Elevating Game Experiences with Unreal Engine 5: Bring your game ideas to life using the new Unreal Engine 5 and C++, 2nd Edition

Cover
Title Page
Copyright and Credits
Contributors
Table of Contents
Preface
Chapter 1: Introduction to Unreal Engine
	Technical requirements
	Exercise 1.01 – creating an Unreal Engine 5 project
	Getting to know Unreal Engine
	Exploring editor windows
	Viewport navigation
	Manipulating Actors
		Exercise 1.02 – adding and removing Actors
	Understanding Blueprint Actors
		Exercise 1.03 – creating Blueprint Actors
	Exploring the Blueprint editor
	Exploring the Event Graph window
		Exercise 1.04 – creating Blueprint variables
		Exercise 1.05 – creating Blueprint functions
	Understanding the Multiply node
	Exploring the BeginPlay and Tick events
		Exercise 1.06 – offsetting the TestActor class on the Z-axis
	The ThirdPersonCharacter Blueprint class
	Exploring the usage of meshes and materials
		Meshes
		Materials
	Manipulating materials in UE5
	Activity 1.01 – propelling TestActor on the Z-axis indefinitely
	Summary
Chapter 2: Working with Unreal Engine
	Technical requirements
	Creating and setting up a blank C++ project
		Exercise 2.01 – creating an empty C++ project
	The Content folder’s structure in Unreal Engine
	Working with the Visual Studio solution
		Debugging code in Visual Studio
		Exercise 2.02 – debugging the Third Person template code
	Importing the required assets
		Exercise 2.03 – importing a character FBX file
	The Unreal Game Mode class
		Game Mode default classes
		Gameplay events
		Networking
		GameModeBase versus Game Mode
	Understanding levels and the Level Blueprint
		The Unreal Pawn class
		The Unreal Player Controller class
		Exercise 2.04 – setting up the Game Mode, Player Controller, and Pawn classes
	Working with animations
		Animation Blueprints
		Event Graph
		The Anim Graph
		State Machines
		Transition Rules
		Blend Spaces
		Activity 2.01 – linking animations to a character
	Summary
Chapter 3: Character Class Components and Blueprint Setup
	Technical requirements
	The Unreal Character class
	Extending the C++ class with Blueprints
	Summary
Chapter 4: Getting Started with Player Input
	Technical requirements
	Understanding Input Actions and Contexts
		Exercise 4.01 – creating the movement and jump input actions
	Processing Player Input
		Exercise 4.02 – listening to movement and jump input actions
	Turning the camera around the character
	Activity 4.01 – adding walking logic to our character
	Summary
Chapter 5: Query with Line Traces
	Technical requirements
	Introduction to collision
	Setting up your project
		Exercise 5.01: Converting DodgeballCharacter to a top-down perspective
	Understanding Line Traces
	Creating the EnemyCharacter C++ class
		Exercise 5.02: Creating the CanSeeActor function that executes Line Traces
	Visualizing the Line Trace
		Exercise 5.03: Creating the LookAtActor function
	Creating the EnemyCharacter Blueprint Class
	Sweep Traces
		Exercise 5.04: Executing a Sweep Trace
		Changing the Visibility Trace Response
		Multi Line Traces
		The Camera Trace Channel
		Exercise 5.05: Creating a custom EnemySight Trace Channel
		Activity 5.01: Creating the SightSource property
	Summary
Chapter 6: Setting Up Collision Objects
	Technical requirements
	Understanding object collision in UE5
	Understanding collision components
	Understanding collision events
	Understanding collision channels
		Exercise 6.01 – creating the Dodgeball class
	Creating Physical Materials
		Exercise 6.02 – adding a ProjectileMovementComponent to DodgeballProjectile
	Introducing timers
	Understanding how to spawn actors
		Exercise 6.03 – adding projectile-throwing logic to the EnemyCharacter class
	Creating the Wall classes
		Exercise 6.04 – creating Wall classes
	Creating the VictoryBox actor
		Exercise 6.05 – creating the VictoryBox class
		Exercise 6.06 – adding the ProjectileMovementComponent getter function to DodgeballProjectile
		Activity 6.01 – replacing the SpawnActor function with SpawnActorDeferred in EnemyCharacter
	Summary
Chapter 7: Working with UE5 Utilities
	Technical requirements
	Good practices – loose coupling
	Blueprint Function Libraries
		Exercise 7.01 – moving the CanSeeActor function to the Blueprint Function Library
	Actor components
		Exercise 7.02 – creating the HealthComponent Actor component
		Exercise 7.03 – integrating the HealthComponent Actor component
	Exploring interfaces
	Blueprint native events
		Exercise 7.04 – creating the HealthInterface class
		Activity 7.01 – moving the LookAtActor logic to an Actor component
	Summary
Chapter 8: Creating User Interfaces with UMG
	Technical requirements
	Game UI
	UMG basics
		Exercise 8.01 – creating a Widget Blueprint
