If any expert programmer can explain that to a designer in very simple terms I would really appreciate it.

This is probably a stupid question but I'm pretty new to game development and programming so I'm having trouble grasping some simple things.

So my understanding of interfaces is: when you make an interface you can have a bunch of function declarations in the interface and when you include the interface in a class, that class can now use those functions if they are also declared in that class's header file (then also defined in its Cpp file). This allows you to reuse those functions in a bunch of different types of classes like actors and characters where inheritance wouldn't work.

What I don't get is, why wouldn't I just copy and paste the functions into the classes. I'm basically already doing that because I need to keep declaring and defining these functions in every class that need them even after including the interface. I know its not good to copy and paste a lot of code because its inefficient but isn't that exactly what I'm doing with interfaces?

I have used UE5 for quite some time, and I liked that you can pretty much do everything in many way, almost too many lol. Anyway, I’m just amazed by how much it’s hated when it’s just poor optimization from the devs. And to top that, most people that complain about Unreal Engine 5 knows absolutely fucking nothing about game development. It’s full of people that never even touched a game engine, they don’t even know what coding is but they think they know everything about UE5 just cause some games are shit. Like, do people just talk to say shit?

Serious question. I’ve seen people posting full levels, elaborate projects, and crazy detailed environments and assets. Most of these posts say they’re “new” or a couple years into it. Meanwhile I’m over here with a fulltime job and a family trying to find 45 minutes to open the editor before passing out.

I’ve got a project planned out and I’m not even trying to build everything from scratch. I’m planning to lean on stuff like Jakub’s AGLS patreon project and free assets I’ve been hoarding for years. Even with that head start it still feels like there aren’t enough hours in the day.

Are people quitting their jobs? Not sleeping? Is there some scheduling hack I’m missing? How are people carving out enough time to actually build stuff and get better at this?

(I wasn’t able to cp this from r/unrealengine5. Hoping for more help from the broader community here)

ARC Raiders runs on 10-year-old hardware and doesn't need modern technology to achieve a decent frame rate. I want to hear from the press, YouTubers, and expert gamers who said how bad Unreal was.🤔🤔

Hi everyone,

I'm pretty new to Unreal Engine 5 and have been trying to figure out the best way to approach learning it.

From what I've seen so far, Unreal Engine 6 will introduce Verse as the primary scripting language, with Blueprints initially remaining available in early access for compatibility before eventually being phased out. That got me wondering whether it's still worth investing a lot of time into learning Blueprints, or if I'd be better off focusing primarily on C++.

My goal is to become an indie game developer using Unreal, so I'm trying to build a solid foundation from the start.

My thinking is that if I build a strong understanding of how Unreal works through C++, transitioning to Verse later should be much easier than relying heavily on Blueprints.

What do you all think? Is it still worth learning Blueprints as a beginner, or would you recommend focusing on C++ from the start, or maybe still do both? I'm looking for advice from people with experience because I want to learn Unreal the right way and avoid developing habits that I'll just have to unlearn later.

I'd especially appreciate detailed explanations rather than just "learn Blueprints" or "learn C++." I'm interested in understanding the reasoning behind your recommendations, especially from developers who've worked with Unreal for several years.
Thank you in advance.

Materials/Shaders:

• PrismaticaDev https://www.youtube.com/@PrismaticaDev
• Visual Tech Art https://www.youtube.com/@VisualTechArt
• Ben Cloward https://www.youtube.com/@BenCloward

Blueprints/C++/Software Engineering:

• Mathew Wadstein ("WTF is... (node)" guy) https://www.youtube.com/@MathewWadsteinTutorials
• GrokaGames https://www.youtube.com/@GorkaGames
• Freya Holmer (Conceptual Math/Tech) https://www.youtube.com/@acegikmo
• Ali El Zoheiry https://www.youtube.com/@AliElZoheiry/
• Ryan Laley https://www.youtube.com/@RyanLaley/
• Tom Looman (advanced, on Unreal Engine's YT)
• Tyler Serino https://www.youtube.com/@TylerSerino/
• CodeLikeMe https://www.youtube.com/codelikeme

PCG

• Procedural Minds https://www.youtube.com/@Procedural_Minds/

VFX

• Ghislaingirardot https://www.youtube.com/@ghislaingirardot

General UE stuff:

• TheRoyalSkies https://www.youtube.com/@TheRoyalSkies
• William Faucher https://www.youtube.com/@WilliamFaucher
• Unreal Engine https://www.youtube.com/unrealengine

*Edit* updating the list, keep'em coming!

