Benefits of Source vs Prebuilt?

Development Programming & Scripting C++
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1

Hello,

I’m very new here and I am wondering what are the benefits of compiling my own editor from the github source vs. just installing from the launcher ?

I am building the latest 4.4 preview now, but I just noticed I can now install it from the launch anyway.

I like the idea of having the “latest and greatest” but I’m not sure if it’s really making a difference for me right now.

Any advice ?

Thanks guys,

2

Hi mrhodes,

The main reason to get the source version is if you would like to expose or make changes in the source code of the editor. If you plan on primarily using Blueprints or C++ without messing with the source code, you would be just as fine using the binary version.

3

,
Thank you very much for clearing that up! I enjoy having the latest and greatest, but it’s costing a lot in drive space ! I installed the 4.4.0 preview from the launcher this morning and it’s good enough for me.

I just subscribed to unreal a couple days ago, so wasn’t sure if I needed the source version if I planned on writing code for my game. But, now it’s all clear :slight_smile:

Now, just need to get UMG figured out :wink:

Thanks,

4

Something that may be eating up drive-space with the editor is the backup folder. If you go into your Unreal Engine>Launcher>Backup folder, you may have several backup copies of projects in there, just delete them (but not the backup folder itself!) to clean up a bit of space.