I'm starting out in UE4 but have no team. What to do?

[zablas]

Hello!

First of all, thank you for considering to hear me out. I am a 2nd year CS student but I have been programming for a few years now. I’ve started learning Unreal Engine back in June and I’ve been really enjoying it. I finished a couple of courses on Udemy and now I’m going through the “Learn” tab here. I plan on learning as much as I can until I have to go back to university in September. I want to make a single-player ARPG for my first big project in UE4. Although, one problem always keeps arising in my mind - I don’t really have a team for that. As we all know game development requires things as texturing, modelling, level design, programming and other things. As I mentioned I am a programmer and I consider myself intermediate at C++ (I also know a few other languages but C++ is my main tool). I know quite a few algorithms and I’m fluent in the Object-Oriented paradigm. Yet, I don’t have any skills in modelling or texturing or animating. I know how basics work in those topics but I have no practical knowledge, so obviously what people do in these situations is that they assemble a team. Sadly, that is not an option for me. I obviously am friends with other CS students but they have no interest in game design. Keep in mind, game development is not very popular in my country. So I want some advice. How do I go around this problem? Are there any websites that recruit beginners to work from home? Should I join some communities on the internet? Thank you for reading through! Any advice is appreciated.

[DyotoOrion]

Hi Zabias,

This forum has a Got Skills / Looking for Talent section - there are often individuals or groups posting there to form teams. Make your own post, or join a team.

My team is currently recruiting for a Science Fiction Action RPG / Adventure game. If you are interested, drop me a message on Discord and we can chat about you possibly working with us.

https://forums.unrealengine.com/community/got-skills-looking-for-talent/job-offerings/1644601-sci-fi-third-person-shooter-seeks-additional-talent

Hope you find a nice team to work with. Cheers!

[anonymous_user_a55589cf]

Depending on what you plan to do in the future, you should either focus on concepts specific to programmers like online, backend, engine, gameplay, AI, etc. or you cast a wider net and learn other parts of game development such as game design, cinematic, sound, art, etc.
The former is the best way to prepare you for working in a game studio, small or large, as a programmer while the other will help you in the indie scene, which is a lot more demanding and not for everyone.

I do not know which country you live in, nor your current situation, but moving to a country popular for video games development like Canada, US, UK, etc. and in a city where video games companies are present like Montreal, London, etc. (I’d avoid Los Angeles due to cost of living unless you think you can afford it), as a programmer, finding a job there shouldn’t be “too” difficult. You can also go to countries/cities where the big companies have some of their studios or where you can find smaller studios (Ex: Bucharest).
While you are still a student, the best recommendation I can give you is to do an internship with a big video game studio, even if it means going oversea for it. Internships are your best point of entry in the industry as companies are extremely likely to give preference to someone who had an internship in the industry.

If moving isn’t an option or you do not wish to move then it’s going to be a lot harder. You could start by working for a software company in a job as close as you can get to video game development and in your spare time work on personal projects and try for the indie industry. When it comes to assets like art, sound, characters, etc. you can pay someone to make them or buy them on the marketplace for a fair price.

Working from home in the video game industry is not easy.

For personal projects to learn, you do not need to make a full game, only to apply concepts and make prototypes.
Some examples of things you can try doing:

• A multiplayer game that uses the Epic Online Services to learn about online development.
• A simple game like checkers, go or chess with a computer AI to learn how to do Artificial intelligence.
• An FPS with cubes and capsules, you don’t need assets, to learn about gameplay, raycasting, etc., and do it in C++, not blueprints.
• An inventory plugin that handles player inventories to learn how to make plugins that can be reused in multiple projects.
• A smart camera to learn about complex logic.

[zablas]

@DyotoOrion

Hi Zabias,

This forum has a Got Skills / Looking for Talent section - there are often individuals or groups posting there to form teams. Make your own post, or join a team.

My team is currently recruiting for a Science Fiction Action RPG / Adventure game. If you are interested, drop me a message on Discord and we can chat about you possibly working with us.

https://forums.unrealengine.com/community/got-skills-looking-for-talent/job-offerings/1644601-sci-fi-third-person-shooter-seeks-additional-talent

Hope you find a nice team to work with. Cheers!

