File security

General Feedback & Requests
,
1

I only ask questions from this account.

Hello.

I want to develop a mobile game using Unreal Engine 5.4. I plan to use C++ language and 3ds Max in my project. After completing my game, I aim to make a computer game by updating my computer with the income from mobile games.

My questions are as follows:

File Format: Does Unreal Engine 5.4 automatically convert my game code files to “.pak” file format? Does this process require any extra effort on my part?

Publishing: If my game is published on platforms like Steam, will the file format still be “.pak”?

Security: Will my game code and source files be safe during this process? Can “.pak” files be opened with another program or are they encrypted?

The security of my source and game code is of great importance to me. I don’t have enough knowledge about file formats, so I would like to ask for your help.

Thank you for your support and interest.

Sincerely yours.

2

Hello,

“Feedback & Requests” is not the correct category for this post.

Regarding your questions:

Yes, “Use Pak File” is checked/set to true by default. (Project Settings > Packaging)

Usually, no.

Yes. Only your code should adapt to the platform you’re publishing the game on, the packaged project file format - mainly the executable file - depends on the operating system you compiled for.

You can navigate to Project Settings > Encryption where you can generate encryption keys, generate signing keys and encrypt all assets in the pak file (secure but affects runtime IO performance).

I recommend not spending too much time on encrypting game files at this stage.
Focus on developing the game and its mechanics first, then prioritize encryption once the product is near release.

Good luck!