[FREE] UAlive - Bolt Inheritance - Live to Compiled C# Generation

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Bolt Extensions has now become UAlive. With the cancellation of Bolt 2, while we already had 2 months or more work invested, we thought this was the prime time to release Alpha 1.

Welcome to the first ever, Live Editable Inheritance based extension for Bolt Visual Scripting. Create ANY type of C# object by inheriting from them. Make Class, Enum, Interface, and Struct macros. When you are happy, compile down to 100% Native C# code, with no dependencies on UAlive or Bolt. You can mix modes of Live and Compiled, and even use both in Flow Macros however you please! It just works.

Introducing UAlive, we bring structure to Bolt in a way never before seen. This isn't Bolt 2, this has even more power! You are no longer limited by the visual language in front of you, and can craft at speeds you have never worked within before. Eliminate 90% of compilation time.

This extension has been a dream for me to make ever since I started getting into tools creation. Therefore I am so happy to be able to now share this with you. All, at no cost to you. If you want, you can help by subscribing to our Patreon, but the product itself is MIT and open source. I am working very hard at this every day to bring the best product you could imagine.

Along with the structure of code, we also will be tapping into the project wide structure. Including adding an Explorer and Search/Find and Replace. Not everything is in right now, but it works perfectly fine to start using it.

Please view this article for a feature breakdown and roadmap:
https://lifeandstylemedia.com/blog/august-2020/ualive_csharp_access.php

Download on GitHub:
https://github.com/LifeandStyleMedia/UAlive

Documentation will be available in beta.

 

As a 60's retired , hobby type only with no coding at all.
BTW Jason you were one of the first responses to a question I had put on the New outside
Bolt forum, even being a simple question on how to do a fade out and destroy " enemy " was
so good. I know you care about the community a great deal and now the future of bolt looks even better!!!

I wanted to say since my coding is like way below par is understatement, I really like the VIEW THE MANUAL Idea,
It is a great way for a beginner to " clue " into what each bolt unit does, the way you explain it makes it much easier to get.

Thanks so much, Stay safe.

 

Thank you! That is very nice of you to say. I hope I can continue this for a long time into the future. Feel free to drop any suggestion my way if you have them.

 

The LASM team and Jason have made some amazingly useful extensions here that are basic quality-of-life upgrades when using Bolt. Pretty quick support on their own Discord server if you ever have any questions or find bugs; things get fixed quickly! Thanks for being such an active part of the community!

 

I removed the Input System from this page, so I wanted to update about why I did this.

TheZoob and I did a lot of testing. Wherever we fixed one use case, another bug would arise. We determined it is due to the casting operations. I am still slightly new to the system as a whole, only started using it without Bolt, in my own project a month ago. I assume in due time I will figure it out by using it more actively. What I do know, is it has a lot to do with the ability to bind multiple input bindings or composites. One could end up a Vector 2, another a float, ect. Unfortunately, it does not look like we can determine what to show very easily, but could also be I don't know the right info. The documentation has not led me to believe otherwise. I am not sure how we can give a proper unit at this time. I won't remove it, but its activity will make wayside, so we can continue our road-map as I learn the intricacies. If anyone knows and wants to give it a go, please do! I'll take a pull request for this any day. Its been driving me a little crazy.

Today I am beginning the July roadmap.

Here is a list of features we will be working on. I can't say all of it makes it, but I don't see why not.

Query Unit:
(Complete) Add First, FirstOrDefault, Any, and OrderByDescending.

Return Events:
(Complete) Add the coroutine icon when it is on.
(Complete) Add the ability to trigger the event with code, and with a callback on return.

Reroutes:
(Complete) Add the ability to hotkey add a reroute.

 

Today we released 1.3 of Bolt Extensions. This effectively ends the cycle of this package, as its full intention was to offer most of what was missing for runtime useage and workflow. We will keep updating with bug fixes, but are taking a long time off from more open source work. We are working on something, now that Bolt is free, that will use much more of Bolt, and will be more honed for a larger audience. We're also working on a game, so we can't put as much time into it. Nothing to talk about just yet though, but a new post will show up when it is time.

https://github.com/LifeandStyleMedia/BoltExtensions/releases/tag/1_3_0

 

Due to Bolt 2 now officially cancelled in favor of Bolt 1 and a more solid integration, we no longer should or have to cancel any of this.

We will be reintroducing our Patreon, and hopefully it'll have more activity then last go. Bolt wasn't free yet.

Our roadmap has changed, and we want to fill the gaps where Bolt 2 helped.

