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- Herausgeber: Packt Publishing
- Kategorie: Wissenschaft und neue Technologien
- Sprache: Englisch
Learn how to use Unreal Engine 4 by building 3D and multiplayer games using Blueprints
Key Features
- Learn the fundamentals of Unreal Engine such as project templates, Blueprints, and C++
- Learn to design games; use UMG to create menus and HUDs, and replication to create multiplayer games
- Build dynamic game elements using Animation Blueprints and Behavior Trees
Book Description
Unreal Engine is a popular game engine for developers to build high-end 2D and 3D games.
This book is a practical guide, starting off by quickly introducing you to the Unreal Engine 4 (UE4) ecosystem. You will learn how to create Blueprints and C++ code to define your game's functionality. You will be familiarized with the core systems of UE4 such as UMG, Animation Blueprints, and Behavior Trees. You will also learn how to use replication to create multiplayer games. By the end of this book, you will have a broad, solid knowledge base to expand upon on your journey with UE4.
What you will learn
- Use project templates to give your game a head start
- Create custom Blueprints and C++ classes and extend from Epic's base classes
- Use UMG to create menus and HUDs for your game
- Create more dynamic characters using Animation Blueprints
- Learn how to create complex AI with Behavior Trees
- Use replication to create multiplayer games
- Optimize, test, and deploy a UE4 project
Who this book is for
Readers who already have some game development experience and Unity users who would like to try UE4 will all benefit from this book. Knowledge of basic Object-Oriented Programming topics such as variables, functions, and classes is assumed.
Das E-Book können Sie in Legimi-Apps oder einer beliebigen App lesen, die das folgende Format unterstützen:
Seitenzahl: 221
Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2019
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Unreal Engine 4 Game Development Quick Start Guide
Copyright © 2019 Packt Publishing
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embedded in critical articles or reviews.
Every effort has been made in the preparation of this book to ensure the accuracy of the information presented. However, the information contained in this book is sold without warranty, either express or implied. Neither the author, nor Packt Publishing or its dealers and distributors, will be held liable for any damages caused or alleged to have been caused directly or indirectly by this book.
Packt Publishing has endeavored to provide trademark information about all of the companies and products mentioned in this book by the appropriate use of capitals. However, Packt Publishing cannot guarantee the accuracy of this information.
Commissioning Editor: Pavan RamchandaniAcquisition Editor:Siddharth MandalContent Development Editor:Roshan KumarTechnical Editor: Sushmeeta JenaCopy Editor: Safis EditingProject Coordinator:Namrata SwettaProofreader: Safis EditingIndexer: Pratik ShirodkarGraphics: Alishon MendonsaProduction Coordinator: Nilesh Mohite
First published: May 2019
Production reference: 1270519
Published by Packt Publishing Ltd. Livery Place 35 Livery Street Birmingham B3 2PB, UK.
ISBN 978-1-78995-068-7
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Contributors
About the author
Rachel Cordone is a game designer and programmer who has been working with the Unreal Engine since the 1990's. She has worked with various game and simulation companies since 2003 on everything from PC, console, mobile, to VR and AR projects. For the past decade, Rachel has offered remote contract programming services to training software development companies including Northrop Grumman and Parsons Brinkerhoff. On the side, she makes video games through her company, Stubborn Horse Studios. She also wrote the book Unreal Development Kit Game Programming with UnrealScript for Packt.
About the reviewer
Katax Emperore first encountered digital games when he got the Fire Attack series by Nintendo. One game stuck with him, a platform-based game called Shadow of the Beast by Psygnosis. He designs, develops, and teaches game design and programming. The Amiga platform created a high-quality gaming experience supported by an advanced architecture. It was a popular computer with real stereo sound, supported by advanced Direct Memory Access technology. He learned many aspects of programming, multitasking, DMA, interactive applications, I/O port mappings, graphic design, and 3D programming. When Microsoft introduced Windows 98, he learned programming, and 3D and graphic design, which led him to dedicate his education and career to the IT industry.
