Synopses & Reviews
Want to make games for Windows, Mac, iPad, Android, the web, game consoles, or all of them? Don't know where to begin? Download Unreal Engine 4 for free, and get this book! In just 24 lessons of one hour or less, Sams Teach Yourself Unreal Engine 4 Game Development in 24 Hours will help you master every step of the game development process, and bring everything together in real projects that create real games. Each short, easy lesson builds on all that's come before, guiding you smoothly to mastery. The authors cover all this, and much more:
- How games and game projects are organized
- What Unreal Engine 4 does, and how it works
- Essential Unreal Engine 4 terminology and techniques
- Creating levels
- Editing materials, landscape, and foliage
- Integrating audio into your games
- Creating amazing effects with the Cascade Editor and Unreal's particle system
- Visually scripting your games, including level blueprints and FPS encounters
- Implementing game physics
- Recognizing and reacting to user inputs
- Building your executable
- Working with motion graphics, interfaces, and HUDs
- Scripting arcade shooters
- Developing for mobile devices
- And much more
All the project files and assets you'll need are available for download, including "before-and-after" files demonstrating initial setup and proper completion for every exercise.
Throughout, step-by-step instructions walk you through common questions, issues, and tasks; Q-and-As, Quizzes, and Exercises build and test your knowledge; "Did You Know?" tips offer insider advice and shortcuts; and "Watch Out!" alerts help you avoid problems. By the time you're finished, you'll have all the skills and code you'll need to build great games with Unreal Engine 4 - no matter what kind of game you want to create, or where you want to deliver it.
Synopsis
In just 24 lessons of one hour or less, learn how to start using Unreal Engine 4 to build amazing games for Windows, Mac, PS4, Xbox One, iOS, Android, the web, Linux-or all of them
Sams Teach Yourself Unreal Engine 4 Game Development in 24 Hours' straightforward, step-by-step approach shows you how to work with Unreal Engine 4's interface, its workflows, and its most powerful editors and tools. In just hours you'll be creating effects, scripting warfare, implementing physics-even developing for mobile devices and HUDs. Every lesson builds on what you've already learned, giving you a rock-solid foundation for real-world success.
- Organize new projects and work with the Gameplay Framework
- Master Unreal's units and control systems
- Import 3D models and work with the Static Mesh Editor
- Create new landscapes and use Unreal's foliage system
- Bring characters and creatures to life with the Persona Editor
- Apply materials and build lighting
- Integrate and modify audio with the Unreal Sound Cue Editor
- Craft particle effects and simulate physics
- Set up and react to player inputs
- Build levels and entirely new worlds
- Get started with powerful Blueprint visual scripting system
- Script an arcade game from start to finish
- Create events that respond to player actions
- Spawn Actors during gameplay
- Design and create action-based encounters
- Optimize games for mobile devices and touch-based inputs
- Build menus with Unreal's UMG UI Designer
- Prepare your game for deployment
Step-by-step instructions carefully walk you through the most common Unreal Engine 4 game development tasks.
Practical, hands-on
examples show you how to apply what you learn.
Quizzes and Exercises help you test your knowledge and stretch your skills.
Notes and tips point out shortcuts and solutions.
All the project files and assets you'll need are available for download, including "before-and-after" files demonstrating initial setup and proper completion for every exercise.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction to Unreal Engine
2. UE4 Terminology, Coordinates, and Transforms and Grids
3. Anatomy of a Game Project
4. Static Mesh Actors
5. Making Your First Level (MAP)
6. Material Editor
7. Landscapes and Foliage
8. Audio System
9. Cascade Editor - Particles
10. Matinee
11. Introduction to Visual Scripting
12. Level Blueprint Scripting - FPS Encounter
13. Making an Executable
14. Physics Actors
15. Actor Class Blueprints
16. Blueprint Communication
17. Game 1: Mouse Input Game
18. Game 2: Space Race Game (Game Pad And Keyboard)
19. Scripting the Space Race Game
20. Game 3: Arcade Shooter In The Round
21. Unreal Motion Graphics - Interfaces and HUDs
22. Scripting the Arcade Shooter
23. Mobile
24. What Next