Construction Script accessing data that's not ready yet

Why: Construction Script runs while the actor is being placed in the editor — before BeginPlay. Other actors in the world don't exist yet from this actor's perspective. Some self properties are also not yet initialized. Fix: Move the logic from Construction Script to Event BeginPlay. Construction Script should only set up THIS actor's components/properties, not query the world. If you need editor-time behavior, use the ifEditorOnly check + restricted property reads.

Trying to spawn an actor from Construction Script

Why: Construction Script runs in the editor before the world is fully loaded. Spawning actors here is unsupported because the receiving world might not exist yet. Fix: Move the Spawn Actor node from Construction Script to Event BeginPlay. BeginPlay runs at runtime when the world is ready and other actors can be spawned safely.

Construction Script

Runs in the editor whenever the actor is placed or changed. Use for editor-time setup; doesn't run at PIE.

BuildString — build formatted string with prefix, suffix, and value

Also: BuildString_Int, BuildString_Name, BuildString_Vector, etc.

Branch — conditional if/else flow control

MakeColor — construct FLinearColor from R G B A

BeginPlay

Fires once on actor spawn (after construction). Use for setup that needs other actors in the world to exist.

Create a Blueprint Actor with a timeline that smoothly interpolates between two locations over 2 seconds

Object pooling pattern for frequently spawned actors like projectiles

Pattern: PoolManager with Array<AActor*> AvailablePool. Init: loop SpawnActor N times → SetActorHiddenInGame(true) → SetActorEnableCollision(false) → Array_Add to pool. GetFromPool: Array_Length > 0 → remove last → SetHidden(false) → SetCollision(true) → SetActorLocation → return. ReturnToPool: SetHidden(true) → SetCollision(false) → Array_Add back.

MakeVector — construct FVector from X Y Z