Some examples:
Optional C# generation.
Explorer Window
Typesafe Macro and Machine
Funcs, Delegates and Actions
C# Code Block

If our Patreon starts doing very well, we will release our planned paid asset, UAlive (Inheritance), for free. But it's a beast, so there is a possibility it remains paid. The rest of this will be done throughout time, and or modified based on feedback.

 

Bolt Extensions has now officially become UAlive.



As our deal, was always to allow more C# constructs into the Bolt workflow, we are excited to announce something fresh, something new, and something I think is going to help change things in new ways.

With UAlive now starting in alpha, you will have a new structure for creating all aspects (eventually) of the C# language. What makes it so special, isn't the fact you can just generate scripts. It's not good enough to me to simply allow Inheritance, and we did!

What if you could work by inheriting any C# type, directly in Bolt, while coding it live, just like a Flow Macro? We did it. Generate C# Enums and Interfaces right now, generate live C# classes to manipulate in Bolt and the editor, and structs coming in the future. Have structure, and build faster and better apps and games.

We still have a lot to do, including a glaring bug with port redefining again on our Get, Set, and Invoke units, but it should be in good condition to test.

We will welcome a new roadmap and features write-up tomorrow. Not everything exists yet, but it is coming. We'll update the main thread info as well. We hope this will help as many as possible. Download on GitHub today!

https://github.com/LifeandStyleMedia/UAlive

We're supporting the alpha phase through Patreon if you want to help us. Thank you!

 

This sounds wonderful!!! Free is great, we are fighting for Bolt 2 still, but
Unity may still say Bolt 2 is dead. :-( You could put this as a paid asset on the Store ?
In any case, thanks so much for all your good work! Thank you.

P.S I cross posted in the forum that we are still asking for Bolt2 , Post https://forum.unity.com/threads/visual-scripting-roadmap-update.951675/page-6#post-6231396

If you had the time to read that forum, you see how many are not happy with Unity. Get ready for a lot of interest I am guessing.

So I hope this will generate a TON of interest, and I hope that as a consequence of
you helping the community so much, I hope your Patron will take off!

 

Could, and was going to, but I won't. Sticking with the free route, as it has always been my intention of bringing live C# to the masses. If those who want to pay to see this succeed without a hitch, they can subscribe to patreon at this time. Otherwise, just enjoy, and help bug report. That is all I want is a more widely available, powerful tool. I think its closer to how we will figure out the next level of tooling.

 

I was asked to show some examples of working with methods on Discord and how we could work between the UAlive system, and Flow Macros. Decided to share two of them here. One showing off live inheritance by overriding ToString(), the other shows creating a custom method.

 

UAlive Alpha 1 Is Now Available!



Download now to start tapping into Bolts Visual Scripting with the new power of Inheritance, Enums, and Interfaces. Code ANY type live, and eventually you will be able to compile to purely 100% Native C# without dependencies. Meet speed, efficiency and structure, as I attempt to help change the way we code!

Here is an article about what features are in already, and what to expect:
https://lifeandstylemedia.com/blog/august-2020/ualive_csharp_access.php

You can download Alpha 1 right now on GitHub:
https://github.com/LifeandStyleMedia/UAlive/releases/tag/a1_0

Hope everyone has a fantastic day. Of course I can't stop working, so I'm off to immediately start Alpha 2.0 err Manuals then Alpha 2.0.

 

Starting to upload manuals. Methods are done. Just variables left, and describing about mixing Flow Macros with Class Macros:
https://lifeandstylemedia.com/docs/manual/entries/bolt/basics/Classes.php

The rest will be uploaded periodically throughout the night. Hope this will help everyone understand how this works.

 

With Bolt 2 getting tossed out, this asset is all the more needed. Good on you. :thumbsup: (they need to really add this emoji, lol.)

 

Thanks! Gonna be a couple months until stable enough, but I'm psyched to finally have everything in order to truly accomplish this. It's much more rewarding getting to work with people out in the open on something of this caliber. Glad to be able to give it back without being limited to specific people, been waiting for this for some time.

 

This is awesome!

I will be following this!

Thanks,
jrDev

 

wow!

 

Jason, May I ask, what version of Unity are you using ?
IDK it seems that Bolt is Not working in the newer ? LTS versions of 2019 even now

I hope I am wrong, but I am guessing that bolt will not be guaranteed to be working in all versions
I also have seen people say on one of the forums that they could take out reflection out of Bolt too.. honestly I can not see how they could do that.

I had been away from Unity for the last year-ish pretty much. Only back these last few months, So now I am going
through the tutorials that I can find now. Including here if any others need/want https://learn.unity.com/tutorial/bolt-videos-archived

I would feel safer though using what ever Unity you are using. I am assuming it is 2019x versions though ?
Thanks

 

Sorry to hear that, I'm on 2019.7f1. previous release to the latest. I have not had the chance to try the latest LTS, but I do know 2020 isn't fully compatible yet.