Packt is searching for authors like you
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Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright and Credits
Unreal Engine 4 Game Development Quick Start Guide
About Packt
Why subscribe?
Packt.com
Contributors
About the author
About the reviewer
Packt is searching for authors like you
Preface
Who this book is for
What this book covers
To get the most out of this book
Download the example code files
Download the color images
Conventions used
Get in touch
Reviews
Introduction to Unreal Engine 4
Downloading the UE
Using project templates
Initial project setup
The Unreal editor
The Content Browser
The Viewport
Viewport options
Grid and snap settings
The toolbar
World Outliner
Details and World Settings
World settings
Editor preferences
Project settings
Input settings
Installing and using plugins
Adding marketplace items to your project
Summary
Programming Using Blueprints
The Blueprint window
Variables
Using variables in the Blueprint window
Working With Object/Actor References
Casting object references
Class default variables
Functions
Local variables
Events
Overridable functions
Graphs
Components
Common components
Component events
Time for action
Creating a Blueprint from scratch
One small material change
Creating a child Blueprint
Giving our game a goal
Summary
Adding C++ to a Blueprint Project
Technical requirements
Creating C++ classes in UE4
Using C++ classes in UE4
Using C++ variables in Blueprint
Using C++ functions in Blueprint
BlueprintCallable functions
BlueprintPure functions
Using out variables in C++
Using events in C++
Summary
Creating HUDs and Menus Using UMG
The Widget Blueprint window
Showing Widget Blueprints in our game
Setting up an interactive menu
Commonly used widgets
The Common section 
Button 
Checkbox
Image 
Progress Bar 
Slider 
Text
The Input section
ComboBox 
Editable Text 
The Primitive and Special Effects sections
Circular Throbber and Throbber 
Background Blur 
Using widget events
Widget set nodes
Variable binding
Adding widgets to other widgets
Modifying the Pickup class
Creating the child widget
Creating the container widget
Adding the container to the HUD
Summary
Animation Blueprints
Creating the attachment
Creating sockets on Skeletal Meshes
Spawning and attaching Actors
Animation retargeting
Setting up the source Skeleton
Setting up the target Skeleton
Retarget the animation
Adding a weapon Equip control
Modifying the Animation Blueprint
The AnimGraph
Modifying an Animation state
Summary
AI with Behavior Tree and Blackboard
Creating a simple AI
Creating a Pawn for the enemy
Creating a controller for the enemy Pawn
Adding a Nav Mesh
Behavior Trees
Creating and running a Behavior Tree
Setting up a simple Behavior Tree
Setting up a Blackboard
Assigning the Blackboard to a Behavior Tree
Creating a Behavior Tree task
Selectors
Decorators
Services
Setting up Service in Blackboard
Summary
Multiplayer Games
The client–server model
Testing a listen server
Replication
Variable replication
Event replication
Flow control in multiplayer
Actor replication
Multiplayer classes
GameMode and GameState
PlayerState, PlayerController, and Pawn
Summary
Optimization, Testing, and Packaging
Optimization
The Profiler
Blueprint Nativization
Debugging in UE4
Packing a project
Summary
Another Book You May Enjoy
Leave a review - let other readers know what you think
Preface
Unreal Engine 4 (UE4) can make developing your own games simple, even for those who have no prior programming experience. This book will get you up to speed with the major features of UE4 quickly, and leave you with the resources required to expand your knowledge through other tutorials and official documentation.
Each chapter builds and expands on a working game. It won't be anything fancy, but you'll be able to see how UE4's systems interact by means of a working example.
Who this book is for
This book is aimed at readers who already have some game development experience and would suit Unity users who would like to try UE4. It is assumed that the reader has knowledge of basic object-oriented programming topics such as variables, functions, and classes.
What this book covers
Chapter 1, Introduction to Unreal Engine 4, looks into how Unreal Engine can be downloaded and installed. We will get a head start on the project's development. We will also learn how to use plugins and marketplace items to expand on the editor's capabilities and further simplify our own project's development.
Chapter 2, Programming Using Blueprints, shows how to create custom Blueprint classes and use variables and functions within Blueprint classes. You will also gain an understanding of the differences between functions and events.
