Unreal Engine 4.X By Example

Benjamin Carnall

• Publisher: Packt Publishing
• Year: 2016
• ISBN:
  9781785885532
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Computer Science
• Subtopic: Programming Games
• Index: Computer Science

An example-based practical guide to get you up and running with Unreal Engine 4.X

About This Book

• A unique resource on Unreal with an interactive example based approach that is sure to get you up and running immediately
• Will feature four unique game projects that increase in complexity which will enable readers to build their game development skills using Unreal Engine 4 and the C++ programming language
• Will be the most up to date book in the market on Unreal with full coverage of the new features of UE4

Who This Book Is For

Unreal Engine 4.X by Example was written for keen developers who wish to learn how to fully utilise Unreal Engine 4 to make awesome and engrossing game titles. Whether you are brand new to game development or a seasoned expert, you will be able to make use of the engine with C++. Experience with both C++ and other game engines is preferred before embarking on the Unreal by Example journey, but with a little external research into the basics of C++ programming, this book can take a complete game development novice to an Unreal Engine Developer!

What You Will Learn

• Use C++ with Unreal Engine to boost the development potential of any Unreal Engine project
• Vastly improve workflow and content creation with the visual scripting system blueprint
• Design, test, and implement interesting game worlds using Unreal Engines built-in editor
• Build a networked, feature-rich first person shooter that you can play with others over LAN
• Build design-centric game worlds that play to needs of your game ideas
• Paint your game worlds via the creation and modification of visual shaders called materials
• Gain knowledge of other game development disciplines through the use of the Animation and Material tool sets
• Create feature-rich game projects with a sophisticated visual quality and feature set

In Detail

With Unreal Engine 4 being made free to use, for any keen game developer it is quickly becoming the most popular game engine in today's development industry. The engine offers a rich feature set that can be customized and built upon through the use of C++. This book will cover how to work with Unreal Engine's tool set all the way from the basics of the editor and the visual scripting system blueprint to the in-depth low-level creation of content using C++.

This book will provide you with the skills you need to create feature-rich, captivating, and refined game titles with Unreal Engine 4. This book will take you through the creation of four unique game projects, designed so that you will be ready to apply the engine's rich development capabilities. You will learn not only to take advantage of the visual tools of the engine, but also the vast and powerful programming feature set of Unreal Engine 4.

Style and approach

The best resource that any beginner level game developer can dream of with examples on leveraging the amazing graphics engine, beautiful character animation and game world generations etc. by means of exciting real world game generation.This book would be a very unique resource for any game developer who wants to get up and running with Unreal. The unique example-driven approach will take you through the most basic games towards the more complex ones and will gradually build your skill level.

Unreal Engine 4.X By Example

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Table of Contents

Unreal Engine 4.X By Example

Credits

About the Author

About the Reviewer

www.PacktPub.com

eBooks, discount offers, and more

Why subscribe?

Preface

What this book covers

What you need for this book

Who this book is for

Conventions

Reader feedback

Customer support

Downloading the example code

Downloading the color images of this book

Errata

Piracy

Questions

1. Introduction to Unreal Engine 4

Navigating this book

Game Projects you say?

Installing Unreal Engine 4

Creating your first project!

Navigating the Unreal Engine UI

Creating a basic actor

Objects, Actors, Pawns, and Characters

Adding components to your Actor

The component hierarchy

Modifying components

3D transformation and axis

Adding the Unreal factor

Pre-Built projects as a learning resource

Summary

2. Blueprints and Barrels – Your First Game

Creating your first Blueprint

The Blueprint window

Working with Blueprints

Blueprint elements

Graphs

Functions

Macros

Variables

Event dispatchers

Modifying the Hello Sphere Blueprint

Working with Blueprint graphs

Compiling Blueprints

Using Blueprint variables

Utilizing the Blueprint palette

Blueprint meta-data and string manipulation

Creating the Barrel Hopper project!

Creating our Character

Bringing our character to life

Giving our character a mesh

Creating the character's camera

Game modes and how to make them

Creating and receiving input events

Creating the input Events

Receiving input events

Tweaking the character movement component

Building the level!

Camera tips and tricks

Camera settings

Controlling the camera

Creating the level

Blocking geometry

Geometry Brushes and how to use them

Placing the geometry

Converting a geometry Brush to a static mesh

Applying materials to geometry brushes

Level building and trigonometry!

