Data Assets + Asset Manager: data-driven gameplay

What/Why: Centralize tunables and content references in Primary Data Assets (PDAs). Use Asset Manager to async-load by soft reference.

Prereqs

• Project Settings → Asset Manager: register Primary Asset Types (e.g., ItemData, AbilityData, EnemyArchetype)

Steps

1. Create Primary Data Asset classes (BP)

• DA_ItemData: Id (Name), DisplayName (Text), Mesh (SoftObject), Icon (SoftObject), Weight (float)
• DA_AbilityData: Id, Cost (float), Cooldown (float), Cue (GameplayCue Tag)

2. Configure Asset Manager

• Add Primary Asset Types in settings: Type = ItemData, Base Class = your BP base, Directory = /Game/Data/Items, Cook Rule = “Always Cook” or “Development Only”

3. Reference by soft path

• In gameplay PDAs, use Soft Object/Class; load via Async Load Asset before use

4. Spawn visuals from data

• Equip item → async load Mesh → set on Skeletal/Static Mesh Component → apply MI from data

Data

• Keep heavy assets referenced softly in PDAs; separate visuals from logic fields

Networking

• Replicate only IDs; resolve to data on clients (reduces bandwidth)

Performance

• Batch async loads; prefetch in transitions (loading screens, doors, elevators)

Testing

• In a test map, press a key to equip several items → verify async pops are minimal and non-blocking

Suggested prompts

• “UE 5.6 Blueprints only. Design PDAs for items and abilities with soft refs for heavy assets. Show how to resolve an item ID to a PDA and async-load mesh/icon before use.”
• “How should I configure Asset Manager (Primary Asset Types, directories, cook rules) for items and abilities?”
• “Provide a client-safe pattern to replicate only item IDs and resolve visuals on the owning client.”
• “Give a checklist for common async loading issues (timing, missing cooks, null soft refs).”

Prompts for this example

• “Using DA_ItemData with Mesh/Icon soft refs, show Blueprint nodes to async load and apply the mesh on an equipped SkeletalMeshComponent.”
• “Given an item ID string, show the steps to find the PDA via Asset Manager and handle failure gracefully.”