Your First Device, creative_device: Build a Logic Brick of Your Own

1. creative_device: a “Logic Brick” You Can Drag Into a Level

If you have played Fortnite Creative, you have fiddled with all kinds of devices: buttons, barriers, scoreboards, launch pads… They are like LEGO bricks — drag them into a level, tweak a few settings, and a mechanic takes shape. But sooner or later the stock bricks run out — and that is when creative_device steps in.

creative_device is the base class for custom Verse devices. It lives in the /Fortnite.com/Devices module and is the founding ancestor of every “custom device”. As soon as your class inherits from it, compiling turns your code into a brand-new brick: it shows up in the Content Browser and can be dragged into a level and set down on the ground just like an official device. In other words:

creative_device is the parent Blueprint of custom Verse devices. It lives in the /Fortnite.com/Devices drawer (module) and is the founding ancestor of every “custom device”. Have your new device claim it as its parent (just like creating a Child Blueprint Class from a parent class in Blueprint), and after Compile your code becomes a brand-new brick: it shows up in the Content Browser and can be dragged into a level and set down on the ground just like an official device. In other words:

• Official devices = factory bricks, features fixed at the plant;
• A class inheriting creative_device = a brick cast from your own mold, with whatever logic you care to write.
• A device with creative_device as its parent Blueprint = a brick cast from your own mold, with whatever logic you care to write.

Two iron rules to memorize right now. One: every Verse class you want to drag into a level must inherit from creative_device — without that inheritance, even the prettiest code is just a schematic that never leaves the drawing board. Two: only device instances actually placed in the level ever execute — and every copy you drag in runs its own logic, so the same brick can be doing a different job in every corner of your island.

Two iron rules to memorize right now. One: every Verse device you want to drag into a level must claim creative_device as its parent Blueprint — without that parent, even the prettiest code is just a schematic that never leaves the drawing board. Two: only device instances actually placed in the level ever execute — and every copy you drag in runs its own logic, so the same brick can be doing a different job in every corner of your island.

2. One Declaration, Four Parts: my_device := class(creative_device):

Defining a device takes a single line of declaration. Start with a minimal working example:

using { /Fortnite.com/Devices }
using { /UnrealEngine.com/Temporary/Diagnostics }

# A minimal working custom device
my_device := class(creative_device):

    OnBegin<override>()<suspends>:void =
        Print("Device is online!")

Reading the graph: this code is one Blueprint. The two using lines at the top are like pulling open the Devices and Diagnostics drawers so the parts inside are within reach; my_device := class(creative_device) creates a new Blueprint with creative_device as its parent; the OnBegin line is this graph’s Event BeginPlay node; and the indented Print below it is a Print String node wired in after it, printing “Device is online!” in the top-left of the screen.

Take the declaration line apart and you get four parts:

• my_device — the name you give your device. Class names use lower_snake_case (all lowercase + underscores), the naming etiquette laid down by the official Verse Code Style Guide — creative_device itself is a textbook example;
• := — read it as “is defined as”. The name goes on the left; what that name actually is goes on the right. Note it is not the same as a bare = — in Verse, = compares things; to define something new, reach for :=;
• class(creative_device) — announces “I am a class, and I inherit creative_device’s entire estate”: I can be dragged into a level, and I wake up automatically when the game experience starts;
• class(creative_device) — announces “I am a Blueprint, creative_device is my parent, and I inherit its entire estate” (just like creating a Child Blueprint Class from a parent class): I can be dragged into a level, and I wake up automatically when the game experience starts;
• the trailing : + a 4-space indent on the next line — Verse has no curly braces; indentation is the code block. The colon says “the contents live below”, and the 4 spaces say “I am those contents”.
• the trailing : + a 4-space indent on the next line — Verse has no curly braces; indentation is the grouping. In Blueprint, which exec wire a node hangs on and which event owns it is expressed by wiring; Verse has no wires, so indentation stands in — the colon says “the contents live below”, and every line indented 4 spaces deeper counts as “the chain of nodes wired in after this line”.

One-line summary: name := class(ancestor):, then indent and write its skills. That is genuinely all there is to it.

