Unreal Engine 4 Game Development Quick Start Guide

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.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction to Unreal Engine 4
2. Programming Using Blueprints
3. Adding C++ to a Blueprint Project
4. Creating HUDs and Menus Using UMG
5. Animation Blueprints
6. AI with Behavior Tree and Blackboard
7. Multiplayer Games
8. Optimization, Testing, and Packaging

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.