 

I downloaded Unity 2019.2.21f1, and the first tutorial worked properly for the first time

I will upgrade to your version, Thanks again.

 

Hello,

Any ballpark to when C# Generation will be available?

‘Thanks,
jrDev

 

My plan is to release 1.1 Refactor plus some minor helpful additions this up coming week. Headed right into 2. 3 is generation. I may see about doing it sooner, adding stuff for the new constructs as I go. I'm sensing this is the thing everyone cares about the most. The setup is ready. Just need to make them for each unit.

I'll keep everyone updated.

Edit: No real ETAs, but my best guess, 1-2 months until it's done. No more.

 

This looks good. How are interfaces expected to work? Will we be able to code to an interface without knowing what the underlying concrete class is?

 

Interfacess at this time are not live itself. You'd add them and the interface would adjust to ensure they are there. Just like overrides, for the sake of the compiler, the method is compiled, and the contents are empty and editable live unless compiled to native.

I think that would be more end goal for me, attempting to somehow expose more live capabilities of the language that are normally very concrete.

So yes, 100% real usage. It'll be a real interface with it's proper way of working.

 

I appreciate the reply. Is it safe to say I can build something with just Bolt for now and use UALive when code generation launches? Or should I wait?

Thanks,
jrDev

 

Absolutely, but this will in no way be ready for general use until at least 3-4 months down the line. Don't want anything breaking on you. And it will.

Of course, when native is ready, the results will be fine to use, but I can't guarantee yet that the assets themselves won't undergo some changes that may break the assets. By the time we hit beta, sooner most likely the structure will remain in tact.

But yes, use the current version of Bolt! Knowledge transfers. UAlive is meant to work in tandem just fine.

 

No problem. So don’t expect code generation till next year?

Thanks,
jrDev

 

Oh, no, definitely not that far off. Generation will be available starting next month (Late September - Early October). Probably take a month.

I get the assumption, probably my bad, that I'm starting generation entirely from scratch, and that it will be a long process. I actually already have a library I developed over the past year. Generation is a major part of that. I also already even have the appropriate code to do it for units. What I have to do is just use it to build the actual output code generation. You can see generation with that library in the live code version that gets compiled. Same stuff will be used here, just more of it.

So, very much you'll have it sooner then later.

 

Hello,

There is currently live code generation?

Thanks,
jrDev

 

Yeah that's the premise of what makes it better then a straight C# generator. There are Live Scripts and Native Scripts.

When you start working on a new class, you first create an asset. You choose a name and a type it's based on or inherits from. At this point you can generate as a Live script. This is going to be the same script as the final native version when it is available, but the live version has references to the class asset and sets up things like variable instances for each instance, ect.

You then can start working with the asset live, if you were able to create an instance of your type, you can live add new methods, variables, change it's types and data, without recompiling.

When native is ready, this data could then be recompiled as a full C# version without any connection to Bolt or UAlive.

Does this make sense?

 

I kind of get it.. all it will need is a few examples I am guessing for the lights to go on.

I am not sure I am reading it 100 % correct though. I get the windows you will need to see what's going on.

Question, would one be able to make editor windows ? in other words if you had enough skill, would one be able
to program windows to make an asset in C# ? like a game manage or RPG framework ?
I would never be able to do this, am curious, is all about this part.

 

The manual for methods goes into this. But yes we will need better materials. Just need to get the next update out the door.

As far as Editor Windows. This was what started my obsession. Not being able to with Bolt.That's a profound yes though. Cool part, since you can do it live, you can see the buttons, backgrounds, ect, change colors, positions, sizes, actions, all live on the fly. It's niiiice. I hope it will usher in some unique tools.

 

So let me get this straight, I can already be able to see the code being shown live in the making, in this current version of UALive? If so, you should record some videos to show it off...

Thanks,
jrDev

 

No, you wouldn't necessarily want to see live code. It's not ugly necessarily, but it isn't intended to be understood as a learning thing. Alpha 3 is planned to include the preview window at the same time which would do this. I can't really waste time doing videos just to redo them again a month later, so hopefully this helps give a better overview of what this does and the differences.

Live:
- A C# generated script.
- Uses specific stuff to talk with the UAlive Classes you created as assets, this lives alongside a generated live version of the script.
- Custom Classes aren't meant to be read, but used so both the final script is the same exact type. A Monobehaviour, Editor Window, ect. The logic comes from the custom class asset, but the base definition is from the actual script. This is so you can still do all your logic live, but it would still be say an actual Editor Window.
- Most likely a huge leap above Bolt 1 speed, but not as fast as native. I haven't done tests, but there is a lot less going on then the event bus Bolt 1 uses. It's much closer to a direct call. Only slightly bit more work.

