Multiple Questions+Building mobile platforms from source

Development Programming & Scripting C++
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1

Hello (first sign of a noob in a forum post),

I recently got the source code to compile, I’m very happy, usual ignorable text.
Regardless, thanks Epic for making it easy for indies to access Unreal Engine 4.

Setup:
Windows 7 x64
Visual Studio 2013 Pro

Goal of packaging an Android project without anything but UE4’s source code and any dependencies that Setup.bat downloads and required Android dependencies.

Backstory:
I realized that there appears to be very little if any documentation for building the required binaries for mobile platforms from source. Looking at Visual Studio’s Platform dropdown, I can see Android. Since the editor is telling me it’s missing “UE4Game-armv7-es2.so”, I tried building Developer Android, that failed. Then Debug Android, got the wrong file. Shipping Android? Also wrong file. DebugGame Android? Ah, now I have “UE4Game-Android-DebugGame-armv7-es2.so”. But this is not “UE4Game-armv7-es2.so”, and even if I was expected to rename it to the proper name, where is the shipping version?

Android Questions:

  1. How do I build, or better, properly build Android’s “UE4Game-armv7-es2.so” from source?
  2. The Android build and editor indicate that the graphics backend is OpenGL ES 2.0. I know ES 3.0 is a big step up from 2.0 and supported on enough devices, and that 3.1 has at least partial source, but is barely supported right now. Why is there no ES 3.0 backend? (Maybe something to ask on AnswerHub?)

General engine-from-source questions:

  1. Is PhysX required, or is it just a value-added physics backend?
  2. When I try to debug the editor in Visual Studio, the debugger starts properly along with the editor (at the project selection window). But once I select a project, it seems to start a new instance of the editor for that project, thus closing the debugging session. How can I debug the actual editor? (I know I can attach the debugger, but if I want to debug the startup of the editor, I need to be a bit quicker then I probably can be to get to the menu item in time)
  3. Even with the prior question, when I try to package a project for any platform, it fails with “Input line too long” and fails. But when I start the editor directly, it packages without issue. Why might I get this issue and where might be a good location to start looking within the source for this?
  4. Is there any way to debug the “Programs” such as UBT or the AutomationTool, which have the same issue as #2?

Thank you

Edit:
Ok, #3 oddly does not appear to be happening since I re-cloned the repo (which didn’t change) and rebuilt it. It may have just been an outlier.

2

Ok, perhaps I was a bit too unserious there.

I realized a couple issues I was having (realized client, editor, server and that I had chosen the wrong config for building at one point). I built the development client for Android, renamed it to “UE4Game-armv7-es2.so” and it worked, but it still feels odd that there is no build that outputs that as the Android packaging looks for it.

I’m still wondering why there is no ES 3.0 graphics backend given it’s wider support base and better feature set then 2.0.

I also would probably say I’ve realized that PhysX isn’t required, but is a value-addon. If I’ve still got this screwed up, let me know.

I’m still stuck on the debugging the invoked app/programs with Visual Studio, especially given that most solutions online just say “attach to debugger” but don’t cover startup debugging. Is there a post, wiki, etc. that explains this, has anyone figured this out, or am I just missing the point entirely?

Again, thanks. Sorry for the bump