	Introducing anchors
		Exercise 8.02 – editing UMG anchors
		Exercise 8.03 – creating the RestartWidget C++ class
		Exercise 8.04 – creating the logic for adding the RestartWidget class to the screen
		Exercise 8.05 – setting up the DodgeballPlayerController blueprint class
	Understanding progress bars
		Exercise 8.06 – creating the health bar C++ logic
		Activity 8.01  – improving the RestartWidget class
	Summary
Chapter 9: Adding Audio-Visual Elements
	Technical requirements
	Audio in UE5
		Exercise 9.01 – Importing an audio file
		Exercise 9.02 – Playing a sound when the dodgeball bounces off a surface
	Sound attenuation
		Exercise 9.03 – Turning the bounce sound into a 3D sound
		Exercise 9.04 – Adding background music to our game
	Understanding Particle Systems
		Exercise 9.05 – Spawning a Particle System when the dodgeball hits the player
		Activity 9.01 – Playing a sound when the dodgeball hits the player
	Exploring level design
		Exercise 9.06 – Building a level blockout
	Extra features
	Summary
Chapter 10: Creating the SuperSideScroller Game
	Technical requirements
	Project breakdown
	The player character
	Converting the Third Person template into a side-scroller
		Exercise 10.01 – Creating the side-scroller project and using the Character Movement component
		Activity 10.01 – Making our character jump higher
	Exploring the features of our side-scroller game
		Enemy character
		Power-ups
		Collectibles
		Heads-Up Display (HUD)
		Exercise 10.02 – Exploring the Persona Editor and manipulating the default mannequin skeleton weights
		Activity 10.02 – Skeletal bone manipulation and animations
	Understanding animations in Unreal Engine 5
		Skeletons
		Skeletal Meshes
		Animation sequences
		Exercise 10.03 – Importing and setting up the character and animation
		Activity 10.03 – Importing more custom animations to preview the character running
	Summary
Chapter 11: Working with Blend Space 1D, Key Bindings, and State Machines
	Technical requirements
	Creating Blend Spaces
		Blend Space 1D versus normal Blend Space
		Exercise 11.01 – creating the CharacterMovement Blend Space 1D
		Activity 11.01 – adding the Walking and Running animations to the Blend Space
	The Main Character Animation Blueprint
		Animation Blueprints
		Exercise 11.02 – adding the Blend Space to the character Animation Blueprint
	What are velocity vectors?
		Exercise 11.03 – passing the character’s Speed variable into the Blend Space
		Activity 11.02 – previewing the Running animation in-game
	Enhanced input system
		Exercise 11.04 – adding input for sprinting
		Exercise 11.05 – reparenting the character Blueprint
		Exercise 11.06 – coding the character’s sprint functionality
		Activity 11.03 – implementing the throwing input
	Using Animation State Machines
		Exercise 11.07 – player character movement and jump state machine
		Transition rules
		Exercise 11.08 – adding states and transition rules to the state machine
		Exercise 11.09 – The Time Remaining Ratio function
		Activity 11.04 – finishing the Movement and Jumping state machines
	Summary
Chapter 12: Animation Blending and Montages
	Technical requirements
	Animation blending, Anim Slots, and Animation Montages
		Exercise 12.01 – Setting up the Animation Montage
	Animation Montages
		Exercise 12.02 – Adding the Throw animation to the montage
	Anim Slot Manager
		Exercise 12.03 – Adding a new Anim Slot
	Save Cached Pose
		Exercise 12.04 – Save Cached Pose of the Movement State Machine
	Layered blend per bone
		Exercise 12.05 – Blending animation with the Upper Body Anim Slot
		Exercise 12.06 – Previewing the Throw animation
	The SuperSideScroller game enemy
		Exercise 12.07 – Creating the enemy base C++ class
		Exercise 12.08 – Creating and applying the enemy Animation Blueprint
	Materials and Material Instances
		Exercise 12.09 – Creating and applying the enemy Material Instance
		Activity 12.01 – Updating Blend Weights
	Summary
Chapter 13: Creating and Adding the Enemy Artificial Intelligence
	Technical requirements
	Enemy AI
	AI Controller
		Auto Possess AI
		Exercise 13.01 – implementing AI Controllers
	Navigation Mesh
		Exercise 13.02 – implementing a Nav Mesh Volume for the AI enemy
	Recasting the Nav Mesh
		Exercise 13.03 – recasting Nav Mesh Volume parameters
		Activity 13.01 – creating a new level
	Behavior trees and Blackboards
		Tasks
		Decorators
		Services
		Exercise 13.04 – creating the AI behavior tree and Blackboard
		Exercise 13.05 – creating a new behavior tree task
		Exercise 13.06 – creating the behavior tree logic
		Activity 13.02 – AI moving to the player’s location
		Exercise 13.07 – creating the enemy patrol locations
	Vector Transformation
