I’ve recently been made redundant from my job at a design agency and I’m looking for new work. I’ve been using UE4 for about 4 years now and I know my way around it well. I’m pretty confident in my ability with Blueprint to build just about anything a client is likely to ask for, but every job listing I find in the UK requires C++ for anyone using UE4. I seriously doubt it’s a necessity, especially for the visualisation positions I’m tending to apply for, but the second I have to say that I don’t use C++, that’s the end of the interview for me.
So, where should I look at learning C++, knowing that will be using it with UE4 primarily? I have seen some courses online but they tend to assume the opposite of my situation (that the student is familiar with C++ but has never used UE4).
Should I find a course that is solely C++ focused, and then expect that I will know how to use that with UE4 later?
Any suggestions or advice would be really appreciated
Thank you for the advice EC, its proved to be very useful.
I’ve just had an pre-interview call with the head of a recruitment agency and I was able to bring up the ubiquity of C++ requirements for Unreal positions that don’t really need them with him. He was very grateful for the feedback. I only got this far because one of his employees was brutally honest with me about the fact she had no idea what any of the requirements they put on these positions actually mean, and could they submit my CV anyway as I was the best candidate they had found so far.
I’ve basically changed my approach to the offers I receive, and that is yielding more results then becoming a C++ beginner would have. It’s ironic that the take away from a thread asking where to start with C++ is, maybe you shouldn’t!
Ok, how much time do you want to spend on C++? Do you only want to use it to fulfill the requirements of said job applications or do you intend to use it along blueprints from now on?
First you’ll have to learn C++ and then you’ll have to relearn UE4 for C++. Mixing it from start will frustrate you and you’ll never want to come back.
The problem that you’ll have with C++ is that it’s a programming language. You kind of have the logic part with blueprints, but you’ll have to learn a lot of other things too.
The problem with C++ in UE4 is that UE4 is a giant code monster and the documentation doesn’t help much. You need to swim to hundreds of lines of code to get what you need.
