I just learned Unrealscript 2 months ago and now I need to learn C++ due to the awesome new UE4…
I’m sure I’m not the only one …so does anyone have any good places for me (and others) to start learning C++?
Thanks…
I was told this book is one of the best to start with: http://www.amazon.com/Primer-5th-Edition-Stanley-Lippman-ebook/dp/B0091I7FEQ/ref=tmm_kin_title_0
The best places to learn C++ are at your computer in your office and at your computer in class. If you are asking for a book recommendation or something along those lines, C++ has been around for a long, long time and there are on the order of thousands of C++ books that you can use to gain footing and understanding. By and large, the recommendation is not to learn the language by working on the game, but to split the two, but I was in a similar position years ago and know the drive to build something dynamic and amazing can be overwhelming and blinding.
This is a pretty good list of books, and I have read a few of them. Roll the dice and grab one of them.
You will likely find that they cover the same general concepts and more focused tutorials to cover the intricacies of learning C++ in UE4 will absolutely come in the next few weeks.
Right on…
Rachel Cordone’s “Unreal Development Kit Game Programming with UnrealScript: Beginner’s Guide” is what did the trick for me…Great book…really an all in one…I was hoping for something along the lines of that as it seems to be the “Go to” book for most people to suggest…
In the end I know I’ll go through whatever it takes to learn C++ but all the more awesome if there’s 1 Great place to start for me and others looking to learn…
Thanks for the suggestions so far…keep them coming…
Isn’t there a 6th Edition already ?
Anyway, the primer is afaik the best way to learn C++, as it contains
almost everything you need to know (including importand standards).
There are plenty of places to learn C++, but for C++ in UE4 check out the ShooterGame and StrategyGame examples and just kind of copy them. I think that’s the easiest way.
Some people in the Beta made tutorials as well. It will probably take a few days for them to all make it over to the new forums.
You can get Bruce Eckels Thinking in C++ for free here: http://www.mindviewinc.com/Books/downloads
However, I would recommend going as far as you can using Blueprints, they are the new “Unrealscript” and nearly anything you can do in C++ you can do in Blueprints; C++ should be reserved for the few things you cannot do as both writing and compiling C++ are orders of magnitude slower than doing the equivalent in BPs.
I agree with bleeds187. I would recommend by starting with Blueprints. They are very powerful and can do thing Kismet couldn’t even come close to!
Learning C++ will take you probably more than 2 months and i’m pretty sure that starting with writing for the ue4 will not work.
You can also take a dive into this video tutorial from Epic.
I would like to ask a noob question too. I study as an artist for many hours every day, but still can not divert my curiosity from writing code. And sometimes I just get tired and want to do something different in some spare time. The thing with C++ is that it’s hard for me to figure out where to start. I have zero programming knowledge, but as far as I understand C++ is super powerful, so my question is:
If start studying from the suggested beginner books on http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3...guide-and-list , would I be doing the right thing? That is, C++ is used not just for games, of course, would it be a good start and would I not be getting too sidetracked with things in code which are not game-code related?
Sorry if it’s a dumb question, but hours of searching for beginner game-coding has brought me nothing. I guess, the basics are the same for every purpose you could use the language for, but I’m still not sure, since I know nothing.
I hope my question is understandable.
Coding is the same whether your writing for games or general purpose applications. They work on the same principles of data structures, pointers, memory allocation, functions, loops and classes ect and use the same mathematics that other applications use. So learning how coding in general works will help you for both games and applications I believe and that is not just directed at C++. Some people prefer to learn a more simple language, such as C# or Basic or Java as they tend to do a lot of the memory allocations for you and have built-in structures of code in place for you too use.
However, for people that may not be the best coders out there but still want to get a lot from the Unreal Engine, I would recommend looking up the Blueprint visual scripting methods as I’m assuming you can do a lot of what you would need by using that system.
Thanks, Dune.
Well, guess I’ll figure out if I’m one of those after trying for a couple of years.
I’ve been hearing that a lot. Some say it’s fine for creation of relatively simple games, level scripting and other simple logic as well as prototyping, but still should be replaced by C++ for efficiency, others say that it’s perfectly fine to create the whole thing with it.
I’m am by no means trying to be jack of all trades, but fear of code irritates the hell out of me. I just to stop seeing it as something cryptic and out of this world.
In this case grab a C++ book, “get your **** together” and start learning chapter by chapter. Try to set yourself a realstic goal (say one chapter per day) and if you don’t understand a concept the book is talking about, use google. Seriously, you will be amazed how fast you can find a solution to your problem (especially on stackoverflow.com).
Learning C++ (or any programming language, but since we are talking in the context of UE4 I’m referring to C++) also helps you to discover a new way of thinking. And being able to read code is a skill that gets more and more important nowadays (“software is eating the world”). The cool thing about learning a language like C++ is that even if you are looking at code snippets of a different language (C#, Java etc.) you will understand what it’s about and that is something that is really cool (in my opinion). Nobody said learning how to program is easy. However, it’s rewarding and you will be proud of yourself. But, C++ is a beast and it will take a while to getused to it. But, why don’t you just give a shot and see how things are going?
I can recommend you this book: http://www.amazon.com/Primer-5th-Edition-Stanley-Lippman/dp/0321714113/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1395686383&sr=8-1&keywords=c%2B%2B+primer
If you really can manage to finish this book and understood all or most of the concepts, you will look back and say: “Hah, suckers…I did it and now no code will scare me anymore!!!11”. 