Chapter 3, Adding C++ to a Blueprint Project, covers creating and using classes in UE4. You will also learn to create custom Blueprint Events in C++.
Chapter 4, Creating HUDs and Menus Using UMG, teaches you how to create widgets and how to set them up as menus and HUDs. It also demonstrates some of the more advanced uses of widgets, such as adding widgets to other widgets.
Chapter 5, Animation Blueprints, introduces a lot of information about Animation Blueprints and how to use them to make a character more dynamic. You will also learn how to modify a blueprint by taking various factors into account when creating a character.
Chapter 6, AI with Behavior Tree and Blackboard, shows how to create some simple AI by making your own Pawn and Controller with some code to make them run around a NavMesh. You will also learn how to set up a Blackboard and how to use sequences, selectors, tasks, decorators, and services.
Chapter 7, Multiplayer Games, talks about multiplayer games and the different designs and thought processes that go into them. We will also get a clear idea of how to go about creating a multiplayer game without getting caught in some of the common pitfalls.
Chapter 8, Optimization, Testing, and Packaging, talks about optimization, testing, and packaging. You will also learn about debugging UE4 and packaging your game for distribution.
To get the most out of this book
Readers should have some previous programming experience, as this book includes explanations on how UE4 uses variables and functions with the Blueprint system.
Download the example code files
You can download the example code files for this book from your account at www.packt.com. If you purchased this book elsewhere, you can visit www.packt.com/support and register to have the files emailed directly to you.
You can download the code files by following these steps:
Log in or register at
www.packt.com
.
Select the
SUPPORT
tab.
Click on
Code Downloads & Errata
.
Enter the name of the book in the
Search
box and follow the onscreen instructions.
Once the file is downloaded, please make sure that you unzip or extract the folder using the latest version of:
WinRAR/7-Zip for Windows
Zipeg/iZip/UnRarX for Mac
7-Zip/PeaZip for Linux
The code bundle for the book is also hosted on GitHub at https://github.com/PacktPublishing/Unreal-Engine-4-Game-Development-Quick-Start-Guide. In case there's an update to the code, it will be updated on the existing GitHub repository.
We also have other code bundles from our rich catalog of books and videos available at https://github.com/PacktPublishing/. Check them out!
Download the color images
We also provide a PDF file that has color images of the screenshots/diagrams used in this book. You can download it here: https://www.packtpub.com/sites/default/files/downloads/9781789950687_ColorImages.pdf.
Conventions used
There are a number of text conventions used throughout this book.
CodeInText: Indicates code words in text, database table names, folder names, filenames, file extensions, pathnames, dummy URLs, user input, and Twitter handles. Here is an example: "In our ThirdPersonCharacter blueprint, this can be seen with the CameraBoom and FollowCamera components"
A block of code is set as follows:
if ( MyActorReference != null ){ // This is the Is Valid output.}else{ // This is the Is Not Valid output. }
When we wish to draw your attention to a particular part of a code block, the relevant lines or items are set in bold:
if (
MyActorReference != null
){ // This is the Is Valid output.}else{ // This is the Is Not Valid output. }
Bold: Indicates a new term, an important word, or words that you see onscreen. For example, words in menus or dialog boxes appear in the text like this. Here is an example: "Click on the Input subsection."
Get in touch
Feedback from our readers is always welcome.
General feedback: If you have questions about any aspect of this book, mention the book title in the subject of your message and email us at [email protected].
Errata: Although we have taken every care to ensure the accuracy of our content, mistakes do happen. If you have found a mistake in this book, we would be grateful if you would report this to us. Please visit www.packt.com/submit-errata, selecting your book, clicking on the Errata Submission Form link, and entering the details.
Piracy: If you come across any illegal copies of our works in any form on the Internet, we would be grateful if you would provide us with the location address or website name. Please contact us at [email protected] with a link to the material.
If you are interested in becoming an author: If there is a topic that you have expertise in and you are interested in either writing or contributing to a book, please visit authors.packtpub.com.
