real cause (2 prints)

Add these two temporary prints:

A) At the start of UpdateTileScales:

Print: "UpdateTileScales"
If you don’t see it repeating → your timer/tick isn’t firing.

B) Right before your divide:

Print MaxEffectDistance (and/or SafeMaxDist)
If you ever see 0 or a tiny number while editing → that’s the culprit.

---

My best guess (given your screenshot + “stuck when I changed this number”)

It’s #1: you briefly hit 0 (or near 0) while editing, and NaNs propagate.

Add SafeMaxDist = Max(MaxEffectDistance, 1.0) and this problem usually disappears immediately.

If you want, paste (or screenshot) the few nodes around where you do BestDist / MaxEffectDistance, and I’ll tell you exactly where to drop the Max(…,1) node.

You

in blueprints how can i disable the flow from a certain component and after?

ChatGPT

This is a very good Blueprint question, and the answer is: there are several “levels” at which you can stop flow, depending on what you want to disable.

I’ll list them from simplest to most correct, with when to use each.

---

1️⃣ The simplest & most common: Boolean gate (Branch)

This is the Blueprint equivalent of if (!enabled) return;

How to do it

1. Create a bool variable:
   bEnableScaling (default: true, Instance Editable)
2. At the very start of your logic (UpdateTileScales, Tick, Timer callback):
   • Add a Branch
   • Condition = bEnableScaling
3. From False → do nothing (leave unconnected)
4. From True → your normal logic

Event / Timer / Tick
 └─ Branch (bEnableScaling)
     ├─ False → stop
     └─ True → scaling logic

When to use

• You want to pause/resume behavior
• You want to tweak variables safely
• You want a “kill switch” for debugging

✅ This is what I recommend for you right now

---

2️⃣ Blueprint-native flow control: Gate node

This is a built-in on/off execution gate.

How it works

• Enter → tries to pass through
• Open → allows flow
• Close → blocks flow

Typical setup

• Open the Gate on BeginPlay
• Close it when you want to disable updates

Event Tick / Timer
 → Gate
   → UpdateTileScales

When to use

• You want explicit Open/Close control
• Slightly cleaner than Branch in some graphs

⚠️ Less flexible than a bool (harder to inspect live)

---

3️⃣ Disable the scheduler itself (Tick or Timer)

A) If you are using Tick

Disable ticking entirely:

• Set Component Tick Enabled(false)
  or
• Set Actor Tick Enabled(false)

This completely stops execution.

B) If you are using a Timer

Stop it properly:

• Clear and Invalidate Timer by Handle

This is the correct way to fully stop timer-driven logic.

When to use

• You know you don’t need updates anymore
• You want zero overhead

⚠️ Harder to resume unless you re-enable/restart

---

4️⃣ Disable a specific component (lifecycle-level)

If the logic lives in an ActorComponent:

• Deactivate the component
• Or uncheck Auto Activate
• Or call Deactivate() at runtime

Then check Is Active at the start of your logic.

This is closer to enabling/disabling a Unity component.

---

5️⃣ “Hard stop” inside logic (early return)

Blueprint doesn’t have return, but you can simulate it:

• Put a Branch immediately
• If condition false → nothing connected → execution stops

This is what you’re already doing conceptually.

---

✅ What I recommend for your scaling system

For tuning + safety + clarity:

Use both:

• bEnableScaling (Branch at top of UpdateTileScales)
• Timer or Tick stays running

This lets you:

• Pause scaling
• Change MaxEffectDistance safely
• Resume without restarting timers

Example workflow

1. Pause scaling (bEnableScaling = false)
2. Change MaxEffectDistance
3. Resume scaling

No freezes, no NaNs, no surprises.

---

Unity mental mapping

Unity	Unreal Blueprint
enabled = false	Branch / Gate
MonoBehaviour.enabled	Component Deactivate
StopCoroutine	Clear Timer
Update() early return	Branch with no False path

---

TL;DR (best answer)

Put a Branch with a bool at the very start of your logic.
False = stop everything after it.

If you want, I can mark exactly where to insert that Branch in your graph if you send one more screenshot of UpdateTileScales.

