First question: What is the quickest and most efficient way to master Unreal Engine 4?
I do believe that’s one step shy of asking what the meaning of life, the universe and everything is…
Yes I expected such an answer. The question still remains though. It is asked by those who are overwhelmed by the massive amount of information you have to absorb learning to tame this beast. The question is aimed at those who have mastered unreal or come as close as you can get to mastering it. This is also asked by people who don’t program so a deep understanding of visual scripting is required. Experienced unreal users think back to when this engine was foreign to you. What helped you on the path to unreal greatness?
Question 2: Art assets? Blender, Maya, 3D Studio ? Marketplace Packages?
I am a one man team but I am incorporating my studio and soon adding a motion capture studio complete with facial expression capture tech. I have limited experience in with the Blender and Maya. Although I am currently devoting roughly 16 hours a day to developing this first project I don’t have the resources or know how to make truly visually stunning art assets to populate the levels. I plan on expanding and hire artists and programmers but at the moment this vision is driven by one individual. Twelve years ago I dropped out of school where I was learning game art and design. I have quit everything else and am devoting all my time and resources to creating compelling virtual worlds because it’s the only thing that makes me happy. This thread is for those who need lots of help achieving their dream of being a game developer.
- learning the basics with the videos + directly start with a small project (learning by doing)
- it depends on your personal preferences which 3d program you use (I like blender). You can buy marketplace assets for your game, but it wont be so unique.
I feel I am on the right track as I am doing all the things you mentioned. I will start with a lot of premade assets until either I or another artist can fully realize the look of the world. I see the icons beta participant, spotlight member and moderator. Can you tell me a little about these titles and what they mean. I aim to become a prominent participant in all things unreal. I believe steps like making it free and ultra accessible will change the landscape of game development in the years to come.
Cheers and thanks for all the help and advice!
—Ha! Just realized I have been using your tutorials! Great work!
Spotlight member means that you were mentioned in the Twitch stream.
I think participant means you participated in the Game jam.
And Moderator… They moderate the forums!
Beta participant means that they are using (or were using?) the latest beta for UE4.
Also, WELCOME TO UE4!
1: as well as what said you can download all the free samples/examples and take them apart or edit them, its quite a good way to learn how stuff works in UE4.
correct on those 2,
Beta participant, is for people that were beta testers of UE4 before it was released to the public.
engine contributor, is for people who have contributed code to the engine.
game jam finalist, is for finalists of the game jams(I think they do a game jam every month)
wiki contributor, for making a wiki tutorial/walk through…ect
cant think of any others(although I’ve probably missed 1 or 2;))
there are a few more like “epic staff” or “unreal engine partner” but those aren’t just given out for obvious reasons.
+1, welcome to the forum and UE4:D
The videos that epic put out area great starting place as other have said. One thing I do that helps also is to document my workflows and some of the less obvious features for myself so I can refer back to my notes when I need to remember how to do something a month or two down the road.
A thousand thanks fellas. If you have projects, dev diaries, etc. keep posting the links. Playing stuff released on steam and such is incredibly fun and informative. I welcome any advice or help. Thanks for your time!
A piece of advice from me would be to pick a learning project, not something you intend to release officially, and iterate upon it to learn. No game design as such, just a jumble of features to test out.
For example, you might start with just basic movement in first person. you implement jumping and crouching, add double / wall jumping, add a flashlight, the ability to pick up objects, different camera modes and so on.
Something like this allows you to explore and learn, but in a way that’s fun and gives you some meaningful feedback. Once you feel you have the basics of movement, the camera, networking etc nailed down, you can think about a proper design to work with.
1: Watch all of the tutorial videos.
2: Familiarize yourself with C++ and prepare to lose all of your hair.
2: (optional) Learn how to use blueprints, and be lame :3
3: Read the documentation like you have a book fetish.
Thanks . . has expressed a disdain for visual scripting as a way to circumvent actual coding with regards to certain design elements. Is this the general consensus among programming-minded designers? While I think at this point visual scripting doesn’t eliminate the need for real programming when designing a complex game I feel that any tool that brings these abilities to a wider base will only result in better and more diverse games. Do I detect a hint of elitism?
- Watch all tutorials from official channel,
- Make something small,
- Make something small,
- Make something small,
5 Make something small and loop from 2 to 5.
Thanks for all the warm welcomes and advice. Can anyone elaborate on keep it small? I’m building a modest house and a small yard to be explored by a custom true FP cam(still having issues with that). Just box brushes and marketplace art. No scripting yet. Or should I start smaller, like 2D?
Small doesn’t mean 2d. It just means don’t over burden yourself.
Also, That sounds like a great starter size!
Make sure that you add some “effects” to your house (e.g that the player can open a door,…) -> it’s the perfect size for a starter project
Fantastic! Much appreciated. Again, if anyone has any vids or anything playable, free or pay, I would love to check it out to support the community and further my education. I think the Putin quote is the sanest thing I have ever heard him say by the way. Cheers.
Yes , I have been writing script to make doors functional over and over again to try and get it to sink in. I have been using timelines to accomplish this as opposed to using something like Matinee. Is one method superior to another?
The blueprint way can be use at different positions, the matinee way is bound to the animated position