Imagine Live is like a blueprint that you can still change the details of. Imagine a script who's code is reflected as you typed it. That's the premise here. It's not the final Native C# script you'd send to a colleague or friend, it's what you'd use so you can skip 90% of the time compiling changes, and figuring out what the class is and does. Let's say you made an Editor Window, normally say you changed a buttons width from 40 to 100. In order to see a native scripts change, we just wait for compilation. Each time wasting 30 seconds + for a single value changed. In this case, just set the value in the graph to 100 and boom the button is now bigger, right in front of your eyes.

Native:
- Also a C# Script generated
- Unchangeable on the fly. What you last compiled as is what you get when actually using the type. This is the C# text coders equivalent.
- No relation to Bolt or UAlive.
- Better performance of course as you can't get any better except by coding better.

I know this is a fairly new concept, so I get it's not entirely clear how everything works. Hopefully I can get around to at least doing a mode comparison video in the near future. I will cover everything in full, but I need a more fully realized product before I do that.

 

Thanks for trying to explain. I just realized why I have confusion, see this Bolt 2 features link:
https://ludiq.io/blog/bolt-2

I mixed up Real-time Code generation with Live code generation. I thought that was an amazing feature to see it creating the code right in front of your eyes...hopefully Unity does something with this ugh...

Thanks,
jrDev

 

To clarify, UAlive will have both a Real-time C# generated display, and real-time coding abilities. You'll get the best of both worlds. Just there is SOME compilation so you can actually use everything C# allows. That's all.

 

Ok,

NOW I understand! Can't wait for the Realtime code gen to learn some proper coding techniques! I will support the Patreon if that speeds things up! Godspeed!

Thanks,
jrDev

 

I am backing up every version of Bolt now. And am going to freeze everything for Unity2019x.
I have bought many assets over the 6 years, but at this point in time, it seems that Unity this last year has made it
hard for many store dev's with having to support different render set ups.. Some of them have more or less said they will only make sure the assets will run under the LTS versions, which I agree with.

I don't see much happening for the Unity 2020 versions and any new assets if they are for Unity 2020 and higher then I won't get.

Necessity is the mother of invention and that is how I see UAlive now. Perhaps because of Unity saying they are going
to kill Bolt 2 ( very bad move ) But even if they do an about face... unless they get someone to develop Bolt 2,
when/if we see it could take a long time. With Ualive being born, who knows how far this can go.

I fully agree not to do tutorial videos now while your forging ahead with the coding side. I would say if, you get to the point where you need to take a break from coding, or need a few days to decide on a direction to take UAlive, then maybe make notes as you go on possible documentation or some do developer logs on you tube, maybe. I would still say this can be on the store, but it is not my say in any of this. Only to say thank you I am glad you are part of the Bolt community still.

Bolt had great community spirit and still has to be sure. I hope this is okay, I saw another Bolt person, put up
100+ Bolt Super Units the link >> https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/tools/visual-scripting/bolt-super-units-177410

 

All very good points! I've been contemplating this whole upcoming set of changes as well. I'd like to distance myself, some point after final release, by moving the very few remaining GUI elements into my own solution. This would be stuff like any reordered lists anywhere, Type drop-downs, ect.

Would be wise I think, if we would be at least prepared if the tech moving forward doesn't allow us to accomplish every features we already did, and more easy migrate to our own. Of course best case scenario is it only takes a couple weeks to do a full shift to Unitys merged solution, and we can still continue in a way that makes sense.

To me this can't be something that just gets dropped because of something like this. It's too important in my mind, and I'd just do again anyways

But yes I did see that package. No worries on sharing! It looks awesome, I just have no means to use it immediately myself, but that is so cool they released such a large package for everyone. I love every bit of this.

I'm doing some final testing now of Alpha 1.1 without every feature, today. If anyone wants to try the latest commit. We refactor everything but editor code and it seems we fixed every structural issue. We want to know we haven't missed anything. What we need is to make sure all members (variables, methods) retain all information, units and inspector data is retained and properly defined when data is edited, and all units keep a reference and type data when n reloaded and redefined. Works okay for me. Hope it's ready to start claiming some serious stability.

 

UAlive Alpha 1.1 is now available with a slew of new additions and a core restructuring.

Previous assets are no longer compatible. We cannot ensure that every case has been handled, as there may still be issues of data loss. If you can provide reproducible steps, this helps.

