And I have just done the bit about adding a character overiding BeginPlay() and hit build button and now my IDE is rebuilding the engine, about 75 out of 183 modules as I type this.
Is this normal? Should this take 10 minutes to add this code?
Usually it will only compile the engine if something within it has changed. On the first build though it can take a while, after that it should just recompile your project and link things together. Generally I’ve found it goes a lot faster using the pre-compiled binaries from EPIC, rather than building from source as it doesn’t have to check the engine code.
Also keep in mind that this build has to occur when you run the engine / your game in a different configuration. If you run DebugGame Editor for the first time, having only run in Development Editor in the past, it now needs to compile with the new configuration/settings.
It’s definitely possible. Are you cleaning the entire solution (UE4 included) or just the game project? The former will require some rebuilding, I imagine.