Reviews
Please leave a review. Once you have read and used this book, why not leave a review on the site that you purchased it from? Potential readers can then see and use your unbiased opinion to make purchase decisions, we at Packt can understand what you think about our products, and our authors can see your feedback on their book. Thank you!
For more information about Packt, please visit packt.com.
Introduction to Unreal Engine 4
Welcome to Unreal Engine 4 (UE4)! Unreal Engine can make developing your own games simple, even for those of you with no prior programming experience. But, it is important to familiarize yourself with some of the major systems to save yourself time and headaches down the line. This book will get you up to speed with the major features of UE4 quickly, and leave you with the resources required to expand on your knowledge through other tutorials and official documentation.
This book is intended for people with some previous programming experience. I won't go into detail about how variables and functions work, but I will explain how UE4 uses them with the Blueprint system. We will go into more detail about some systems that are specific to game programming or to the UE itself, such as UMG and multiplayer.
We will use examples to learn. Each chapter will build and expand on a working game. It won't be anything fancy, but you'll be able to see how UE4's systems interact by means of a working example.
In this chapter, we will cover the following topics:
Downloading and installing the Unreal Engine
Using Project Templates to save time developing basic functionality
Explore the layout of the editor so we know where to find what we need in order to develop our game
Examine the settings we can use to fully customize our game and the editor itself to save development time
Adding plugins and marketplace items to further expand your development possibilities
So with that, let's get started!
Downloading the UE
Before we get into the engine itself, we need to download and install it as follows:
Search the internet for
Unreal Engine
, or head to this address at
https://www.unrealengine.com
.
Create a free account with Epic Games and log in to it.
In the top right of the Unreal Engine site, you will find a link to the download. Download the
Epic Games
launcher.
Once it's done downloading, go ahead and install it.
Once that's done, open it up. This will load the
Epic Games
launcher.
When the launcher opens, click the
Unreal Engine
button on the left-hand side:
Here, you will have four useful tabs at the top:
Here is a description of the items you can see in the preceding screenshot:
Unreal Engine
: In addition to featured content, there are links to
AnswerHub
(like Stack Overflow, but UE4-specific),
Forums
, and a
Wiki
, with tutorials and engine documentation. There are also links to the
Roadmap
and
Blog
to see current and upcoming developments involving the engine.
Learn
: This is a more detailed tab for developers to find tutorials and documentation. This tab also includes demos and other samples. This is a great place to find inspiration for features that might otherwise not have been on your mind.
Marketplace
: This is the UE asset store. Art, code, animation, and plugins can all be found here. There is a free section to get you started, and frequent sales, so keep an eye on it!
Library
: This tab keeps track of your currently installed engine versions, your projects, and your marketplace purchases for easy installation.
This
Library
tab
is where we will begin. You can choose to install any engine version all the way back to 4.0.2, but, for the purpose of this book, we will be using the latest version, which is
4.22.1 at th
e time of writing.
To start the installation, press the plus sign next to
Engine Versions
and select
4.22.1
with the drop-down arrow, and then press
Install
:
Once that's done, the Install button should change toLaunch, for example. For each project's initial setup, you'll press this button to launch whichever engine version you want the project to use. After that, the project will appear in yourMy Projectslist and you can launch them that way. You can also right-click on a project in theMy Projectslist to create a shortcut for it. That way, you won't even need to run the Epic Games launcher to dive right back into your project.
For now, hit theLaunchbutton on 4.22.1. The project browser will appear, as follows:
All of your existing projects will show in theProjectstab along with their engine version. Projects cannot be opened with a previous version of the engine, but it's usually fine to open a project with a later engine version.
You will just need to make sure any plugins your project uses will be compatible with the newer engine version.
Using project templates
In theNew Projecttab, you will find templates for various project types. These templates will give you a great head start, so you won't need to reinvent code that is common to specific game types. The templates are as follows:
Blank
: Only use this option if none of the following templates fit your project's genre. Usually, one of the other templates will cover what you need to get started, and everything about the template can be customized or deleted. But if your game project doesn't fall under anything else, you can use this option to create your entire game from scratch.
