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Unreal Engine 4 Scripting with C++ Cookbook

Chapter 2. Creating Classes

This chapter focuses on how to create C++ classes and structs that integrate well with the UE4 Blueprints editor. These classes are graduated versions of the regular C++ classes, and are called UCLASS.

Tip

A UCLASS is just a C++ class with a whole lot of UE4 macro decoration on top. The macros generate additional C++ header code that enables integration with the UE4 Editor itself.

Using UCLASS is a great practice. The UCLASS macro, if configured correctly, can possibly make your UCLASS Blueprintable. The advantage of making your UCLASS Blueprintable is that it can enable your custom C++ objects to have Blueprints visually editable properties (UPROPERTY) with handy UI widgets such as text fields, sliders, and model selection boxes. You can also have functions (UFUNCTION) that are callable from within a Blueprints diagram. Both of these are shown in the following screenshots:

On the left, two UPROPERTY decorated class members (a UTexture reference and an...

Key benefits

A straightforward and easy-to-follow format

A selection of the most important tasks and problems

Carefully organized instructions to solve problems efficiently

Clear explanations of what you did

Solutions that can be applied to solve real-world problems

Description

Unreal Engine 4 (UE4) is a complete suite of game development tools made by game developers, for game developers. With more than 100 practical recipes, this book is a guide showcasing techniques to use the power of C++ scripting while developing games with UE4. It will start with adding and editing C++ classes from within the Unreal Editor. It will delve into one of Unreal's primary strengths, the ability for designers to customize programmer-developed actors and components. It will help you understand the benefits of when and how to use C++ as the scripting tool. With a blend of task-oriented recipes, this book will provide actionable information about scripting games with UE4, and manipulating the game and the development environment using C++. Towards the end of the book, you will be empowered to become a top-notch developer with Unreal Engine 4 using C++ as the scripting language.

Who is this book for?

This book is intended for game developers who understand the fundamentals of game design and C++ and would like to incorporate native code into the games they make with Unreal. They will be programmers who want to extend the engine, or implement systems and Actors that allow designers control and flexibility when building levels.

What you will learn

Build function libraries (Blueprints) containing reusable code to reduce upkeep

Move low-level functions from Blueprint into C++ to improve performance

Abstract away complex implementation details to simplify designer workflows

Incorporate existing libraries into your game to add extra functionality such as hardware integration

Implement AI tasks and behaviors in Blueprints and C++

Generate data to control the appearance and content of UI elements

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Per Holmes Jun 05, 2020

I don't understand why everybody is hating on this book, both here and on the publisher website. This is the missing manual for Unreal that Epic never wrote, or a least a completely fine quick start for developers coming into Unreal.It might not be the biggest work of art ever, but I'm getting a lot of basic questions answered. I haven't yet encountered code that doesn't compile, but excuse me, lots of code samples from Epic also don't compile, because the APIs have changed. Still compiles more readily than solutions from Stack Overflow or the rest of the internet.This book is fine. The YouTube tutorials by Reuben Ward are also fine, and the Unreal Learning center also has many great speed tutorials for developers who just need to get into an Unreal headspace.

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Johnny P Dec 15, 2016

Could be better, yes. I purchased this book directly from Packt during one of their many sales. I was surprised at the pook review score this was given and thought I should weigh in. UE4 is a hard subject to cover, let alone cover C++. The engine is always changing and moving forward. This means that some code will be out of date. However, most of the material is usable and will help. It will take time and practice. If there was a sea of UE4 C++ books, I could see recommending another book. Typos and some mistakes are unfortunate. I have been doing UE4 development for more than a year and this book helped with tough UE4 C++ subjects that the other books skip. One example was memory management, UOBJECT, UENUM, GameInstance, NewObject, ... The book is worth a serious look.

Eagletree Mar 08, 2018

Edit: I raised this up to 4 stars because I got to thinking about it, I was being too harsh in my criticism of the book. It doesn't seem current in the area I needed, but it's still quite usable for someone needing to learn several basics. The editor module that I'd bought it for was a let down, but that isn't really important for someone new to the engine, it's an advanced feature that most indie developers really don't even need. He does explain basics that would have helped me out greatly three years ago when I started, and for that, the book is a timesaver for people starting out or switching from another engine. I had to redo this and be more unbiased.The main criticism I'd had was that it had old build setup and I was looking for something with the 4.16 and later build examples and it set me off that the publisher isn't keeping errata to keep the book current. Fact is, I found what I was looking for right in the UE4 wiki documentation and could have used his examples as modified by that documentation, but then again, I didn't need them after looking at the wiki, because I was looking for something very specific. That is not a general statement about the book, just about the editor module chapter. I noted that his editor module classes, cover more than you find out on the net, though not what I needed.

Chris Roda Jan 01, 2017

The book does not really go into some of the finer detailed topics such as Networking and multi-player configurations. The book is also written in a scattered somewhat confused fashion. It is a good review and gives good coverage of basic topics. However having some familiarity with the C++ environment in UE4 definitely helps.

Johannes U. Aug 04, 2017

Leider muss ich sagen, dass das Buch nicht wirklich begeistern konnte. Zu wenig Informationen werden mit zu vielen Bildern auf zu vielen Seiten dargestellt. Ich denke, mit der offiziellen Dokumentation, dem Wiki und diversen Tutorials kommt man genauso weit wie mit diesem Buch oder weiter. Das Kapitel über Materialien und Shader beinhaltet z.B. nicht einmal C++ Code - ist schon klar, dass man die mit einer Shading-Language programmiert, doch auch darauf wird nicht wirklich eingegangen. Hier hätte ich mir gewünscht, dass eventuell beschrieben wird, welche Möglichkeiten sich bieten, wenn man den Source Code von Grund auf neu kompiliert und auf diesem Wege in die Grafikpipeline eingreifen kann.

Unreal Engine 4 Scripting with C++ Cookbook: Get the best out of your games by scripting them using UE4

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