Skip to content

Line vs Curve Mode

🇬🇧 English | 🇺🇦 Українська

The mode decides which engine components the generated meshes go into.

The actor's global mode (Mode, ESplineCraftUseMode)

Value Effect
Concrete each element decides for itself, via its own Mode.
Line all meshes go into an InstancedStaticMeshComponent. Best performance.
Curve section and tube meshes go into a SplineMeshComponent (they bend along the curve); posts and knobs still go into ISM.

The element mode (ESplineCraftMode)

Every section or tube Main Static Mesh Configuration has its own Mode: Line or Curve. It applies only when the actor's global Mode is Concrete. This lets one structure keep straight panels in Line and a flexible railing in Curve.

Line

  • Meshes are collected into an InstancedStaticMeshComponent, one component per unique "mesh + materials" pair.
  • Cheap: hundreds of posts are a handful of draw calls.
  • The gap between points is filled by stretching along a straight line (a chord) between adjacent points. On a curved spline the span stays a straight segment.
  • The whole structure stays editable.

Curve

  • Each element of each span becomes its own SplineMeshComponent that bends along the curve.
  • The component count climbs fast: a second section on a 50-point spline is another ~50 components. Watch the Stats section in Details.
  • Needed where the mesh really must follow the bend: curved railings, tubes, rings.

What to choose

Situation Mode
Straight fences, walls, panels, most scenes Line
The mesh must bend along the curve Curve
A mixed structure Concrete + Mode on the elements
A large final structure any mode + Merge to Static Mesh + Nanite

See also