Hi all. I’ve been using UE4 for about a year now, but I’ve realized I could only get so far using just Blueprints. I jumped into UE4 from an artist/modeling background, and have very little to no knowledge of programming/scripting. I’m wondering if you guys can recommend a good starting point for me to learn the basic principles of programming, so that I can understand the logic behind it. Classes, variables, nodes, booleans and other such words put me in a panic! It would be great to actually know what I’m doing in Blueprints, instead of just copying people step-by-step on YouTube Should I start out with a Python course? C++? I have no problem paying for a course if that’s the best way to go. I appreciate any advice.
Hmmm, that age old question of where to start. Best thing I can suggest is you can have a look over Basic Scripting with Blueprints in Unreal Engine | Unreal Engine 5.1 Documentation or at least keep it handy. It has useful information like what variables types are used in Unreal. But after that I would actually suggest just going over video tutorials and instead of just copying them try to understand more about why they are doing things a certain way and what different functions do. Then just play around with the functions locally, don’t be afraid to break things. That is a key thing. Epic has done some video tutorials on getting started with blueprints which might be worth having a look over. Intro to Blueprints: Blueprint Introduction | 01 | v4.8 Tutorial Series | Unreal Engine - YouTube
I actually sort of think learning coding through blueprints is actually a bit easier (waiting to be stoned to death by coders over this thought though), just because it removes / reduces a lot of the basic issues you can have with actual coding, Syntax, Semantic, and Logical errors. The logic behind it all is pretty much the same though. But really, it is just a case of getting your hands dirty. Look over some tutorials and once you feel you are getting to grips with it just set yourself a simple challenge. Once you run into a wall, have a look around for tutorials to do what you are after. There are an awful lot of them out there now, and for pretty much anything you can think of.
What helped me in getting into Unreal is having a concept actually. Started from scratch with 0 knowledge less than a year ago, and I feel confident enough to say I am able to release a game one day or another.
Have a small idea what you would like to realize. And learn this step-by-step. It’s difficult at the beginning but once you understand the basics it’s pretty straightforward.
If you don’t know yet what classes or variables are… Hmm not sure; maybe I’d try to find a copy of BlitzBasic or Blitz3D, that’s where I understood what classes and variables are, Blitz is a very basic game programming language for kids.
Thanks for the advice, all. I think that just digging in getting my hands dirty is a good way to go - have an idea of what I want to do and then try to figure out how to make it happen. I have heard other people talk about Blitz in the past so maybe I’ll look into that for learning the basics. It might also be a good exercise to do with my kid, so we can learn to code together
There are a ton of “programming” courses on Pluralsight. Any thoughts on which of these would be the best place to start - which would translate best into UE4? Python? C++?
Should I start out with a Python course? C++? I have no problem paying for a course if that’s the best way to go. I appreciate any advice.