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Game Development Projects with Unreal Engine
Game Development Projects with Unreal Engine

Game Development Projects with Unreal Engine: Learn to build your first games and bring your ideas to life using UE4 and C++

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Profile Icon Reis Profile Icon Hammad Fozi Profile Icon Gonçalo Marques Profile Icon David Pereira Profile Icon Devin Sherry +1 more Show less
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₱1616.99 ₱1796.99
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Half star icon 4.6 (35 Ratings)
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Profile Icon Reis Profile Icon Hammad Fozi Profile Icon Gonçalo Marques Profile Icon David Pereira Profile Icon Devin Sherry +1 more Show less
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₱1616.99 ₱1796.99
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Half star icon 4.6 (35 Ratings)
eBook Nov 2020 822 pages 1st Edition
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Game Development Projects with Unreal Engine

2. Working with Unreal Engine

Overview

This chapter will focus on many of the basic concepts and features within Unreal Engine. You will be shown how to create a C++ project, how to perform some basic debugging, and how to work with character-specific animations.

By the end of this chapter, you'll be able to create C++ template projects, be able to debug code within Visual Studio, understand the folder structure and the best practices involved, and finally, be able to set up character animations based on their states.

Introduction

In the previous chapter, we went through the basics of the Epic Games Launcher, along with Unreal Editor fundamentals. We saw how to work with Objects and what Blueprints are on a basic level, in addition to exploring the First Person Template. In this chapter, we'll be building upon those fundamentals by exploring the Third Person Template and working with Input and Animations.

Game development can be done in a wide variety of languages, such as C, C++, Java, C#, and even Python. While each language has pros and cons, we will be using C++ throughout this book as it is the primary programming language used within the Unreal Engine.

In this chapter, we will get you up to speed on how to create a C++ project and basic level debugging in UE4. It is very important to be able to debug code as it helps the developer while dealing with bugs. The tools provided come in very handy and are essential for any Unreal Engine developer.

Following this, we will get up close and personal with the core classes involved in creating games and experiences in Unreal Engine. You will explore Game Mode and the relevant class concepts, followed by an exercise to gain a hands-on understanding of this.

The final section in this chapter is all about animations. Almost every single game features animations, some to a very basic extent, but some to a very high level that includes captivating details which are key to the gameplaying experience. Unreal Engine offers several tools you can use to create and deal with animations, including the Animation Blueprint, which has complex graphs and a State Machine.

Creating and Setting Up a Blank C++ Project

At the start of every project, you might want to start with any of the templates provided by Epic (which contain ready-to-execute basic code) and build on top of that. Most/some of the time, you might need to set up a blank or an empty project that you can mold and sculpt to your requirements. We'll learn how to do that in the following exercise.

Exercise 2.01: Creating an Empty C++ Project

In this exercise, you will learn how to create an empty C++ project from the template provided by Epic. This will serve as the foundation for many of your future C++ projects.

The following steps will help you complete this exercise:

  1. Launch Unreal Engine 4.24 from the Epic Games Launcher.
  2. Click on the Games section and click Next.
  3. Make sure the Blank project template is selected and click Next.
  4. Click the Blueprint section dropdown and select C++.

    Note

    Make sure the project folder and project name are specified with an appropriate directory and name, respectively.

    When everything is set up, click on the Create Project button. In this case, our project directory is inside a folder called UnrealProjects, which is inside the E drive. The project name is set to MyBlankProj (it is recommended that you follow these names and project directories, but you can use your own if you wish to do so).

    Note

    The project name cannot have any spaces in it. It is preferable to have an Unreal directory as close to the root of a drive as possible (to avoid running into issues such as the 256-character path limit when creating or importing assets into your project's working directory; for small projects, it may be fine, but for more large-scale projects, where the folder hierarchy may become too complex, this step is important).

    You will notice that after it's done generating code and creating the project files, the project will be opened, along with its Visual Studio solution (.sln) file.