Thank You for the offering. I only have like 2 months of experience in Unreal so I don’t meet your requirements. Maybe in the future, when I’ll be more experienced we’ll be able to work together

[zablas]

@anonymous_user_a55589cf

Depending on what you plan to do in the future, you should either focus on concepts specific to programmers like online, backend, engine, gameplay, AI, etc. or you cast a wider net and learn other parts of game development such as game design, cinematic, sound, art, etc.
The former is the best way to prepare you for working in a game studio, small or large, as a programmer while the other will help you in the indie scene, which is a lot more demanding and not for everyone.

I do not know which country you live in, nor your current situation, but moving to a country popular for video games development like Canada, US, UK, etc. and in a city where video games companies are present like Montreal, London, etc. (I’d avoid Los Angeles due to cost of living unless you think you can afford it), as a programmer, finding a job there shouldn’t be “too” difficult. You can also go to countries/cities where the big companies have some of their studios or where you can find smaller studios (Ex: Bucharest).
While you are still a student, the best recommendation I can give you is to do an internship with a big video game studio, even if it means going oversea for it. Internships are your best point of entry in the industry as companies are extremely likely to give preference to someone who had an internship in the industry.

If moving isn’t an option or you do not wish to move then it’s going to be a lot harder. You could start by working for a software company in a job as close as you can get to video game development and in your spare time work on personal projects and try for the indie industry. When it comes to assets like art, sound, characters, etc. you can pay someone to make them or buy them on the marketplace for a fair price.

Working from home in the video game industry is not easy.

Thank You for the tips! As the matter of fact, my uni does require to be an intern at least once before 3rd year so next summer is the deadline for me. I will work on my UE4 skills and then take your advice. Internship abroad is an option, I will look into what you said

[anonymous_user_a55589cf]

@zablas

Thank You for the tips! As the matter of fact, my uni does require to be an intern at least once before 3rd year so next summer is the deadline for me. I will work on my UE4 skills and then take your advice. Internship abroad is an option, I will look into what you said

I updated my former post with some personal projects that are good for beginners. Don’t be afraid to screw up when doing personal projects, they are a great opportunity to learn.

@anonymous_user_a55589cf

For personal projects to learn, you do not need to make a full game, only to apply concepts and make prototypes.
Some examples of things you can try doing:

• A multiplayer game that uses the Epic Online Services to learn about online development.
• A simple game like checkers, go or chess with a computer AI to learn how to do Artificial intelligence.
• An FPS with cubes and capsules, you don’t need assets, to learn about gameplay, raycasting, etc., and do it in C++, not blueprints.
• An inventory plugin that handles player inventories to learn how to make plugins that can be reused in multiple projects.
• A smart camera to learn about complex logic.

You can also use free assets on Mixamo if you want to play around with models and animations.

[DyotoOrion]

Really really great advice from ANameTooLongToFi!

Agree with everything he’s said.

Zabias - I don’t mind that you don’t meet the 1+ years requirement - if you would like to to have a try - that could be fun, and there is also the possibility, I can offer you an Internship on my team.

I can also potentially teach you a bit about Character Blueprints / Animation Programming / Skeletal Meshes and Static Meshes in Unreal Engine. Drop me a message on Discord if ya like. Cheers!

[darthviper107]

Realistically, it’s best if you can do a project that you can do on your own, even if you get people on board it’s likely that the project will fall apart since people aren’t going to be motivated to work.

[doomsd_y]

my advice is to get a bare bones prototype done with just the mannequin and basic shapes & BSP already available in UE4 Editor and maybe take a look at gameplay ability system if doesn’t add unnecessary complexity to your project

@darthviper107

Realistically, it’s best if you can do a project that you can do on your own, even if you get people on board it’s likely that the project will fall apart since people aren’t going to be motivated to work.

this + getting paid freelancers to help you with your assets for 3D models (and music if your game doesn’t fit into some cliche orchestral tunes which can be purchased), else there are a lot of resources for animations & textures, sound effects and particle effects which may or may not need further tuning.

also be careful with buying complex blueprint systems from the marketplace because it can be a time hog getting yourself adapted to them or adapting them to what you already have, either way it would be best to do decide this in the beginning of the project

[anonymous_user_47d0b05b]

if anybody is in need of somebody who can script together a story. you pick the genre lets collab and make something special