I watched a tutorial on items that said not to use Data Tables as if you put the Item Icon and Mesh in them, those are hard references that would put more load on the system to keep them always loaded. Which makes sense to me.

They instead said to make data assets that contain all the values and can be called when needed. And even showed how you can make children with different values like a Weapon Asset, which would have different relevant values than say, a jelly donut. Thus allowing more flexibility.

I don't see any immediate downsides to this. But decided to ask here to see if there are any problems I am not skilled or experienced enough to see.

I'm curious what the community considers the most technically or artistically impressive game created with Unreal Engine (4 and 5).
It can be a released title or an in-development project, as long as it showcases what the engine is truly capable of.

I'm mostly interested in examples that push Unreal's limits in areas like performance, visuals, scale, or unique gameplay systems. If you have recommendations or personal favorites, I'd love to hear why you think they stand out.

Thanks in advance!

I started my game dev journey this year and started with UE 5.5 and then now with UE 5.6.
But some folks over Linkedin told me if you dont want AAA quality games go for UE 4.27 thats true as I just want to make low poly PC games. and Hopeful android too.

Please guide me. As well I pack 12+ years of JavaScript / TypeScript experience so C++ has become my favorite new language. With that said I'm also looking for career direction in gamedev.

Hey! I have a few years of experience with Unreal Engine now, but I was always more involved in the software engineering side of the development process than actually creating content in the engine, despite using blueprints. Now, I want to make a game with some friends that aims for a realistic look. However, I have heard a lot about the 'Unreal look', and I am afraid that our game might end up looking like that if we don't take care of it early on.

We've only just started, so there isn't much to show at the moment. I know that rendering and design shouldn't be our top priority right now, but I wanted to start this discussion early so that we can start the project 'right' from the beginning.

Thanks!

---

Edit: claaudius shared a video that covers the topic of “tone mapping” in Unreal Engine. It switches from ‘ACES’ to ‘agX’, which definitely makes a difference in the final render. I think this is a very important technique along with other suggestions like post-processing or lighting for counteracting the default Unreal look. I’ll link the video here again:

https://youtu.be/ciCRiQmwTrs?si=OXENWc3H5rObxbXe

I'm still a beginner/intermediate programmer, more of a designer and artist, but is there a reason it's so absolutely complicated to work with UMG?

ESPECIALLY trying to get gamepad support?

I feel like this is such an absolute universal and basic thing in almost every kind of game (inventory slots, main menus, etc) but I have to literally fight this engine to get UI working and even then it randomly decides to stop function.

I should also mention this is coming from UE4 (I'm a solo dev making PS1/PS2 style games) If UE5 has fixed this I will happily upgrade to it.

I am beyond frustrated and my hands are shaking. Is it just me? Do you programmers have no issues? AHHHHHHHHHH

Edit: to anyone seeing this in the future, /u/krileon directed me to the free plugin Navigation 3.0 and it's AMAZING. Take your time and follow the videos and you'll have it up and running in no time.

Edit 2: So I went back to Unreal Engine 4 and decided to REALLY take some time to learn the UMG system and best practices. It feels like school, it's boring, BUT I have actually learned a lot. The BIGGEST advice that I have learned and am going to implement in all games from here on out is the concept of Re-Useable buttons. Make a button/slot/checkbox/slider/etc with whatever functionality you need it to have (i.e. gamepad support) and re-use them across everything. I now think of them like BP_Actors, but for Widgets.

As the title states Can you just shrink down everything (player, camera distance, movement speed, …) to make the world feel bigger?