First Person
:
This is the standard shooter template. It includes a first person arm mesh and a weapon that fires projectiles.
Flying
: This is a third-person view of a spaceship that can be flown around.
Handheld AR
: This includes everything you need to get started with augmented reality on a phone. Make sure your device supports ARKit for iOS devices, or ARCore for Android!
nDisplay
: This option is used for multimonitor/cave display setups. It is rarely used, but is an incredibly useful template when you need it.
Puzzle
: Most people associate the UE with top-of-the-line graphics, but even simple puzzle games can benefit from the workflow that Blueprints present.
Rolling
: Ball-based games will find their home here. All of these templates have keyboard, gamepad, and touch inputs already set up as appropriate. Here, the ball can be controlled with any of the three options.
Side Scroller
/
2D Side Scroller
: This is a standard Metroidvania camera setup. Which of these two you use depends on whether your art assets will be 2D or 3D.
Third Person
: This is a free rotating camera with a keyboard-controlled player, common for platformers and action games.
Top Down
: This can be easily confused with the
Third Person
template, but this one has a fixed camera with a Diablo style click-to-move player.
Twin Stick Shooter
: This is the
Top Down
shooter template. Don't let the icon fool you; this template is just as suitable for a Hotline Miami style human player as it is for a bullet-hell spaceship one.
Vehicle
: This is the racing template. Another great feature of these templates is the ability to combine them. For instance, if you wanted to make a GTA style game where you could run around or drive cars, you could choose the
Third Person
template, and once you're in the Unreal editor, you could add the
Vehicle
template to your project as well.
Virtual Reality
: This includes hand models, teleportation, and grabbable objects.
Vehicle Advanced
: If your project needs more realistic vehicles than the simple physics of the vehicle template, this would be your choice.
Most of these templates can be used in both Blueprint and C++ projects (augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) templates are Blueprint only). Unless your goal is to solely use Blueprints or C++, don't worry too much about which project type to use. C++ can be added to Blueprint projects and vice versa.
One major exception to this is if you need to alter any of the engine code itself, or if you need dedicated servers for your game. Using the UE through the launcher with the official engine versions allows us to extend from the engine and its classes, but it doesn't let us modify the engine code directly. If you do need to do this, you will need to download and compile the engine yourself, which is fairly simple but outside the scope of this quick start guide. Most of the time, you can create and deploy your entire game without needing to touch the engine code.
Initial project setup
For this book, we will be using a Blueprint project with theThird Persontemplate, so select that.
Next, we need to choose from a few other options. These can also be changed later, so don't worry about choosing incorrectly. Here are the selections we need to make:
Desktop / Console
or
Mobile
: For this book, we will be using
Desktop / Console
as our target hardware.
Maximum Quality
or
Scalable
: We will use
Maximum Quality
here. Graphics settings can be changed once the project is created, and we will discuss some of those options later in this chapter.
With
or
Without Starter Content
: Most of the time, you'll want to include the starter content for quick prototyping. These assets can always be deleted from your project once they're no longer needed, but they are a great help when creating test levels:
Now, give your project a name and location and click Create Project. I will be naming the projectAwesomeGame, because we're awesome and your game will be awesome:
Now, we have to wait while the project is being created. This will take a while, and it might seem like it gets stuck at 90-something percent, but give it time and eventually, we'll get our first look at the editor!
The Unreal editor
Once the editor finishes loading, we will get our first look at it. This is what we will see:
The editor's layout will quickly be decipherable to anyone who has used Unity or another game engine before, but there's always the fear of clicking something and having everything go wonky, so let's take it panel by panel. We'll start at the bottom left with the Content Browser.
The Content Browser
This is where all of our game's content will appear, from code to static meshes, materials, sounds, and animations. If we press the arrow button in the top-left corner above the folders, we can see a complete folder view for the content in our project, as shown in the following screenshot:
To get a quick overview of the template you're using, you can press the play icon on the ThirdPerson Overviewasset (theThirdPersonBP