		Exercise 13.08 – selecting a random point in an array
		Exercise 13.09 – referencing the patrol point actor
		Exercise 13.10 – updating BTTask_FindLocation
	Player projectile
		Exercise 13.11 – creating the player projectile
		Exercise 13.12 – initializing the PlayerProjectile class’s settings
		Activity 13.03 – creating the player projectile Blueprint
	Summary
Chapter 14: Spawning the Player Projectile
	Anim Notifies and Anim Notify States
		Exercise 14.01 – creating a UAnimNotify class
		Exercise 14.02 – adding the new notify to the Throw Animation Montage
	Playing Animation Montages
		Playing Animation Montages in Blueprints
		Playing Animation Montages in C++
		Exercise 14.03 – playing the Throw animation in C++
		Exercise 14.04 – creating the projectile spawn socket
		Exercise 14.05 – preparing the SpawnProjectile() Function
		Exercise 14.06 – updating the Anim_ProjectileNotify class
	Destroying actors
		Exercise 14.07 – creating the DestroyEnemy() function
		Exercise 14.08 – destroying projectiles
		Activity 14.01 – Allow the projectile to destroy enemies
	Understanding and implementing visual and audio effects
		VFX
		Audio effects (SFX)
		Exercise 14.09 – adding effects when the enemy is destroyed
		Exercise 14.10 – adding effects to the player projectile
		Exercise 14.11 – adding VFX and SFX notifies
		Activity 14.02 – adding effects for when the projectile is destroyed
	Summary
Chapter 15: Exploring Collectibles, Power-Ups, and Pickups
	Technical requirements
	Understanding URotatingMovementComponent
		Exercise 15.01 – creating the PickableActor_Base class and adding URotatingMovementComponent
		Activity 15.01 – player overlap detection and spawning effects in PickableActor_Base
		Activity 15.02 – finalizing the PickableActor_Collectable actor
	Logging variables using UE_LOG
		Exercise 15.03 – tracking the number of coins for the player
	Introducing Unreal Motion Graphics UI
	Understanding the Text widget
		Anchors
		Text formatting
		Exercise 15.04 – creating the Coin Counter UI HUD element
	Adding and creating UMG user widgets
		Exercise 15.05 – Adding Coin Counter UI to the player screen
	Using timers
		Exercise 15.06 – adding the potion power-up behavior to the player
		Activity 15.03 – creating the potion power-up actor
		Exercise 15.07 – creating the Brick class
		Exercise 15.08 – adding the Brick class’s C++ logic
	Summary
	Additional Challenges
Chapter 16: Getting Started with Multiplayer Basics
	Technical requirements
	Introduction to multiplayer basics
	Understanding the server
		Dedicated server
		The listen server
	Understanding the client
		Exercise 16.01 – Testing the Third Person template in multiplayer
	Packaging the project
	Exploring connections and ownership
	Getting to know roles
		Actor spawned on the server
		Actor spawned on the client
		Player-owned pawn spawned on the server
		Player-owned pawn spawned on the client
		Exercise 16.02 – Implementing ownership and roles
		Output for the Server window
		Server Character
		Client 1 Character
		The OwnershipTest actor
		Output for the Client 1 window
	Understanding variable replication
		Replicated variables
		Exercise 16.03 – Replicating variables using Replicated, ReplicatedUsing, DOREPLIFETIME, and DOREPLIFETIME_CONDITION
		Output for the Server window
		Output for the Client 1 window
	Exploring 2D Blend Spaces
		Exercise 16.04 – Creating a movement 2D Blend Space
	Transforming (modifying) bones
		Exercise 16.05 – Creating a character that looks up and down
	Activity 16.01 – Creating the character for the multiplayer FPS project
	Summary
Chapter 17: Using Remote Procedure Calls
	Technical requirements
	Understanding remote procedure calls
		Server RPC
		Multicast RPC
		Client RPC
		Important considerations when using RPCs
		Exercise 17.01 – Using remote procedure calls
	Exposing enumerations to the editor
		TEnumAsByte
		UMETA
		BlueprintType
		Exercise 17.02 – Using C++ enumerations in the editor
	Using array index wrapping
		Exercise 17.03 – Using array index wrapping to cycle between an enumeration
	Activity 17.01 – Adding weapons and ammo to the multiplayer FPS game
	Summary
Chapter 18: Using Gameplay Framework Classes in Multiplayer
	Technical requirements
	Accessing Gameplay Framework Instances in Multiplayer
		Exercise 18.01 – Displaying the Gameplay Framework instance values
		Output for the Server window
		Output for the Client 1 window
		Game mode
		Player state
		Game State
		Useful built-in functionality
		Exercise 18.02 – Making a simple multiplayer pickup game
	Activity 18.01 – Adding death, respawning, a scoreboard, kill limit, and pickups to the multiplayer FPS game
	Summary
Index
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