Blueprint Overview

The Blueprint Visual Scripting system in Unreal Engine is a complete gameplay scripting system based on the concept of using a node-based interface to create gameplay elements from within Unreal Editor. As with many common scripting languages, it is used to define object-oriented (OO) classes or objects in the engine. As you use UE4, you'll often find that objects defined using Blueprint are colloquially referred to as just "Blueprints."

This system is extremely flexible and powerful as it provides the ability for designers to use virtually the full range of concepts and tools generally only available to programmers. In addition, Blueprint-specific markup available in Unreal Engine's C++ implementation enables programmers to create baseline systems that can be extended by designers.

A Blueprint Class , often shortened as Blueprint , is an asset that allows content creators to easily add functionality on top of existing gameplay classes. Blueprints are created inside of Unreal Editor visually, instead of by typing code, and saved as assets in a content package. These essentially define a new class or type of Actor which can then be placed into maps as instances that behave like any other type of Actor.

A Data-Only Blueprint is a Blueprint Class that contains only the code (in the form of node graphs), variables, and components inherited from its parent. These allow those inherited properties to be tweaked and modified, but no new elements can be added. These are essentially a replacement for archetypes and can be used to allow designers to tweak properties or set items with variations.

Data-Only Blueprint are edited in a compact property editor, but can also be "converted" to full Blueprints by simply adding code, variables, or components using the full Blueprint Editor .

A Level Blueprint is a specialized type of Blueprint that acts as a level-wide global event graph. Each level in your project has its own Level Blueprint created by default that can be edited within the Unreal Editor, however new Level Blueprints cannot be created through the editor interface.

Events pertaining to the level as a whole, or specific instances of Actors within the level, are used to fire off sequences of actions in the form of Function Calls or Flow Control operations. Those familiar with Unreal Engine 3 should be very familiar with this concept as this is very similar to how Kismet worked in Unreal Engine 3.

Level Blueprints also provide a control mechanism for level streaming and Sequencer as well as for binding events to Actors placed within the level.

A Blueprint Interface is a collection of one or more functions - name only, no implementation - that can be added to other Blueprints. Any Blueprint that has the Interface added is guaranteed to have those functions. The functions of the Interface can be given functionality in each of the Blueprints that added it. This is essentially like the concept of an interface in general programming, which allows multiple different types of Objects to all share and be accessed through a common interface. Put simply, Blueprint Interfaces allow different Blueprints to share with and send data to one another.

Blueprint Interfaces can be made by content creators through the editor in a similar fashion to other Blueprints, but they come with certain limitations in that they cannot:

• Add new variables

• Edit graphs

• Add Components

A Blueprint Macro Library is a container that holds a collection of Macros or self-contained graphs that can be placed as nodes in other Blueprints. These can be time-savers as they can store commonly used sequences of nodes complete with inputs and outputs for both execution and data transfer.

Macros are shared among all graphs that reference them, but they are auto-expanded into graphs as if they were a collapsed node during compiling. This means that Blueprint Macro Libraries do not need to be compiled. However, changes to a Macro are only reflected in graphs that reference that Macro when the Blueprint containing those graphs is recompiled.

With an understanding of Components, the Components window inside the Blueprint Editor allows you to add Components to your Blueprint. This provides a means of adding collision geometry via CapsuleComponents, BoxComponents, or SphereComponents, adding rendered geometry in the form of StaticMeshComponents or SkeletalMeshComponents, controlling movement using MovementComponents, etc. The Components added in the Components list can also be assigned to instance variables providing access to them in the graphs of this or other Blueprints.

Functions are node graphs belonging to a particular Blueprint that can be executed, or called, from another graph within the Blueprint. Functions have a single entry point designated by a node with the name of the Function containing a single exec output pin. When the Function is called from another graph, the output exec pin is activated causing the connected network to execute.

Variables are properties that hold a value or reference an Object or Actor in the world. These properties can be accessible internally to the Blueprint containing them, or they can be made accessible externally so that their values can be modified by designers working with instances of the Blueprint placed in a level.