Inventory: DataAssets + Replication (Blueprint)

What/Why: A minimal, replicated inventory that keeps logic in components and data in PDAs. Spawns visuals from soft references.

Prereqs

• Gameplay Tags plugin (for categorization and cooldowns)
• DA_ItemData from the Data Assets section

Steps

1. Inventory Component

• BP_InventoryComponent (replicated): Array of FItemEntry { Id: Name, Count: int }
• Events: OnItemAdded(Id, Count), OnItemRemoved(Id, Count) (dispatchers)
• Functions:
  • AddItem(Id, Delta) (Server): find or add entry; clamp non-negative; Fire OnItemAdded
  • RemoveItem(Id, Delta) (Server): reduce; remove when zero; Fire OnItemRemoved
  • HasItem(Id, Count) -> bool
• Replication: mark array Replicated; OnRep to update UI/ViewModels

2. Equipping visuals

• EquipItem(Id):
  • Resolve DA_ItemData via Asset Manager
  • Async load Mesh/MI; set on a Mesh Component (or attach spawned Actor)
  • Store current equipped Id for replication; OnRep apply visuals on clients

3. UI bindings

• ViewModel VM_Inventory with a list of entries (Id, Count, DisplayName)
• Listen to InventoryComponent dispatchers; update VM; bind to WBP_Inventory

4. Pickup and use

• Pickup Actor implements BPI_Interactable.Interact → calls Server AddItem(Id, Count) on the player’s InventoryComponent
• Use action calls Server RemoveItem and triggers gameplay effect/animation

Data

• DA_ItemData holds DisplayName, Soft Mesh/Icon, Weight, Tags (Item.Type., Rarity.)

Networking

• Only server mutates inventory; clients request via Server RPC
• Replicate inventory entries to owning client; keep visuals authoritative but synced

Performance

• Batch UI updates; debounce OnRep calls to avoid re-render storms
• Async load visuals once per equip; reuse instances

Testing

• Single and multiplayer test maps: pick up items, verify counts replicate
• Equip an item and confirm visuals appear on all clients

Suggested prompts

• “Blueprint-only. Create a replicated BP_InventoryComponent with add/remove, OnRep updates, and dispatchers for UI.”
• “Show how to equip an item by resolving a DA_ItemData and async-loading its mesh, then replicating the equipped state.”
• “Provide a pickup interactable that calls Server AddItem on the player’s component.”

Prompts for this example

• “Write the OnRep logic to rebuild VM_Inventory from the replicated array and update WBP_Inventory.”
• “Show nodes to resolve an item Id to PDA via Asset Manager, then async-load and set the mesh on a component.”