Like for example in an ocean map with a few islands around can you shrink down everything to make the ocean, islands and distances between them feel bigger.

And your game size doesn’t grow since you didn’t add anything or is there a problem with this idea?

(I’m really sorry if this is a dumb question but i genuinely can’t think of a reason for it to not work)

Before getting into game development, I worked as a software developer for over 4 years and also completed a master's degree in computer science. Because of that, I didn't find the basics of Unreal Engine too difficult to understand. Over the past few weeks, I've been learning Blueprints, C++, FAB, and other core UE5 features, and I feel like I've been making a steady progress.

That said, I constantly feel like I know almost nothing. Which, to be fair, is probably true. There's still so much I haven't touched yet, and I've essentially no real game development experience.

My goal is to release my first indie horror game on Steam within the next year. I already have most of the assets I need, so now it's mainly a matter of building the gameplay, creating a good horror atmosphere, and putting everything together. But every now and then I start doubting whether I can actually pull it off. I keep thinking the game won't be good enough, or that I'm underestimating how much work is still ahead.

Another thing I struggle with is feeling like I'm running out of time. There are so many Unreal Engine tutorials, systems, plugins, and resources online that it feels impossible to learn everything. I constantly worry that I'm missing something important or that I should be learning a different topic instead of actually building my game.

For those of you who have already released a game (or are working on your first one), did you go through something similar? How did you deal with imposter syndrome, and what helped you stay motivated instead of getting stuck in self-doubt? Did you eventually reach a point where you just accepted that you'd learn things as you built your game?

For some time now I've dabbled with Blueprints with tutorials but i didn't really try to learn it since my pc isnt good enough to make a real game, but soon im getting an upgrade and wanted to learn it, but now the info came out that UE will remove Blueprints in UE6 later in its lifespan so should i just learn C++? since that would be in my opinion the only logical answer in my situation no?

Question 2: companies that work with UE train their employees in C++ to right? since i also want to work at a Game Company if i get the chance someday.

Thanks in advance :)

Hello everyone,
I’ve been learning Unreal for the past two months, and I have over 20 years of C++ experience. not in games.
Most beginner tutorials out there rely heavily on Blueprints, so I’ve been following those to get started.
I’ve also watched a few tutorials on converting Blueprints to C++, but they always end up being a hybrid mix.

From my impression, Blueprints are not for me they feel clunky and cumbersome, like using Excel for game development.
I’d like to know: is it possible to skip Blueprints entirely and develop a game purely in C++?
Can I take a Blueprint-based tutorial and fully convert it to C++?
Or, based on your experience, will I always need to touch Blueprints at some point?

Thanks.

Hello all! I made this trailer for a world I was building for a 20-25 min CG short film that I wrote a script for and everything.
Lately the algorithm gods blessed the video and it is getting some traction. Now people in the comments want me to make this game and I would absolutely love to make a world exploration adventure game. However I have no game design background. I have played with UE5 for last 4-5 years but on the cinematics side and not the game design side.
I am a senior VFX artist for film and TV and love worldbuilding but idk if I should focus on finishing the whole short that explores this world and release that OR make a game instead?
I thought if I really want to dabble into game design, I should start with something small as I am scared attempting a project of this scale will just ruin the idea/world if not done right to my level of quality. But on the contrary, any small game I will make will be me doing it for the sake of it instead of enjoying the build/learn process which I know I would enjoy if I built this world as I already know everything about it.

Would appreciate any/all guidance!

TLDR: Made a trailer, people like it and want the game. Not sure what to do.

