Are there any good tutorials that actually explain how things work?

General Tutorial & Course Discussions
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A bit of background information: I originally started out with Unity, but after realizing that Unreal is superior in 3d in a whole lot of ways (since I make 3d much more than 2d), I decided to try it out. And I really do like the engine and see its potential, however I can’t really find any good tutorials. This is a similar problem that I had in Unity, where I had to end up paying for a course since most of the free ones I found explained absolutely nothing. Take this course for example; Learn Unreal Engine (with C++) - Full Course for Beginners - YouTube. It’s a pretty popular tutorial, but I feel like explains absolutely nothing about how C++ actually works with the engine. He just kind of goes “Oh yeah we’ll need to do this”
#include "CoreMinimal.h" #include "Camera/CameraComponent.h" #include "Components/CapsuleComponent.h" #include "Components/StaticMeshComponent.h" #include "Components/InputComponent.h" #include "GameFramework/CharacterMovementComponent.h" #include "GameFramework/Controller.h" #include "GameFramework/SpringArmComponent.h" #include "Blueprint/UserWidget.h" #include "GameFramework/Character.h" #include "BatteryMan.generated.h"
And starts typing with no explanation as to why or what we had just done. Maybe I’m just nitpicking, but tutorials like that one don’t help me learn, and I fail to find one that actually helps me, so are there any good (paid or free) tutorials out there that help set a good foundation to help me learn on my own? Hopefully this post doesn’t come off as narcissistic, as I’m sure the tutorial I mentioned and many others have helped thousands, but it just really isn’t for me.

Also, something important to include is that while I do have experience with Java and C#, I don’t have much experience in C++, although I’m working on it. I’m also aware about the existence of blueprints, but I would rather gain a fundamental understanding of how C++ works in unreal first before diving headfirst into blueprints due to the sheer number of notes they include. Also also, feel free to correct me if I’m just in the wrong headspace or flat out wrong about something, I’m just generally struggling with how to approach unreal after coming from something much more simple like Unity.

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I think the Reubs tutorials are pretty good. He has a pay-for class (pretty affordable) where he builds a full game from scratch, and he does talk about what each bit does. Not always in full details, but the good news is: the unreal documentation also talks about a few of these things, and the source code is available, so, worst case, you pull up the code in question in Visual Studio (you can use a tool like Voidtools everything to find the right area of the code) and read it yourself until you see what’s going on.

1 Like
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I read that you wanna get the fundamental with C++ first - I advise you against that.
Learn the fundamental by playing around with blueprint - it is good enough to learn why, how and what.
And then once you understand the flow eg GameMode, GameInstance etc… then only you want to delve down the C++.
There are places where you are going to use C++ - learning the basic is not one of them… lol.

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Actually, You totally should get a better understanding of C++, but its gonna take a while. You can learn Blueprints while you brush up on C++ blueprints are VERY EASY to understand and you’ll get the hang of it quickly. the bonus is, there is plenty of tutorials for Blueprints that a beginner can understand, and once you get your C++ fundamentals down, you’ll go through those Tutorials like a breeze too. I believe in you. ( Blueprints way easier than C++)(also Blueprints help visual thinkers a whole lot, if you’re in that boat)

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Gamedev.tv tutorials are the best I’ve encountered.

There used to be some available for free from the Unreal Learn area, otherwise you can find them on Udemy or I think at the official site as well.

i also recommend start with blueprints. it helps you learn the engine in the simplest way. once you understand how the engine works in general, then tackling the added complexity of c++ is a lot more manageable.

Gamedev.tv has beginner project-based tutorials for both blueprint only and c++ hybrid approaches. Both are very easy to follow but you’ll actually come away understanding a lot more about the engine.