Unreal Engine Game Development Blueprints

Nicola Valcasara

• Publisher: Packt Publishing
• Year: 2015
• ISBN:
  9781784397777
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Ciencia de la computación
• Subtopic: Programación de juegos

Discover all the secrets of Unreal Engine and create seven fully functional games with the help of step-by-step instructions

About This Book

• Understand what a Blueprint is and how to create a complex visual scripting code
• Discover the infinite possibilities that Unreal Engine offers, and understand which tool to use, where and when
• Learn to think like a real game developer in order to create enjoyable and bug-free games using this comprehensive and practical handbook

Who This Book Is For

This book is ideal for intermediate level developers who know how to use Unreal Engine and want to go through a series of projects that will further their expertise. Working knowledge of C++ is a must.

What You Will Learn

• Write clean and reusable Blueprint scripts
• Develop any kind of game you have in mind, following the rules used by experts
• Move through Unreal Engine 4, always knowing what you are doing and where to find the right tool for your needs
• Integrate C++ code into your projects using Visual Studio and the tools that Unreal provides
• Extricate between classes, nodes, interfaces, macros, and functions
• Work with different types of assets, from 3D objects to audio sources, from UI buttons to animations
• Explore all the aspects of the game logic—collisions, navigation meshes, matinees, volumes, events, and states

In Detail

With the arrival of Unreal Engine 4, a new wonderful tool was born: Blueprint. This visual scripting tool allows even non-programmers to develop the logic for their games, allowing almost anyone to create entire games without the need to write a single line of code. The range of features you can access with Blueprint script is pretty extensive, making it one of the foremost choices for many game developers.

Unreal Engine Game Development Blueprints helps you unleash the real power of Unreal by helping you to create engaging and spectacular games. It will explain all the aspects of developing a game, focusing on visual scripting, and giving you all the information you need to create your own games.

We start with an introductory chapter to help you move fluidly inside the Blueprint user interface, recognize its different components, and understand any already written Blueprint script. Following this, you will learn how to modify generated Blueprint classes to produce a single player tic-tac-toe game and personalize it.

Next, you will learn how to create simple user interfaces, and how to extend Blueprints through code. This will help you make an informed decision between choosing Blueprint or code. You will then see the real power of Unreal unleashed as you create a beautiful scene with moving, AI controlled objects, particles, and lights.

Then, you will learn how to create AI using a behavior tree and a global level Blueprint, how to modify the camera, and how to shoot custom bullets. Finally, you will create a complex game using Blueprintable components complete with a menu, power-up, dangerous objects, and different weapons.

Style and approach

This is an easy-to-follow guide full of practical game examples. Each chapter contains step-by-step instructions to build a complete game and each game uses a different tool in order to cover all the topics in a detailed and progressive manner.

Unreal Engine Game Development Blueprints

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Table of Contents

Unreal Engine Game Development Blueprints

Credits

About the Author

About the Reviewer

www.PacktPub.com

Support files, eBooks, discount offers, and more

Why subscribe?

Free access for Packt account holders

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. Getting Started with Unreal Blueprints

What is Blueprint?

Types of Blueprints

Level Blueprints

Blueprint class

Data-Only Blueprint

Blueprint Interface

Blueprint Macro Library

Knowing the environment

Creating a project

Creating your first Blueprint class

Menu bar

Toolbar

Viewport

Component panel

Detail panel

My Blueprint panel

Graph editor

Types of variables and data

Nodes

Pins

Blueprint debugging

Blueprint debugger tab

Compiler result

Visual Studio

Creating the project solution

Add a new class from the editor

Summary

2. Tic-Tac-Toe

What do we need?

Preparing the game

Clean the unnecessary items and scripts

The symbols – create the O and the X

Creating a new material for the symbols

Writing our Blueprints

Turn-based mechanics

Set Static Mesh via Blueprint

Working with arrays

Creating a macro

UI using text render

Custom events

Format text

Score

Game flow

Summary

3. C++ Code – PAC-MAN

Preparing the game

Creating the project

Transparent materials

The maze

Designing the maze

Applying a material to multiple surfaces

The code

Class Wizard

Collectable

Player character

Movements

Collisions

Winning or losing the game

Dead

C++ class to Blueprint class

Enemies

Enemy Pawn

Enemy AI

Navigation mesh

Game mode

User Interface

Collisions – custom presets and types

Summary

4. UFO Run - Play with the Environment Effects

Particle system

Cascade

Modules

Emitters

Level of detail

The Cascade interface

UMG

Widget Blueprint

HUD class

The game

Blocking volumes

The menu camera

Wizard Blueprint

Import a custom font

Buttons

Click events

Set the default camera

HUD class

Player controller class

Start button

In-game screen

Property binding

Switch user interface

Collectables

Materials

Particle system

Required

Spawn

LifeTime

Initial size

Initial velocity

Color Over Life

Size over life

Cylinder

Acceleration

Blueprint script

Spawn volume

Components

Random point function

Actor reference

Gameplay

Prepare the needed references

The player controller class

StartGame

The useFuel event

Spawn Collectable function

Update

Collect Item

The gameOver event

Summary

5. Top-Down Shooter

Animations

Skeleton

Persona

Animation Sequence

Additive animations

Blending animation

Animation poses

Animation Blueprints

The game

Cleaning the unnecessary files

Adjust the imported files

Skeletal Mesh retarget

Animations

Aim Offset

Blend Space

Animation Blueprint – AnimGraph

Animation Notifies

Inputs

Player movements

Aim logic

Rotate To Aim

Set Aim angle

Gate

Start and stop shooting events

Flip the player

Weapon

Socket

Weapon Blueprint class

Animation reloading

Bullet

Player character weapon slots

Weapon collectables

Mono-use weapon

Spawner

Custom component

Animation Blueprint – EventGraph

Enemies

Pawn

AI

Game Mode

User interface

Summary

6. A Platform Maze

Ragdoll physics

Destructible meshes

Physics constraint

Matinee

Curve Editor

Track View

Create a Matinee

Fake platform corridor

Blueprint Function Library

Kill and respawn a player ragdoll

Create and use a function library

Door trigger volume

Doors within Matinee

Doors within Blueprint

Killer objects

The game

Don't fall

Rolling stones

The falling path

Wrecking balls

Summary

7. An Open World Survival Game

Landscapes

Manage mode

Sculpt mode

Landscape material

Paint tool

Foliage

Day-Night cycle

Collectables and items

Blueprint structures

Superclasses

Extending the superclass

Crafting handler

Implementing the Blueprint Interface

Super item interaction

Inventory system

The inventory button

The inventory craft button

Main user interface

Main setup and visibility

Design the UI

Prepare the cookbook

Receipe button bindings

Add objects to the inventory

Remove and use items

Drop item – character side

Craft items logic

Inventory button logic

Item details and buttons

Summary

Index

Unreal Engine Game Development Blueprints

Copyright © 2015 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 arti...

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• Unreal Engine Game Development Blueprints