Known Issues:
- Not providing a variable to a variable unit messes up the drawing of a graph. Data is not lost. A restart will work. Investigating.

Updates:
-Restructured the runtimes core, for all units, methods, and variables. Previous iterations won't be compatible. This fixes all connection and port issues we had since the first release. Major change.

-Added the ability to mark a method as Pure. Allowing control ports to be removed when it has a return type.

-Added the ability to Invoke a method by simply getting its return type.

-Set Class Variable, Invoke, and Return -Unit now all have default values for ports.

-Method declarations are now fully editable on the asset and on the Entry Unit.

-Fixed script name including spaces.

-Fixed virtual overriden methods not compiled as override.

-Units with a class target can now be chained.

-Set Class Variable Unit now can Get the variable from the output port.

Download on GitHub!
https://github.com/LifeandStyleMedia/UAlive/releases/tag/a1_1

 

We have updated our roadmap with more entries and details. Along with that, we decided to start C# Native Generation TODAY. We swapped the custom constructs, as having the ability to actually see all output data is very good when it comes to perfecting everything else in the language. The 3.0 alpha will actually be the most difficult and large update in the whole cycle for us.

See the Roadmap

 

We now have a working connection between everything, time to get down and dirty on units, and fleshing out some things like those defaults. I don't expect it will take long to do all this, but there is a lot of edge cases with code, so you never know.

 

SWEET!!!

 

Thanks for your work on this and for including C# generation in your roadmap. Can't believe how Unity dropped the ball on this..

I plan on trying this out soon.

 

Yeah, per usual for most big businesses these days. It's on us small guys to pick up the slack and do the right thing. C# generation is important both for learning, sharing, and performance, and I think should be ingrained in MORE tools, not less.

Glad to be working on this though, and if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask. Hope you enjoy it and will work hard to get this production ready as fast as I can.

 

Couldn't agree more. Just donated to your Patreon.

I've been waiting on a visual scripting app with C# generation forever. I followed Nottorus back in its early stages and was really bummed when development halted on it. Then was excited for Bolt, then bummed again. There's really no good reason that Unity is so behind on implementing this.

If this can reliably generate C# so I can have both a visual graph/nodes and code in front of me I will be in heaven.

Thank you, again.

 

Yeah, Bolt with LTS (2019.4.9f1) isn't working for me. scriptingRuntimeVersion deprecation warnings and the assemblies aren't installing.

This (Bolt) is the visual scripting tool we're supposed to be using with Unity? Seriously? I can't even get it to import into my project on a fairly recent release. Never had a problem getting NodeCanvas to import..

What version(s) of Unity should we be using to get these to work together? (Never mind - saw that you're on 2019.4.7.) That may need to be a banner on the thread so that people know and don't lose faith due to the Deprecation Dungeonmasters at Unity HQ.

 

Yes, and THANK YOU again for that!

Couldn't agree more. I've owned anything I could get my hands on. Honestly I'm pretty baffled by no one actually wanting to do this but 2 others in the first place. I couldn't wait any longer, so here we are. Not just Unity or anything, but is no one listening to their audience these days? I've been reading these complaints the entire time I was learning how to do editor code and probably longer, just wasn't aware. There has always been a need to make languages themselves more visually accessible, and openly useable, easier to work with.

 

I'm using version 2019.8f1 LTS release for development of UAlive. Everything's good there. Haven't tried 9f1

 

I am now using 2019.4.8.f1 yes you get the deprecation warning, but I don't think it is serious if yellow warnings ?
It has the dark theme so I really like that. I would suggest though keep every version of Bolt that you have, be sure to have them all backed up.... lest I am doing that.

I started going through this ( so far first lesson on the page of >> https://learn.unity.com/tutorial/bolt-videos-archived )
Introduction to Bolt | Beginners << it is actually very good if your a beginner. I am not sure where the
lesson files are on the net though.. I had seen a link I was sure 2 weeks ago.

It is really incredible when @JasonJonesLASM can make this work with Bolt1 , in really not that much time. How Unity can take so long with all they have, I just wonder wtf is going on with them, when individual devs can do so much more, so much better and faster. Bakery comes to mind, and amplify shader .... and many more.

@JasonJonesLASM If I am reading your road map and blog right ? Is there another idea possible that with this
there is a possibility ( if you had the skill, I doubt I will ever have ) BUT is one of the ideas, we can use this in
say a deprecated or other asset and fix/add features to an asset we own ?

Either way, Yes thank you for giving a caring and all the work you are doing on this.
Your a hero to many people that loved Bolt, I am 100 % sure of that.