Free open-source UE5 content automation: JSON to DataAssets to live editor updates

A free, open-source Unreal Engine 5 editor toolchain is available for developers working on data-heavy projects.

The core idea is simple: change game content as plain JSON, and the editor-side pipeline carries the update end to end — it detects the changed data, regenerates typed DataAssets, and propagates the new definition into actors already placed in the editor scene, without a C++ recompile or manual asset rebuilding.

This makes content text-based, version-controlled, diffable, reviewable, and safer for scripts, CI, and AI agents to propose.

The pipeline is split into four public plugins:

• ProjectDefinitionGenerator (Plugins/Editor/ProjectDefinitionGenerator) — watches JSON-backed definitions, validates changes, and regenerates typed DataAssets from source data.
• ProjectPlacementEditor (Plugins/Editor/ProjectPlacementEditor) — creates configured actors from generated definitions, then reapplies or replaces placed actors when definitions change.
• ProjectAssetSync (Plugins/Editor/ProjectAssetSync) — keeps JSON references correct when assets are renamed or moved, and fixes redirectors.
• ProjectEditorCore (Plugins/Editor/ProjectEditorCore) — a shared contract layer: the stages communicate through its events instead of hard-wiring the pipeline stage to stage, so they stay loosely coupled and each one is easy to read, fork, or extend.

Useful for Unreal automation, data-driven gameplay, CI content generation, and agent-assisted content authoring.

Want to test the public build, review the architecture, or contribute to ALIS? Start here: GitHub, fallintodusk/alis, Discussions.

Practical feedback is welcome: what should be clearer, more stable, more useful, or more convincing?

Source: GitHub, fallintodusk/alis

Why We Make ALIS: The Enemy Within

We accept the challenge - to create a world harsh and real down to the last detail, without killing the soul of the game.

We expose the abyss of war's tragedy and, with clear-eyed honesty, the depth of human grief, loneliness, distance.

Our mission is to make Alis a tool for growth that helps you better understand yourself, those around you, and life itself.

May the project bring meaningful experiences and real connection.

ALIS is an open-source survival game set in real places rebuilt from satellite data. Want to test the public build, review the architecture, or contribute? Start here: GitHub, fallintodusk/alis, Discussions.

For players - learn real mechanics, explore a twin world, and survive there.

For developers - create mechanics that feel true, extend their own projects, and unite ideas in synergy.

A world where a real street is easy to recognize. A believable survival rule is harder.

A world with a solid foundation - open source, data-driven workflows, modular frameworks, built with an epic engine and its community.

Let this thread grow with this world.

ALIS is an open-source survival game set in real places rebuilt from satellite data. Want to test the public build, review the architecture, or contribute? Start here: GitHub, fallintodusk/alis, Discussions.