3. Token-by-Token Breakdown: OnBegin<override>()<suspends>:void =

3. Part-by-Part Breakdown: OnBegin<override>()<suspends>:void =

That line in the class body — OnBegin<override>()<suspends>:void = — is where many newcomers take one look and consider quitting: six parts crammed into a single line. Don’t panic. We will strip it down like weapon attachments, one token at a time:

That line in the device Blueprint — OnBegin<override>()<suspends>:void = — is where many newcomers take one look and consider quitting: six parts crammed into a single line. Don’t panic. We will strip it down like weapon attachments, one part at a time:

For now the memorization strategy is blunt: this entire line is a fixed incantation — learn it verbatim. Its official meaning is “override this function to add custom logic when the game experience begins”. And precisely because it carries <suspends>, the function body can directly call async APIs like Sleep(seconds) — the star of the next section.And precisely because it carries <suspends> (the waiting badge), the body can directly hold waiting, little-clock nodes like Sleep(seconds) (Blueprint’s Delay) — the star of the next section. Incidentally, OnBegin has a twin, OnEnd<override>():void =, which runs when the game experience ends — note that it carries no suspends. Its story is told in this lesson’s advanced extra.

4. Full Example: welcome_device — It Greets, It Meditates

Snap this lesson’s parts together and build a “welcome device”: the moment the game starts it calls out a greeting, meditates in place for 3 seconds, then follows up with a tip. Sleep comes from the /Verse.org/Simulation module, hence the extra using line at the top of the file.Sleep lives in the /Verse.org/Simulation drawer, hence one more drawer pulled open at the top of the file (that extra using line). Hit “Run Next Step” and watch the code execute line by line — pay special attention to the Sleep(3.0) step, where the output log freezes completely. That is what “waiting” looks like.

using { /Fortnite.com/Devices }
using { /Verse.org/Simulation }
using { /UnrealEngine.com/Temporary/Diagnostics }

# A welcome device that greets players
welcome_device := class(creative_device):

    OnBegin<override>()<suspends>:void =
        Print("Welcome to my island, adventurer!")
        Sleep(3.0)
        Print("Tip: there is a supply chest next to the spawn point - grab it before you head out.")

Mini experiment: reset and run it once more, and imagine the version without Sleep — both lines would pop out in the same instant, and players might not catch either one. Pacing is part of design, too.

5. From Code to Level: Compile and Report for Duty in Four Steps

Enough theory-crafting — here is the full pipeline for putting welcome_device into an actual game. Four steps, and you will own the first custom brick of your life:

If the log in Step 4 matches what you expected, stop and celebrate for ten seconds: you have just closed the full write code → compile → deploy → verify loop — the exact spot where plenty of people stay stuck for days.

Common Pitfalls: A Field Guide to Beginner Mistakes

• Missing <suspends> or <override> — OnBegin’s signature no longer matches the base class: instant compile error. This is every Verse newcomer’s “first blood”; when the error hits, go back and count your badges first;
• Missing <suspends> or <override> — your OnBegin no longer matches the original in the parent Blueprint, and Compile lights up red. This is every Verse newcomer’s “first blood”; when the error hits, go back and count your badges first;
• The build succeeds but “nothing happens” — nine times out of ten you forgot to drag the device into the level; the rest of the time you edited the code and started testing without re-Building, so the old version is still running;
• Crooked indentation — the function body must be indented one level deeper than the signature line, and tabs must never be mixed with spaces (VS Code defaults to 4 spaces). Indentation is syntax; even one column off counts as wrong;
• Crooked indentation — the chain of nodes to run (the indented lines) must sit one level deeper than the OnBegin line above, and tabs must never be mixed with spaces (VS Code defaults to 4 spaces). Indentation is syntax; even one column off counts as wrong;
• Thinking a save in VS Code counts as a compile — the VS Code Verse extension only does syntax hints; the real compile happens back in UEFN with Ctrl+Shift+B. Saving ≠ Building;
• The device “goes dead” after you rename the class or file — old instances already placed in the level lose their class reference; delete them and drag in a fresh one;
• The device “goes dead” after you rename the class or file — old instances already placed in the level can no longer find the Blueprint they belong to (the reference is broken); delete them and drag in a fresh one;
• Staring at the log without launching a session — Print only outputs inside a running session; an idle editor will never deliver.

6. Level Challenge ★

This lesson’s BOSS fight is one fill-in-the-blanks plus three multiple-choice questions. Correct answers earn stars; wrong answers retry freely — no punishment mechanics.

using { /Fortnite.com/Devices }
using { /UnrealEngine.com/Temporary/Diagnostics }

my_first_device := ____(____):

    OnBegin<____>()<____>:void =
        Print("My first device is online!")

Extra Reading