    Note

    Make sure the Visual Studio solution configuration is set to Development Editor and that the solution platform is set to Win64 for Desktop development:

    Figure 2.1: Visual Studio deployment settings

Figure 2.1: Visual Studio deployment settings

By completing this exercise, we now know how to create an empty C++ project on UE4, along with its considerations.

In the next section, we'll be talking a bit about the folder structure, along with the most basic and most used folder structure format that's used by Unreal developers.

Content Folder Structure in Unreal Engine

In your project directory (E:/UnrealProjects/MyBlankProj in our case), you will observe a Content folder. This is the primary folder that your project uses for different types of assets and project-relevant data (including Blueprints). The C++ code goes into the Source folder in your project. Please note that the best practice is to create new C++ code files directly through the Unreal Editor as this simplifies the process and results in fewer errors.

There are many different strategies you can use to organize the data inside your Content folder. The most basic and easy-to-understand is using folder names to depict the type of content inside. Therefore, a Content folder directory structure may resemble the example at https://packt.live/3lCVFkR. In this example, you can see that each file is categorically placed under the name of the folder representing its type on the first level, with the following levels further grouping it into meaningful folders.

Note

All blueprints should prefix BP in their name (to differentiate them from the default blueprints used by Unreal Engine). The rest of the prefixes are optional (however, it is best practice to format them with the prefixes shown earlier).

In the next section, we will be looking at the Visual Studio solution.

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Key benefits

  • Kickstart your career or dive into a new hobby by exploring game design with UE4 and C++
  • Learn the techniques needed to prototype and develop your own ideas
  • Reinforce your skills with project-based learning by building a series of games from scratch

Description

Game development can be both a creatively fulfilling hobby and a full-time career path. It's also an exciting way to improve your C++ skills and apply them in engaging and challenging projects. Game Development Projects with Unreal Engine starts with the basic skills you'll need to get started as a game developer. The fundamentals of game design will be explained clearly and demonstrated practically with realistic exercises. You’ll then apply what you’ve learned with challenging activities. The book starts with an introduction to the Unreal Editor and key concepts such as actors, blueprints, animations, inheritance, and player input. You'll then move on to the first of three projects: building a dodgeball game. In this project, you'll explore line traces, collisions, projectiles, user interface, and sound effects, combining these concepts to showcase your new skills. You'll then move on to the second project; a side-scroller game, where you'll implement concepts including animation blending, enemy AI, spawning objects, and collectibles. The final project is an FPS game, where you will cover the key concepts behind creating a multiplayer environment. By the end of this Unreal Engine 4 game development book, you'll have the confidence and knowledge to get started on your own creative UE4 projects and bring your ideas to life.

Who is this book for?

This book is suitable for anyone who wants to get started using UE4 for game development. It will also be useful for anyone who has used Unreal Engine before and wants to consolidate, improve and apply their skills. To grasp the concepts explained in this book better, you must have prior knowledge of the basics of C++ and understand variables, functions, classes, polymorphism, and pointers. For full compatibility with the IDE used in this book, a Windows system is recommended.

What you will learn

  • Create a fully-functional third-person character and enemies
  • Build navigation with keyboard, mouse, gamepad, and touch controls
  • Program logic and game mechanics with collision and particle effects
  • Explore AI for games with Blackboards and Behavior Trees
  • Build character animations with Animation Blueprints and Montages
  • Test your game for mobile devices using mobile preview
  • Add polish to your game with visual and sound effects
  • Master the fundamentals of game UI design using a heads-up display

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Table of Contents

18 Chapters
1. Unreal Engine Introduction Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
2. Working with Unreal Engine Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
3. Character Class Components and Blueprint Setup Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
4. Player Input Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
5. Line Traces Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
6. Collision Objects Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
7. UE4 Utilities Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
8. User Interfaces Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
9. Audio-Visual Elements Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
10. Creating a SuperSideScroller Game Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
11. Blend Spaces 1D, Key Bindings, and State Machines Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
12. Animation Blending and Montages Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
13. Enemy Artificial Intelligence Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
14. Spawning the Player Projectile Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
15. Collectibles, Power-Ups, and Pickups Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
16. Multiplayer Basics Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
17. Remote Procedure Calls Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
18. Gameplay Framework Classes in Multiplayer Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

