Guidance / roadmap for new developer

Alex Brow
Wed, 20 Oct 2021 18:07:22 +0000
Community & Industry Discussion

Hello UE gods and god-ettes,

I’m totally overwhelmed by the engine and would really appreciate some general guidance.

I’m interested (at first) in making a top-down game that is centered around skill-based melee combat. I would love for the game to be beautiful, with complex animations, etc. – but ultimately my 2 main priorities are skillful combat and AI. I don’t want a simple combat system, similar to action rpgs, where you just spam attacks at a stationary opponent until their HP reaches 0. I want to create the ability to dodge, feint, directionally parry, and ultimately make a combat-centric game. I am inspired by games like Exanima, Mordhau, and Chivalry.

I am thoroughly aware of the fact that this is going to be a long and sloppy learning process. I’m not looking for a magic-pill answer. However, any guidance that can help my learning process become more ‘pointed’ would be a godsend to me.

So far I have taken short courses on ‘intro to UE4’, animations, blueprints, collisions, basic AI, etc. But after the tutorial ends, I’m lost again. I find out how a few things work but then, when I try to comb through the blueprints myself, I am totally confused as to what most the blueprints even mean. Any tutorial passed the beginner stage is full of terminology that I don’t understand or an assumed understanding of blueprint functionality that I haven’t learned.

What were your biggest breakthroughs? Did you find a more ‘long-winded’ course that took you from beginner to intermediate? Did you find a mentor, an internship, or a certification of some kind?

Or is the answer to just simply struggle through it, in an extremely scattered manner? Exhausting all youtube videos around a single concept, google searches, and mostly fruitless experimentation?

The latter option feels so undisciplined yet it seems like the only available option. Sorry for a somewhat vague question – I’m still very ignorant to what’s even possible with this engine and game design in general.

P.S. — I’d like to use Unreal Engine 5 when it releases if possible.

4 posts - 1 participant