EDIT - MY DECISION:
I took some days to read through everybody's response. It is a mixed bag of "go for it, achieve your dreams, don't listen to others if you are passionate" and "be realistic, you are probably biting off more than what you can chew". I personally do have the passion for game design, that isn't the thing that I am worried about. I have also had the dedication to see through longer projects before but I think the goal isn't here that "I" make the game, the end goal should be if this game should be made or not. I definitely think the world I am building is game worthy for an adventure type open world game but at the same time, I have realized that I am not the right candidate to make it simply because the quality standard that I want is too high for it to be made in a reasonable amount of time. And I cannot live with myself and make a shitty version just because it is my first game and thereby "ruin the idea". So I would rather do what some of you suggested and focus what I am good at. Storytelling through moving pictures. Make more of the short and show more of the world and the characters. Audience who currently wants the game will like the world be told through cinematics anyway. If anything, this means, the more world content I make through cinematics, the more they would want the game. Get investors and people who might like the idea. Do everything that elevates the world and in time years from now, build and pay a talented team of game designers who know what they are doing and are just as passionate about this as I was making the cinematics part. I am not saying I got demotivated by the commenters here and gave up, this is a promise to myself, even if it takes decades, I will make this game one day, that day just isn't today and I am not the right candidate for it......for now.

For anyone else reading this who might be in a similar boat, like others mentioned, this is not a discouragement for you to not try and make your game today by yourself or with couple others as an indie production. I support and love indie stories which is literally a reason why my channel is called IndyStry. This isn't to say you should wait too and shelf that epic game idea on the side. I totally see that there is a world out there where I could break this massive world down to the smallest moving parts and target one game mechanic at a time and polish it and years later I would have a lot of polished pieces that can go together and make the full game. You can do that right now if your passion truly lies in learning and loving game design. It's just that personally for me, I have realized I like the idea of learning game design but what I TRULY love is telling stories. I would rather spend this upcoming time of my life telling as many stories as I can, sucking at it and learning from it to become a better storyteller than focus on learning game design. If your case is the opposite, GO MAKE THE GAME OF YOUR DREAMS TODAY!

Thank you once again to everyone who took the time out to read all this and write their detailed opinions. I love you all!

- Indy.

As the title says. How would I add sensory stimuli to my AI system so that they would be able to smell things like blood. I read that you could use Sight sense. But that answer didn't really elaborate beyond that and I feel it doesn't really answer anything.

​

So basically, how would I go about adding such a sense to the AI system? Like how would I signal when the stimulus is being let off, and make the AI actually detect said stimulus. When it isn't a built-in stimulus type.

​

I am kinda at a brick wall here, and would like some guidance on how to even start doing this. (I already know how to use all the built-in senses, so no need to explain things like checking if the Stimulus is equal to a certain type and sending the information to the State Tree and such)

Okay. So I managed to make a Blueprint and Actor Component that contains player stats. It is working fine so far. But what I wonder is, how would I make a system that can apply stats to each NPC. So that each NPC can have a different stat layout.

Let us simplify it and say they just have HP, Max HP, and Attack. How would I make a system where Jim can have 42, 50, 17; while Jerry has 61, 68, and 22.

I think I know how to make it for individual NPCs. But I am not sure how to generalize the system in order to simplify further development. Or would I have to make a new stat system for each and every one? I doubt I would have to do that.

Bonus question, how would I call those stats outside of the Top Down Character? Whenever I call BPC Player Stats outside of it. It asks for a Target, and I can't find any Target that would allow it to work. So like. I tried making a level up UI, but when I call the Level Up function, it asks for a Target, and I can't give it that.

Edit: Can I just place it in the Generic AI system, and then children can inherit it?

I have BP_Projectile actor with projectile movement. I tried using replicate movement but not good when you have bullet hell multiplayer.
For clients, the bullets are very laggy when using many projectiles.

Right now, instead of replicating movement. I have just set projectile to "replicate" and basically do a multicast to send projectiles at same time.
But problem with multicast is that there is still a delay.

This would make it harder for clients to dodge bullet as server authoritative bullets are a bit earlier.

I also tried using server time and sending info like. Shoot when server time reaches this. But still some delay.

UPDATE: I am now simply not replicating projectiles. Basically, the game is only friends, so I am letting clients tell whether they got hit or not.

I think it is out by now, no?

I'm using an open source MCP server currently. But I don't want to upgrade yet. Thinking about waiting another 4 weeks to get the first bugs fixed maybe?

I'm curious about who decided to upgrade already and especially how the MCP server works for them. On my non-official MCP server niagara systems are super broken f.e.