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Titus Mickley Apr 13, 2021
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
Full disclaimer: I was contacted by the authors of the book and gifted a review copy. No other sponsorship occurred. All they asked for was a balanced review in return.With that out of the way, I have been working in UE4 for about a year now so my memories of having to learn the engine are still relatively fresh. UE4 documentation is lacking compared to Unity in my opinion which made it more difficult to pick up without relying on scattered tutorials and shaky logic. This book however is extremely comprehensive in its teachings and content. Whether you are someone entirely new to UE4 or someone who has worked in it before, this book will prove useful at some point.With the advent of UE5 on the nearby horizon, I still see a reason to read this book if only for the sake of catching up with UE4 in preparation for any similarities still existing in UE5.
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Ingmar B Nov 22, 2021
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
I have reviewed the book on a surface level and skimmed over its contents to understand the topics and the style of delivery. I look forward to working through the book's chapters in more detail, following along practically. The book structure is laid out logically and clearly with each chapter leading on to more advanced content as you proceed. Each chapter can easily be read and studied independently, depending on what you already understand and what aspect of your project you need assistance with. The material is structured coherently enough to act as a quick reference guide for a specific topic you might be investigating and elaborates on the most important information with practical examples. I believe that this book will remain a fairly useful resource to me, alongside the original Unreal Engine documentation.Overall, I believe that this "Game Development Projects with Unreal Engine" book by Packt is a cohesive and well-curated collection of structured knowledge, unfolding into a clear sequence of steps and caters for various experience levels, whether you are new to the topic or already experienced in several aspects of the Unreal Engine. It offers a thorough investigation into many of the aspects related to your journey to becoming a game developer, using the Unreal Engine. The authors appear to be knowledgeable enough in the topic to confidently guide you across a fairly complicated discipline.I would recommend this book for anyone looking to supplement their learning with well-curated written information.
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Bradley Yachimowski May 16, 2021
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
Disclaimer: I was contacted by the authors of the book and gifted a review copy.I have been programming with Unity game engine for many years. Back when I started game development Unreal Engine did not have a free option. This set me on a path with the free version of the Unity game engine, first as a hobbyist, and then as a developer. This was my first exposure to Unreal Engine 4, and I was impressed. As a newbie to Unreal Engine 4, I liked the “Game Development Projects with Unreal Engine” layout and the course progression. The book is full of visuals which adds clarification to the text and helps reduce errors when completing the projects. I found the book easy to read, and extremely rewarding. There are some areas in the book that are not covered in detail but from my beginner’s point of view, it is enough to gain a basic understanding of the components in Unreal Engine 4. No one book or course can explain all of the workings of the Unreal Engine or any other game engine. This book, in the hands of a qualified teacher, would make an excellent textbook for schools to teach games programming with Unreal Engine 4 to students. The information in this book, along with the Unreal Engine Documentation has enabled me to start developing my own projects. I love this book, and I would recommend it to anyone wanting to get started with Unreal Engine 4. To Hammad Fozi, Goncalo Marques, David Pereira, Devin Sherry, and all of the editors and reviewers: I thank you for your sacrifice and the maddening pace you had to keep in order to create this massive book and get it to us before the content became outdated. Well done.
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Christopher May 30, 2021
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Fantastic tool for Unreal Engine beginners! You can't go wrong with making this investment to motivate yourself learning more about UE4. With UE5 around the corner, it's a great time idea to start at the beginning and get knowledgeable about the fundamentals of Unreal Engine. I highly recommend.
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Frederico Ribeiro Barnabe Aug 03, 2021
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Ótimo produto eu recomendo
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