Getting our barrels rolling

Applying physics to objects

Barrel spawners and Blueprint timers

Creating Blueprint variables

Event tick

Branch nodes

Trigger volumes and destroying Actors

Debugging our Blueprints

Masking our destruction with particles

Respawning the player

Delay nodes

Player controllers

Hit Events

Summary

3. Advanced Blueprint, Animation, and Sound

Cleaning up shop

Logic flow

Using a sequence

Creating custom cameras

Where do we spawn the camera?

Spawning the camera object

Setting the Target View

Respawning the player with a Blueprint function

Creating the Blueprint function

Animation with UE4

Animation Conventions

Animation Blueprints

Importing and exporting animation assets

Creating your first animation Blueprint

Navigating animation Blueprints

The toolbar

Populating the Animation graph

Working with state machines

State nodes

Transition Rules

Playing animations from within states

Finishing our state machine

The Animation Blueprint Event graph

Getting our character running

Working with Blendspaces

Creating the running Blendspace

Utilizing the running Blendspace

Creating your first sound scape

Importing sounds and sound cues

Working with sound cues

Sound modification

Playing sounds via animation notifications

Working with animation assets

Notifies

Curves

Additive layers

Statistics bar

Placing the animation notifies

Finishing our soundscape

Exploding barrels

Players death rattle

Looping level sound

Adding the finishing touches to Barrel Hopper

Ragdolls and Event dispatchers

Creating a basic HUD

Making the HUD object

Drawing the in game HUD

Making the font

Parsing information to and setting the HUD

An end goal for the player, the chapter, and the project

Summary

4. Unreal Engine, C++, and You

UE and C++

Why use C++

Polymorphism, virtual inheritance and templates

Hello World for C++

Exploring your first code class

Accommodating for the Unreal Build Tool

Pre-Compile macros and you

Breaking down the rest of the header file

The default constructor and include list

Virtual functions and calling the parent

Adding components and object creators

Construction helpers and object finders

Building the code

Adding Fire Particles and Hot Compilation

Setting the sphere on fire

Hot Compilation

Hello world text and receiving events through delegates

Adding the 3D text

Delegates and Events

Polishing the sphere

Changing materials via C++

Extending C++ into Blueprint

Extending a class with no macro specifier support

Extending a class with macro specifier support

Defining a class with macro specifiers

Working with code created components

Blueprint native events and you!

Overriding a BlueprintNativeEvent

Summary

5. Upgrade Activated – Making Bounty Dash with C++

Creating a C++ character

Create the C++ project

The UE4 object hierarchy

Creating the Character

What we have been given

What we are going to need

BountyDashCharacter's members

BountyDashCharacters methods

Constructing the Character

Borrowing from the old to make the new

Assigning Blueprints in code with generated classes

Setting up the components

Assuming default control

Writing the begin Play function

Getting In-Editor objects using the Game World

Sorting TArrays with Lambdas

Setting up inputs in C++

Binding actions

How our Character is going to Tick

Compile time

Creating the C++ world objects

Converting BSP brushes to a static mesh

Smoke and mirrors with C++ objects

Modifying the BountyDashGameMode

BountyDashGameMode class definition

BountyDashGameMode function definitions

Getting our game mode via Template functions

Coding the floor

Floor class definition

Floor function definitions

AFloor::AFloor() constructor

AFloor::Tick()

Placing the Floor in the level!

Creating the obstacles

Spawning actors from C++!

Obstacle Spawner class definition

Obstacle Spawner function definitions

Getting information from components in C++

Ensuring the Obstacle Spawner works

Minting the coin object

Coin class definition

Coin function definitons

Making the coin Blueprint!

Making it rain coins, creating the coin spawner

Coin Spawner class Definition

Coin Spawner function definitions

Testing what we have so far!

Creating the interactions between the world objects

Pushing the Character

ABountyDashCharacter Collision functions

Pushing the character back

Picking up coins

Coin collision

Summary

6. Power Ups for Your Character, Power Ups for the User

Cleaning up shop and object hierarchies

BountyDashObject

Modifying existing objects

Creating a Plug-in with C++

Modules and code files

The anatomy of a plugin

Describing a plugin

PowerUpPlugin.uplugin

Working with our first plugin module

PowerUpPlugin.Build.cs

Declaring the PowerUpPlugin code module

Adding the PowerUp object

Using our plugin in engine

Creating the BountyDashPowerUp object

Incorporating power-ups into Bounty Dash

Modifying the Coin Spawner

Build, run, and test!

Colliding with power ups

Powering up the character

Reducing the game speed

Making the coin magnet

How to create, load and smash Destructible M...