I’m a C++ programmer and I always wanted to make a game.
So now I decided that I should do it with UE4.
But I have three questions:
I like to work with C++, because when I use it I can keep learning. I know UE4 has this Blueprints feature, but
I rather do a whole game in C++ than using the Blueprint system. Is this possible (and is it efficient as well)?
I can’t find really good tutorials about C++ programming in UE4 (I only found that series on youtube, but
it will learn you only the very basics). Then I found the book Learning C++ by Creating Games with UE4 by William Sherif.
Is the part about UE4 programming good/is there another book or tutorial that will learn you it (I prefer books over internet and stuff).
I only know basic C++ (to give you a global idea: from simple variables untill templates, dynamic memory and polyformism). Is it a good idea
to start with UE4 now?
You can do 80~99% of your game fully in C++ if want, but eventually you’ll have to use the Editor and Blueprints for minor efforts.
The best C++ tutorials are example projects like the Strategy Game that you can find on the Learn tab from Launcher.
The Animation and AI systems were not designed to be done purely from C++. They are undocumented, and there exists no tutorials for game ready C++ Animation or AI. That will be the hardest part to do fully in C++. Same if you want to do a UMG UI, you would likely have to use Slate.
You can code everything game related in C++ or even extend/edit editor in C++, but you definitely will spend some time in Editor because it’s easier to manage your game project.
Yep, amount of C++ tutorials is super low. Here is documentation. Also I recommend to check out ShooterGame and StrategyGame in “Learn Tab” - it’s VERY useful if you want to learn how to write your game fully in C++
Book you mentioned is outdated by know. Of course some concepts are still there, but API has changed pretty significantly.
Most of the time you work with UE4 specific API, so it’s not mandatory to know everything in C++. I would say basics more than enough
No, because transition rules in animation state machines use blueprints. That will correspond to incredibly small percentage of game content (0.1%?). Everything else can be done in C++.
Also, focusing on C++ will be very efficient if you know what you’re doing.
Also, this one was useful for me (you might not need it)
You can learn by reading engine code. Books are very likely to be outdated the moment they’re released. Also you should tear apart project templats (ThirdPersonCPP, etc) and see how they work.
Hard to tell, but you may be fine. The team put some effort to make life easier for you (there’s garbage collector, for example), so you should be able to use C++ as if it were a scripting language.