So I’m new to game dev and UE. I’m a web developer so am familiar with coding and software dev. However, I’m having a difficult time figuring out where the Lyra framework ends and the game example(s) begin. Is the framework in content folder and the examples in plugins? Or is part of the framework also in c++ classes/LyraGame and LyraEditor? Is this even a fully fledged ‘framework’?
I guess what I’m expecting from a framework is tools to scaffold out a game. Places to register new abilities, pickups, guns, maps, etc. I’m expecting something like Laravel that has places for controllers, data, etc.
I started following this tutorial on how to add new gameplay ability and it had me going into project settings to add tags. Which struck me as very odd. Like almost having to leave the editor to add a new feature. In Laravel I don’t have to change a project setting to add a new endpoint, that’s absurd!
Any tutorials or tips on how to use Lyra would be greatly appreciated! Thank you
If you are new to Unreal, Lyra is probably not a good starting point.
It’s a pretty complex framework based on GAS (Gameplay Ability System) that is even more complex.
A Udemy course I would recommend to learn GAS is this from Stephen Ulibarri, it’s more than 100 hours long but it gives you a good understanding of that framework (and also teaches you basic unreal things)
A youtube channel that does Lyra videos is NanceDevDiaries, try to give it a look before buying stuff and try to understand if you really want to dive into this.
Never compare unreal to web dev, you’ll discover how many absurd things are present in this engine soon if you continue to work with it!
I have to say that I still prefer it to Laravel tbh!
I really don’t like the gameplay tags approach but it’s very versatile and GAS is a standard in many studios that use Unreal, for many projects it’s like shooting a fly with a cannon, so, try to understand what you want to achieve and if you really need it.
However, it’s pretty impossible to dive into it relying only on the scarce documentation that Epic provides, I really recommend following a decent course, trust me, you won’t understand a thing of it just looking at the source code and content examples.
Lyra itself is so big that it’s very hard even to locate files to change the UI color if you are not familiar with the engine
Lyra framework was designed to showcase all advanced features available in UE5, such as “geometry scripts”, developed to support building the levels with procedural meshes, “common UI”, which improves cross-platform development, navigation with gamepads and also uses a layered approach, and the “game features” plugins that represent a modular design for games, mostly used in Fortnite, in which new content can be added or removed without modifying the main game (project content folder). In Lyra, these main plugins are Shooter Core, Shooter Explorer, Top Down Arena and Shooter Maps.
I agree with Ares9323 that GAS is not a good starting point for absolute beginners. In addition to the sources mentioned, the official documentation for GAS is available at:
