Why C++ for Unreal 4?

[zoid]

As someone who teaches people how to program, specifically games, I have struggled with this for a while. I have been asked dozens of times if Unity was a good way to learn to program. Should I learn to program then learn Unity, or should I learn to program while learning Unity? The same applies to Unreal Engine, and after all this time I dont have a good answer.

Specifically to this point my answer would have to be "both". As you say programming or learning a subject in a vacuum is not easy. Once you have some of the basics down though opening up UE4 or Unity and starting to do small things with immediate feedback is a pretty powerful.

Also Blueprints are a pretty neat way to learn programming basics, but without the pitfalls that frustrate so many beginner: archaic compiler errors from missing semi colons, mistyped identifiers and other details that can be overwhelming at first.

[Shadowriver]

As someone who teaches people how to program, specifically games, I have struggled with this for a while. I have been asked dozens of times if Unity was a good way to learn to program. Should I learn to program then learn Unity, or should I learn to program while learning Unity? The same applies to Unreal Engine, and after all this time I dont have a good answer.

Well if learn programming overall, blueprint is better for that

[sandboxgod]

This tends to happen when files are spread out across a hard drive, and take much longer to load initially than subsequently when the files are cached. For optimal performance, compile and run from an SSD such as this awesome one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...9SIA2W014B1465

Oh snap that is exactly what I need

[OmniOwl]

Should just close this thread.
It has run it's course.

[MonsOlympus]

I can see merits both ways. One of the things that make learning easier is being hands on. If I could go back in time and learn 12th year math knowing it was directly applicable to game programming, I would have groked Matrix math, translations, etc... a heck of a lot easier. Learning something as a completely abstract concept is never easy.

This is awesome, I wasnt even in high school when I started to need vector calculus and trigonometry in my gameplay programming, I do partially consider it a failure of the school system for being so backwards. I think blueprints could really help as a teaching tool for younger students wanting to learn the mathematical concepts, C++ would work too and it could certainly lead into that but Ive said enough on difficulties of syntax. Lets just say for instance that English is a complex language yet we all are using it fairly proficiently in this thread but the meanings behind the words can be shown visually so children can comprehend concepts beyond their ability to communicate them, there is a saying about you havent truly learnt something until you can teach someone else but we learn mostly through doing I believe so I agree that abstract concepts sometimes need that tangibility to spark intrigue.

[vblanco]

I dont think C++ is THAT complicated, after all i learn the basics in a week without prior knowledge. Of course you can wreck havoc and accessing nullpointers cause a crash( mayor annoyance coming from UDK, where you could do whatever and it will never crash) if you think C++ is that strange, keep it simple, try to avoid pointer math, templates, and things like that, wich are complicated. In gameplay programming like UE4, you only need pointers to get the objects, but not pointer aritmetic, and you can avoid templates just fine. In fact, i had no problems coming from unrealscript to UE4 c++, as UE4 workflow makes both really similar.

[Tim Sweeney]

Should just close this thread. It has run it's course.

We plan to moderate pretty lightly here. I don't expect we'll close threads unless they turn into flame wars or 4chan.

[Rama]

I dont think C++ is THAT complicated, after all i learn the basics in a week without prior knowledge. In fact, i had no problems coming from unrealscript to UE4 c++, as UE4 workflow makes both really similar.

I agree with Victor!

UE4 C++ is much more about the awesome code base that Tim and Epic are giving you, rather than technicalities of C++.

If you are entirely new to the Unreal Engine, c++ will look daunting because the UE4 code base is vast and powerful!

Approach UE4 C++ as the incredible gift of a fully featured 3D game engine and editor API from Tim and Epic,

and you will see that the majority of what you need to learn is how this API works, not how c++ works

I have posted many tutorials in my signature to help you learn the UE4 API via my own code examples with explanations.

Rama

[Nawrot]

the top of the tree (no, not assembly or machine code lol).

I thought that asm is rather near bottom. And its rare skill nowadays.

I dont think C++ is THAT complicated, after all i learn the basics in a week without prior knowledge.

It is not complicated at all, what it makes hard are all those functions, classes api's that one need to know about, or know that something he/she needs exists somewhere.
I am quite happy that unreal 4 has blueprints, its easy way to experiment and see what does what without pain of recompiling source.

[iniside]

It is not complicated at all, what it makes hard are all those functions, classes api's that one need to know about, or know that something he/she needs exists somewhere.
I am quite happy that unreal 4 has blueprints, its easy way to experiment and see what does what without pain of recompiling source.

Gratz. You pretty much described every possible programming language in existence. Maybe with exception of assembler. (;.

[Riddle]

No unrealscript anymore???

Hi guys, does it mean there will be no more unreal script anymore??

[Riddle]

Hi Nawrot, I prefer C++ to any language in the world. but does it mean UDK will not support unreal script anymore??

[Devlin Kain]

All these comments (well, MOST of these comments) contain SOO much knowledge. Each language has its pros and cons, and to me, C++ seems to be much easier, but again, that is JUST me. I learned in C#, and so that made C++ much easier to comprehend and deal with. I would recommend anyone who wants to learn to code to learn the basics of both C# and C++ and just go from there. You will find out which one is easier for you, and either way, you can accomplish anything you set your mind to.

Again, thanks for all these comments. They are not only helping me learn so much more about coding, but they keep me entertained too ^_^

[Michael Noland]

Hi Nawrot, I prefer C++ to any language in the world. but does it mean UDK will not support unreal script anymore??

UnrealScript does not exist in UE4 (it's still there in UDK aka UE3). Our officially supported languages for UE4 are C++ and Blueprints. Some people in the community are working on JavaScript V8 and Mono integrations, but those aren't officially supported.

Cheers,
Michael Noland

[Cube2222]

All these comments (well, MOST of these comments) contain SOO much knowledge. Each language has its pros and cons, and to me, C++ seems to be much easier, but again, that is JUST me. I learned in C#, and so that made C++ much easier to comprehend and deal with. I would recommend anyone who wants to learn to code to learn the basics of both C# and C++ and just go from there. You will find out which one is easier for you, and either way, you can accomplish anything you set your mind to.

Again, thanks for all these comments. They are not only helping me learn so much more about coding, but they keep me entertained too ^_^

Actually it's good to know both languages well, as one has very good performance, and the other one is very fast to code with.