I’m new to UE4, C++ and the industry in general. I’m most familiar with Blueprints, I’m a visual learner and I like the format it makes sense to me, mostly.
My question is, would it be possible to create a social media-ish platform with UE4? I noticed that you could package your game to IOS, Android, HTML5, and I’m just thinking this would be a great way to make a content platform for my Dad for his illustration/artwork. Kind of like instagram, or iFunny (if anyone is familiar.)
I’m going through networking tutorials but it’s more for 3D game bandwidth control. I’d have to create my own login/user system for registration and host the content (comments, profile setup, content) as well. And I guess if it IS possible what keywords do I need to know in order to find the tutorials online on how to reverse-engineer this really in-depth engine to doing some simple stuff, mostly through the UMG.
It is doable, but nobody will install 100+ mb package for Social Media App. On top of that you will have problems to make some functions just in BPs (for eg uploading pictures, storing them). So you need C++ for certain functions, and if you are coding parts in C++ anyway, why not to code whole thing in C++ or java.
To be honest, I don’t really have a starting point if I bypass UE4, I’m a novice to C++ and I’m attracted to UE4 because it seems like I can package my work across multiple platforms instead of having to re-code everything for each platform individually if I wanted to make changes. Also, I thought there was a way to translate blueprints into a compact C++ form for optimization.
My biggest hurtle right now is terminology, I don’t know the keywords I need to search on how to do certain aspects.
I’ve been looking at some server hosting platforms like GameSpark and Playfab, because I think that’s the standard route? Or one that would at least work for me… not sure.
Regardless, some of the things that I’d like to figure out how to do are still applicable for future projects:
Login/Register profile system
Individual profiles that users can upload their own profile images to.
Commenting system, an algorithm similar to Reddit.
honestly if I got even that far I’d be really happy.