Selecting Existing uStructs from dropdown

Development Pipeline & Plugins Editor Scripting
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1

So im working on a spaceship game and I have a list of CrewPositions (pilot, gunner, systems operator, mechanic, ect) and a list of crew members. Both are custom UStructs with unique data. One variable in CrewPositions is AssignedCrewMember, I would like to have that be a dropdown in blueprints of only the CrewMembers variables which is a TArray that can add or subtract from.

UENUM(BlueprintType)
enum class ECrewPosition : uint8
{
	Pilot 	    UMETA(DisplayName = "Pilot"),
	CoPilot UMETA(DisplayName = "Co-Pilot"),
	Gunner UMETA(DisplayName = "Gunner"),
	Commander UMETA(DisplayName = "Commander"),
	SystemsOperator UMETA(DisplayName = "Systems Operator"),
	Engineer UMETA(DisplayName = "Engineer"),
	Passenger UMETA(DisplayName = "Passenger")

};

USTRUCT()
struct FCrewMember
{
	GENERATED_BODY()
		
	UPROPERTY(BlueprintReadWrite, EditAnywhere)
	FString CrewName;
	UPROPERTY(BlueprintReadWrite, EditAnywhere)
	int32 CrewLevel;
	UPROPERTY(BlueprintReadWrite, EditAnywhere)
	int32 CrewBaseAttackBonus;
	UPROPERTY(BlueprintReadWrite, EditAnywhere)
	int32 CrewSkillInitiative;
	UPROPERTY(BlueprintReadWrite, EditAnywhere)
	int32 CrewSkillMechanics;
	UPROPERTY(BlueprintReadWrite, EditAnywhere)
	int32 CrewSkillPerception;
	UPROPERTY(BlueprintReadWrite, EditAnywhere)
	int32 CrewSkillPilot;

};


USTRUCT()
struct FCrewPosition
{
	GENERATED_BODY()

		UPROPERTY(BlueprintReadWrite, EditAnywhere)
		FString PositionName;
	UPROPERTY(BlueprintReadWrite, EditAnywhere)
		TArray<ECrewPosition> Positions;
	UPROPERTY(BlueprintReadWrite, EditAnywhere)
		TArray<int32> ControlledWeaponSlots;

//Here I want to be able to select from the Crew variables that are created in AStarship
	UPROPERTY(BlueprintReadWrite, EditAnywhere)
		FCrewMember AssignedCrewMember;


};

UCLASS()
class POCKETSTARSHIP_API AStarship : public AActor
{
	GENERATED_BODY()
	
public:

//A bunch of completely unrelated variables go here but took out for readability
	
	UPROPERTY(BlueprintReadWrite, EditAnywhere, Category = "General")
		TArray<FCrewMember> Crew;
	UPROPERTY(BlueprintReadWrite, EditAnywhere, Category = "General")
		TArray<FCrewPosition> CrewPositions;

//A bunch of functions go here but are unrelated so took out for readability
	
};
2

I mulled this one over for a bit but was unable to find a direct solution to your problem.
UE4 has a problem with trying to jam derived structs into a parent array, or struct slot in edit variables, if you are looking for true polymorphism you may want to go the class route, which means uobject derived classes for blueprints, but is still doable and may be the way to go if you want to be able to do game code alongside your crew data. Getting the dropdown to derived classes at that point should be a matter of using TSubclassOf.

This still doesnt really answer your question though. You could try assigning things inside of a construction script that runs after the initial assignment. If I am ever doing something similar I tend to lean toward the usage of TMap and registering at runtime based on simple sign up or if I am feeling really ambitious, qualifications.

I also suppose you could reorganize your structs to use pointers to the data that you want them to point to, but even then you are going to have trouble pointing to things outside of runtime.
This is generally what blueprint graphs, as opposed to defaults, tend to be used for, so don’t be afraid to assign these things in there if you so desire.

I hope I at least offered some avenue of thought to look down, Good luck!

-Spiris

3

were you able to find solution?