Not sure whether this is the correct place to ask, but IMHO it seemed to be the most obvious place.
I had/have (as Launcher still does not work) quite an Odyssee the last days…
See this thread:
As Support only gave me standard solutions which I already have done,
such as
Clear the Epic Games Launcher cache
Run the Epic Games Launcher as an administrator
Reinstall the Epic Games Launcher
…
I decided to try to install Unreal Engine with GitHub Source.
As I am an animator/filmmaker, definitely not a tech nerd, this was quite challenging but I succeeded…
Now I have UE 5.6.1 installed, can connect to my huge assets library on Fab and add assets to my project.
So, at least I can start working again.
Cons:
Bloated Version 240 GB vs probably 50GB with Launcher.
In Launcher this installed version is not visible ;-/
As some of my assets have never been added to Fab, one sometimes need launcher to add these to project.
Unfortunately Launcher does not know where my created project is, so I can not use these assets.
So my questions are:
How do I strip the GitHub versions down so they don’t get that big?
There are so many things in it, I clearly don’t need.
And as I don’t want to make games, so I probably could strip it further down, even less than launcher version?
Any idea how to make sure launcher “sees” that UE “GitHub” version?
And where in the GitHub Folder would I direct my project so Launcher sees it so I can add assets from launcher (not Fab) to my project?
1- you can install your marketplace plugins. Look at Epic Launcher version Engine’s installation path. You will see Plugin/Marketplace like path. Everything is in there. To use them, create a project with source version of engine, create a folder with name “Plugins” copy plugins which you want.
2- There is no straightforward way to strip modules from source code.
3- Sometimes install button doesn’t work. For me problem was about plugin’s install button, not engine’s. But if you have this problem for very long time, you should consider to format your PC because problem can be anything. Currently I don’t have any problem about installing engine versions.
The problem is, I have no version of UE installed via launcher, so launcher thinks I have no UE installed…
And I need a plugin that should be installed in engine, not in project folder…
I just added a plugin that should be in project folder but when I launch that project I get notification that plugin should be built, and then second error, not possible…
you can delete the hidden folder (.git ) to save around 30Gb space.
you can clean and recompile the whole source code with disabling debug info (not generate .pdb files) to save huge space , almost like release version downloaded from EPIC Launcher , but after disabling debug info, all built Dlls should copy to a proper location (just like Launcher version) , otherwise you may not run unrealeditor.exe properly. (maybe there is a shell script for copying all built files to a proper location , but i haven’t found it yet….)
But if you successfully built a source version of the engine youre 90% there. All you ned to do is run one (or two ) commands. Look for the section thats actually named “moke installed build”
Im on wy phone so i cant give more details just now.
@echo off
REM -------------------------------
REM Settings
REM -------------------------------
set SOURCE_ROOT=G:\EPIC\GIT_5.6.1\UnrealEngine-5.6.1-release
set INSTALL_ROOT=G:\EPIC\UE_5.6.1_INSTALLED
REM -------------------------------
REM Step 1: Make Installed Build (Win64-only, no DDC)
REM -------------------------------
echo.
echo ===== Building Installed Build (Win64-only, no DDC) =====
“%SOURCE_ROOT%\Engine\Build\BatchFiles\RunUAT.bat” ^
BuildGraph ^
-target=“Make Installed Build Win64” ^
-script=“%SOURCE_ROOT%\Engine\Build\InstalledEngineBuild.xml” ^
-set:HostPlatformOnly=true ^
-set:WithDDC=false ^
-clean
REM Remove any leftover DDC folder if it exists
if exist “%INSTALL_ROOT%\Engine\DerivedDataCache” (
echo Removing leftover DDC folder to save space…
rmdir /s /q “%INSTALL_ROOT%\Engine\DerivedDataCache”
)
After a long day, with the help from Chat GPT, several failed attempts, AutomationTool errors, installing Windows 10 SDK with Debugging Tools, I finally have my “installed build” Thanx for pushing me in the right direction. Too tired to check launcher connection now, will be for tomorrow!
Resignation made me do some work at home that urgently had to be done
I don’t know why nobody pointed me to this Manager.
As it probably would have saved me a ton of work.
It recognizes my build though at the moment I am a bit sceptic as a first test to install plugin to that engine took quite long but I saw no progress and aborted.
Now I am trying to install another Engine Version…
Download is very slow (I have fast internet) but at least I see it growing which was not the case with Epic Launcher.
And what makes me wonder is that it only shows the initial versions (5.6, 5.5, 5.4, …) but no in-between versions. The same behaviour as Epic Launcher does.
Though in a video about the Manager I can see it normally does show those in-between versions.
I really have no idea why and Epic support has been silent for days…
Anyway, thanx for pointing to that alternate launcher.
the manager is well known in linux spheres, but not so much on windows. it took me a while to realize you can install it on windows (lol, sorry). kudos to the dev to make it multiplatform.
sorry about that, i didn’t realized it would solve your issue. i got “anchored” (bias) by the question title and hyper-focused on how to make github work. also recommending AMS was a spark of inspiration really. as i don’t use it to install the engine, but only install plugin, so it only occurred to me when you mentioned plugins.
yeah that’s sometimes something that happens. the dev is working on it afaik.
not sure what you mean by that. this is what i see in my install.
if it only shows you the base number. it means the latest for that number. so 5.6 would mean 5.6.1 iirc. since epic only provides the latest one of each.
maybe it shows all versions for linux, but not for windows. anyway, try installing a version then running the editor and go to Help>About. and check the version.
it’s not clear to me ho much you’ve tried, but do keep trying.
hopefully you’ll get it solved soon.
pd you’re not the only one who can’t install from epic’s launcher, i’ve seen that qjuestion at least 2 more times here in the forums. so it’ll epic could be fixing it atm.
Sorry, this “I don’t know why nobody pointed me to this Manager.” should not sound as a rant against you,
I meant this esp. for my initial call for help (see link at top of this thread…).
I only see the “full” versions, 5.6.0 not 5.6.1 / 5.5 not 5.5.4 …)
Thanx for pushing me in the right direction. Too tired to check launcher connection now, will be for tomorrow!
Current safe entry point:
