Upgrading from SML 3.9.x to 3.10.x

Although technically introduced in SML 3.9.1, the first round of documentation for using the Wwise audio system has been written since its release. Check out the Audio page for more information.

SML now provides base classes for Session Settings that store arbitrary strings. SML’s systems offer an input widget for the end user and handle the replication of the string for you.

Check out ExampleMod’s SessionSetting_ExampleString asset for an example of a custom string Session Setting.

A new editor utility included with SMLEditor helps you check your recipes for potential problems or oversights. It’s relatively easy to expand the system to write your own checks as well.

To use the utility, select one or more assets descending from FGRecipe, then right click on one and run Scripted Asset Actions > SMLEditor: Lint Recipes for Common Mistakes. Output will be displayed in the editor Output Log tab.

Read more on the SML Editor Utilities page.

The BlueprintType access transformer has been added, allowing targeted structs to be made or split using blueprint nodes.

The EditAnywhere access transformer has been added, allowing targeted properties to be modified in the Details panel of blueprint assets and instances.

The addition of the EditAnywhere Access Transformer makes implementing custom Icon Libraries very straightforward. Icon Libraries provide images for usage on signs, map stamps, and map icons.

Check out the Icon Libraries page for more information, and Example Mod’s ExampleModIcons asset for an example of a custom Icon Library.

ExampleMod has been enhanced with additional examples:

Widget Blueprint Hooks can now use Direct (Any) to target any widget element in the hierarchy. This mode allows implemented hooks that could previously only be done with Bind on BP Function, but comes with an increased risk of the hook breaking across game/mod updates.

Check out SML Feature Tests for an example using this feature to modify the game’s world map UI.

The Session Settings page explains how you can create your own Advanced Game Settings. However, their values are not currently saved with the save file. Session Settings still function correctly - their values are saved.

The optimal way to add modded content to the game world (like ore nodes, deposits, etc.) is to use the Content Bundle system, but Unreal currently refuses to cook content bundles unless the world is also cooked. This is a known bug and will be fixed in a future SML release.

The next best way is to use sublevel spawning. ExampleMod uses sublevel spawning to spawn its example resource nodes - check the game world submodule. Here is an example from Kyrium of how to do that in C‍+‍+:

Changes made to enable Wwise integration in SML 3.9.1 caused the editor to crash when opening level assets due to an edge case in the Wwise plugin code.

To avoid these editor crashes, use the Wwise editor to manually generate sound banks once, which will also silence the pop-up about missing a generated sound bank folder you may have been getting. You should not need to do this again unless you create a new Wwise project or use Wwise systems in your mod.

Chat Command usage and Mod Configuration descriptions have been switched to using FText instead of FString to allow for localization. Blueprint assets will automatically upgrade to the new format when loaded in the editor, but C‍+‍+ assets will need to switch to the new format manually.

See the C‍+‍+ Localization section for information on how to correctly specify literals for these fields in C‍+‍+.