Unreal Engine 4 Game Development Quick Start Guide: Programming professional 3D games with Unreal Engine 4

Description

Learn how to use Unreal Engine 4 by building 3D and multiplayer games using Blueprints Key FeaturesLearn 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 gamesBuild dynamic game elements using Animation Blueprints and Behavior TreesBook 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 learnUse project templates to give your game a head startCreate custom Blueprints and C++ classes and extend from Epic's base classesUse UMG to create menus and HUDs for your gameCreate more dynamic characters using Animation BlueprintsLearn how to create complex AI with Behavior TreesUse replication to create multiplayer gamesOptimize, test, and deploy a UE4 projectWho 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. Cover Title Page Copyright and Credits About Packt Contributors Table of Contents Preface Chapter 1: 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 Chapter 2: 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 Chapter 3: 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 Chapter 4: 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 Chapter 5: 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 Chapter 6: 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 Chapter 7: 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 Chapter 8: Optimization, Testing, and Packaging Optimization The Profiler Blueprint Nativization Debugging in UE4 Packing a project Summary Another Book You May Enjoy Index