Ideal setup for group of iOS developers?

Development Platform & Builds Mobile
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I’ve been reading through documentation and threads, but couldn’t quite find the answer I’m looking for, as my case seems a little different.

What is a typical or recommended way of setting up Unreal 4 for a small team targeting iOS mobile platforms? More specifically, what is an ideal pipeline/workflow between software engineers (SEs) and content creators?

  1. Would an SE need to sync and build the UE4 source code available on gitHub just to make gameplay changes in C++ via the editor’s class wizard? (e.g. Adding a Pickup class in Visual Studio)… I’m still confused about what binaries are modified when updating gameplay code.

  2. Aside from committing gameplay source changes to P4, are SEs typically expected to submit binaries against these changes as well, for content creators without Visual Studio installed? And again, are we talking about updating all UE4 binaries (engine and editor)? I presume this doesn’t involve packaging the project itself, since that seems like something one would do purely to deploy for testing on HW…?

  3. Would switching purely to Mac hardware simplify everyone’s workflow (for SEs and content creators), since UE4 can’t build iOS code? Alternatively, does it make sense for just SEs to work on Macs for quicker/simpler iOS iteration? I understand that iOS code can be built remotely, but given the potential iteration rate on iOS HW (and intimidating setup instructions), does building remotely make sense?

This question ended up sounding quite convoluted :confused:

I would truly appreciate any input on an ideal setup for a group of iOS developers, or links to more detailed info (other than the common “Getting started” docs)

Thanks!

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1.You don’t need UE4 source code to code C++ as what you doing is just making extra module to engine which can be compiled and loaded serpretly, but i recommand that for programers as PDB files useful for debug are not available in launcher version of UE4, you need to compile engine to generate them.

2.Just make artist install VS and engine it self will use it for compiling when it detects source changes. If you speak about iOS on Windows i think this will be needed, because…

3.You need mac for any C++ coding for iOS as iOS SDK is only on Mac, with Windows you can do only content projects with blueprint.

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Hey pixelparagon,

  1. You don’t need to build the engine from source to add C++ code to a project. However, I would still recommend your SEs build from source - you simply have a finer degree of control with source than you do with the launcher. The engine can compile the game project, so as long as all submitted changes are within the game project, the launcher users can compile them.
  2. Adding new classes (or making other code changes) in the game project won’t cause any trouble to binary users. However, if you change the engine code, they’ll have to compile that with visual studio; they can’t do that with the launcher version. You are correct that you don’t need to package the project to let your coworkers work on the project.
  3. You only need a Mac to deploy the project. It’s completely realistic for your entire team to use PCs, with a Mac for deployment. I know that teams have used that setup already. If you prefer to work on Macs, however, then feel free!

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Regards,