You

Ok when i change the max distance i see this error

PIE: Error: Blueprint Runtime Error: “Accessed None trying to read property CallFunc_Array_Get_Item”. Node: Set BestDist Graph: EventGraph Function: Execute Ubergraph Tile Scaler Main Blueprint: TileScaler_Main

any ideas of what it means?

ChatGPT

Yep — that error message is very specific and very fixable.

What it means (in plain English)

“Accessed None trying to read property CallFunc_Array_Get_Item”
means: your Blueprint tried to read an array element, but that element was None (null).

So somewhere you have a node like Array Get (or a ForEach that produces an element), and one of the elements is empty.

Even though the error points at Set BestDist, the real problem is usually the thing you’re using inside that loop (most commonly: an Influencer reference that’s None).

This commonly happens when you edit values in PIE because the editor can momentarily mess with references, or because your array contains a blank slot.

---

Most likely cause in your setup

✅ Your Influencers array contains a None entry

Example: Influencers size = 3, but element 2 is empty.

When your loop does:

• For each Influencer → GetActorLocation If Influencer is None → runtime error.

---

Fix (fast)

1) Clean the Influencers array

While NOT playing (or while ejected):

1. Select the actor that has TileScaler_Main
2. In Details → Influencers
3. Check each element:
   • If any says None / empty → remove it (trash icon) or assign a real actor.

---

Make it robust (so it never errors again)

Even with a clean array, it’s good practice to guard against None.

2) Add an “Is Valid” check inside the Influencers loop

Inside your loop over Influencers:

1. Take the influencer element
2. Add node: Is Valid (Object)
3. Branch:

• Valid → do distance calculation
• Not Valid → skip

This prevents all “Accessed None” crashes permanently.

---

Also check this second common cause

TileMeshes array might contain None entries

This can happen if you gathered components, then some got destroyed/hidden/changed.

Add the same guard in the TileMeshes loop:

• Is Valid (Object) for TileComp before using it.

---

Why it appears when you change MaxEffectDistance

Changing that value likely causes your UpdateTileScales to run immediately (next timer tick), and the loop hits the bad array element at that moment. The MaxEffectDistance itself isn’t the direct cause — it just triggered the update.

---

Quick diagnostic (30 seconds)

Add a Print String before you use an influencer:

• Print influencer display name (or just print “valid/invalid”)

But honestly, just adding Is Valid checks is the best.

---

Minimal blueprint patch (what to do exactly)

In UpdateTileScales:

Outer loop (TileMeshes):

• IsValid(TileComp) → Branch → only then proceed

Inner loop (Influencers):

• IsValid(Influencer) → Branch → only then GetActorLocation and compute distance

---

If you paste a screenshot of the part of your graph where you loop through Influencers, I can point to the exact wire where the Is Valid node should go so you don’t have to guess.

You

here

ChatGPT

Perfect, this screenshot makes it very clear 👍
You’re very close — this is a classic Blueprint safety issue.

---

What exactly is going wrong (pointing at your graph)

The red error:

Accessed None trying to read property CallFunc_Array_Get_Item

is happening here (the part you circled):

👉 ForEachLoop over Influencers

At least one element in Influencers is None, and then you immediately do:

Influencer → GetActorLocation

When that element is None, Unreal throws that runtime error.

This often shows up right after you tweak a variable (like MaxEffectDistance) because the next update fires immediately and hits the bad entry.

---

Why this happens even if “everything looks set”

Common causes:

• You added an Influencer, then deleted the actor from the level
• You duplicated the Tile actor and one copy has an empty Influencers slot
• One array element was never assigned
• PIE hot-reload temporarily invalidated a reference

Blueprint arrays do not auto-clean themselves.

---

The correct fix (do this, no guessing)

🔧 Add an Is Valid guard inside the Influencers loop

Step-by-step (exact placement):

1. Take the Array Element pin from the Influencers ForEachLoop
2. Drag off → search Is Valid (Object)
3. Add a Branch
4. Wire it like this:

ForEach Influencers
 └─ IsValid(Influencer)
     ├─ False → do nothing (skip)
     └─ True  → GetActorLocation → Distance → BestDist logic

In your graph

• ONLY connect GetActorLocation from the True pin
• Nothing should execute on False

This single guard makes your system bulletproof.

---

You should ALSO guard TileMeshes (recommended)

Even though your error points at Influencers, you should do the same for tiles:

Inside the outer ForEach (TileMeshes):

IsValid(TileComponent)
 ├─ False → skip
 └─ True  → continue

This prevents future issues if components change or reload.

---

Why the error mentions Set BestDist

Blueprint error reporting often points to the last executed node, not the real cause.
The real failure happens earlier (null Influencer), but the VM reports it when the value propagates.

So don’t worry — your BestDist logic itself is fine.

---

One more VERY important safety improvement

Right now you do:

Set BestDist = 1000000

That’s okay, but cleaner and safer is:

• Use FLT_MAX (search “Max Float”)
• Or compute initial BestDist from MaxEffectDistance

Not required, but good practice.

---

TL;DR (what to change right now)

✅ Add Is Valid (Object) before:

• GetActorLocation (Influencers)
• GetWorldLocation (TileMeshes)

❌ Don’t assume array elements are always valid

Once you add that guard, the runtime error will disappear completely — even when tweaking values during play.

If you want, next I can show:

• how to auto-clean nulls from arrays, or
• how to assert & print which Influencer is invalid for debugging, or
• how to restructure this so Influencers are discovered automatically instead of manually assigned.

You

what about this warning?

PIE: Warning: AttachTo: ‘/Game/UEDPIE_0_SmallTileTest.SmallTileTest:PersistentLevel.FbxScene_tiles_8pt_sample_small_C_0.DefaultSceneRoot’ is not static (in blueprint “FbxScene_tiles_8pt_sample_small”), cannot attach ‘/Game/UEDPIE_0_SmallTileTest.SmallTileTest:PersistentLevel.FbxScene_tiles_8pt_sample_small_C_0.Plane_fracturepart800_2’ which is static to it. Aborting.

am i doing something wrong with static meshes? are tilemeshes something different?

ChatGPT

That warning is Unreal telling you there’s a mobility mismatch in your component hierarchy.

What it means

You’re trying to have a component that is Static (your tile mesh component Plane_fracturepart800_2) attached to a parent component (DefaultSceneRoot) that is not Static (Movable or Stationary).

Unreal forbids this:

Static child cannot be attached to a Movable parent
(because “static” implies it will never move, and its transforms/lightmaps are baked assuming that).

So UE aborts the attach.

This isn’t about “Static Mesh vs TileMeshes” being different — they’re still StaticMeshComponents. It’s just about their Mobility setting.

---

Why you’re seeing it now

Because for your scaling system you likely changed the root (or some parent) to Movable, but your imported tile components are still Static.

Example:

• DefaultSceneRoot = Movable (or Stationary)
• Tile mesh components = Static

That triggers exactly this warning.

---

Fix options (pick one)

✅ Option A (recommended for your project): Make the tiles Movable

Since you’re scaling them at runtime, they should be Movable anyway.

Fast fix in Blueprint (BeginPlay)

Right after you collect TileMeshes, do:

ForEach TileMeshes:

• Set Mobility → Movable

Also, make sure the parent/root is Movable too (or just leave it, but typically Movable parent + Movable children is clean).

Result: No warning, transforms update, scaling works.

---

✅ Option B: Make the parent/root Static (only if you never move/scale tiles)

This would remove the warning, but you should not do this if you’re scaling tiles dynamically.

So for you: probably not.

---

✅ Option C: Don’t attach at runtime

If your graph is doing any AttachToComponent calls (explicitly), remove them unless you need them.
But in your case, this warning is likely coming from the imported FBX actor’s component hierarchy being rebuilt/modified.

---

What to check in your actor right now

Select the imported tiles actor (FbxScene_tiles_8pt_sample_small_C_0) and check:

1) DefaultSceneRoot Mobility

• In Details → Mobility: is it Movable?

2) Pick one Plane_fracturepart… component

• Mobility: is it Static?

If yes → mismatch confirmed.

---

“Are tilemeshes something different?”

No — TileMeshes is just your array variable name.
Each element is a StaticMeshComponent. “Static” in “StaticMeshComponent” means “not skeletal”, not “immovable”.

Mobility is a separate property:

• StaticMeshComponent can be Static or Movable.

---

Best practice for your scaling system

Since you are changing scale every update:

✅ Set all tile mesh components to Movable once at runtime
✅ (Optional) disable shadows on them if you want extra performance:

• Set Cast Shadow = false (if acceptable visually)

---

If you want, paste a small screenshot of where you gather TileMeshes on BeginPlay and I’ll tell you exactly where to insert the ForEach → Set Mobility Movable so the warning is gone permanently.

You

ok so i tried printing the max effect distance after i changed it in realtime and there were no weird digits BUT again my game got mega stuck.

ChatGPT

[Unsupported Content]

ChatGPT

[Unsupported Content]

ChatGPT

If there are no “weird digits” (NaN/Inf) and you only have ~180 tiles, then a mega-stall almost always means the Editor is doing extra work when you edit that property, not that your math loop is too heavy.

In UE, changing a value in the Details panel during PIE can trigger one (or more) of these:

What’s probably happening

1. Construction Script / component re-registration is being triggered on the owning actor when you change that property in the editor UI.

   • For imported FBX scene actors with lots of components, re-registering/reattaching them can hitch hard.
   • Your earlier warning about “static cannot attach to non-static” is a hint that attachments/mobility are being re-evaluated.

2. Your update loop is running while you edit, so you get:

   • editor tries to apply property change
   • your timer tick fires and touches many components
   • editor tries to re-register components → one big game-thread stall

3. (Less likely, but easy to rule out) Multiple timers were created, so UpdateTileScales is being called many times per interval.

---

Do these 3 fixes (in this order)

1) Add a “pause scaling” bool and use it while editing

This prevents your update loop from running while the editor applies the property change.

In your component:

• Add bool bEnableScaling (Instance Editable, default true)
• At the top of UpdateTileScales:
  • Branch on bEnableScaling
  • False → return/do nothing

Workflow:

• In PIE: set bEnableScaling = false
• Change MaxEffectDistance
• Set bEnableScaling = true

If the mega-stall disappears, you’ve confirmed it’s the editor/property-change interaction.

---

2) Make timer creation bulletproof (prevents hidden timer stacking)

Even if you think it’s only BeginPlay, lock it down:

Add variable: UpdateTimerHandle (TimerHandle)

In BeginPlay:

1. Clear and Invalidate Timer by Handle (UpdateTimerHandle)
2. Set Timer by Event
3. Set UpdateTimerHandle = return value

Also add a one-time debug print:

• right before Set Timer: Print "SetTimer Called"

If you ever see that print more than once per play session → you were stacking timers.

---

3) Stop the “Static child ↔ Movable parent” attach churn

That warning you posted can create extra work when the editor re-registers components.

Since you scale tiles, ensure tiles and their parent are Movable and consistent.

In BeginPlay after you gather TileMeshes:

• ForEach TileMeshes → Set Mobility = Movable

And also make sure the root/scene component mobility matches (Movable).
(Static + runtime scaling is a bad combo anyway.)

---

The best way to tune values live (no editor stalls)

If you want truly smooth “Unity-style live tweaking”, don’t rely on the Details panel during PIE. Instead:

Option A (simplest): hotkeys to adjust values

Bind keys that do:

• MaxEffectDistance += 50
• MaxEffectDistance -= 50

This avoids editor property application and construction script churn.

Option B (nice): a tiny UMG widget slider

A slider that sets MaxEffectDistance at runtime is the standard UE way to tune parameters live.

---

Quick test to confirm the cause in 30 seconds

While PIE is running:

1. Set bEnableScaling = false
2. Change MaxEffectDistance

• If it no longer “mega-stucks” → the stall was caused by the update loop + editor property change interaction.
• If it still stalls → it’s almost certainly construction script / component re-register on that actor (then hotkeys/UI slider is the solution).

---

If you tell me one thing, I’ll pinpoint it immediately: When it “mega stuck”, did it recover after a few seconds, or did you have to stop PIE?

• Recover-after-seconds = big hitch/re-register
• Must-stop = runaway repeated calls (timer stacking / loop)