Unreal Engine 4

473 Pages·2017·6.6 MB·English

by  David Nixon

Unreal Engine 4
for Beginners

David Nixon
Unreal Engine 4 for Beginners

Copyright © 2017 David Nixon

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Ta b le of Con te n ts | 4

CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1 – GETTING STARTED
1.1 Licensing ..................................................................... 19

1.2 Registration ................................................................ 21

1.3 Download & Installation ............................................. 24

1.4 Chapter 1 Quiz ............................................................ 26

Answers ........................................................................ 27

2.1 Projects ....................................................................... 29

Unreal Project Browser ................................................ 29

Projects Tab .............................................................. 30

New Project Tab ....................................................... 32

2.2 Levels .......................................................................... 36

Creating, Opening & Saving Levels ............................... 37

Playing a Level .............................................................. 40

2.3 Actors.......................................................................... 41

The Static Mesh Actor .................................................. 42

Geometry Brushes ........................................................ 43

Materials ................................................................... 45

The Light Actor ............................................................. 46

Summary of Actors ....................................................... 47
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2.4 Chapter 2 Quiz ............................................................ 48

Answers ........................................................................ 50

3.1 Level Editor Overview ................................................. 53

Unreal Engine vs the Unreal Editor ............................... 53

Unreal Editor vs the Level Editor .................................. 54

Panels of the Level Editor ............................................. 54

Customizing the Interface............................................. 60

3.2 Place Mode ................................................................. 62

Place Mode Tabs ........................................................... 63

3.3 Navigating Within the Viewport ................................. 66

Mouse Navigation ......................................................... 66

WASD Navigation.......................................................... 67

Focusing ........................................................................ 67

Maya Navigation ........................................................... 68

Camera Speed ............................................................... 69

3.4 Moving, Rotating, and Scaling Actors ......................... 70

Move Tool ..................................................................... 71

Rotate Tool ................................................................... 74

Scale Tool ...................................................................... 75

World Space vs Local Space .......................................... 76

3.5 Snapping ..................................................................... 79

End Key ......................................................................... 79
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Surface Snapping .......................................................... 79

Grid Snapping ............................................................... 83

Snap Size ................................................................... 84

Grid Units .................................................................. 85

Rotation Snapping ........................................................ 86

Scale Snapping .............................................................. 86

3.6 Different Ways to View Your Level ............................. 88

Immersive Mode .......................................................... 88

View Modes .................................................................. 88

Lit Mode.................................................................... 89

Unlit Mode ................................................................ 90

Wireframe Mode ...................................................... 91

Orthographic Views ...................................................... 91

Show Flags .................................................................... 94

Game View ................................................................... 96

Piloting Actors Within the Viewport ............................. 96

3.7 Content Browser ......................................................... 98

Sources Panel and Asset Window ................................. 98

Back Button and Forward Button ............................... 100

Breadcrumbs .............................................................. 100

Add New Button ......................................................... 101

Import Button ............................................................. 103
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Save All Button ........................................................... 103

View Options .............................................................. 103

Tiles vs List vs Columns ........................................... 104

Show Folders .......................................................... 105

Show Developers Folders ....................................... 105

Show Plugins Content ............................................. 106

Show Engine Content ............................................. 106

Show Collections..................................................... 106

Thumbnail Options ................................................. 109

Content Browser Windows ......................................... 110

3.8 Details Panel ............................................................. 113

Property Matrix .......................................................... 114

View Options .............................................................. 115

Transform Category .................................................... 117

Relative vs World .................................................... 119

Mobility .................................................................. 120

3.9 World Outliner .......................................................... 121

World Outliner Data ................................................... 122

Grouping Actors .......................................................... 123

Organizing and Finding Actors .................................... 127

3.10 Chapter 3 Quiz ........................................................ 129

Answers ...................................................................... 131
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4.1 Static Meshes ........................................................... 134

Replacing the Mesh of a Static Mesh Actor ................ 135

Physics ........................................................................ 136

4.2 Brushes ..................................................................... 140

Brushes vs Meshes ..................................................... 140

Brush Settings ............................................................. 142

Brush Type .............................................................. 143

Brush Shape ............................................................ 144

Size Properties ........................................................ 144

Sides Properties ...................................................... 145

Hollow Property ...................................................... 145

Stair Brushes ............................................................... 146

4.3 Materials ................................................................... 153

Apply Material to All Surfaces .................................... 154

Surface Materials Category ........................................ 155

Elements ..................................................................... 156

Textures ...................................................................... 157

Surface Properties Category ....................................... 158

Material Scaling ...................................................... 160

4.4 Lights ........................................................................ 161

Overview of Light Types ............................................. 161

Building the Lighting ................................................... 163
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Directional Light ......................................................... 164

Intensity .................................................................. 165

Light Color............................................................... 166

Temperature ........................................................... 168

Affects World .......................................................... 168

Cast Shadows .......................................................... 168

Indirect Lighting Intensity ....................................... 169

Point Light ................................................................... 169

Spot Light .................................................................... 172

Sky Light ...................................................................... 173

4.5 Atmospheric Fog ....................................................... 175

Sun Disc ...................................................................... 176

Atmospheric Fog Properties ....................................... 177

4.6 Player Start Actor ...................................................... 181

4.7 Components ............................................................. 184

Adding Components ................................................... 184

Component Structure ................................................. 186

Rotating Movement Component ................................ 187

4.8 Volumes .................................................................... 189

Blocking Volumes ....................................................... 190

Trigger Volumes .......................................................... 190

Pain Causing Volumes ................................................. 192
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Kill ZVolume ................................................................ 194

Physics Volume ........................................................... 195

4.9 Chapter 4 Quiz .......................................................... 198

Answers ...................................................................... 200

5.1 Introduction to Blueprints ........................................ 203

Level Blueprint vs Blueprint Classes ........................... 203

Level Blueprint Editor ................................................. 205

Event Graph ................................................................ 205

Nodes.......................................................................... 206

Pins and Wires ............................................................ 208

Adding Nodes ............................................................. 209

Compiling .................................................................... 211

Simple Blueprint Example ........................................... 211

5.2 Variables ................................................................... 213

Data Types .................................................................. 214

Get Node .................................................................... 217

Set Node ..................................................................... 218

Default Value .............................................................. 219

Updated Blueprint Example ........................................ 220

Variable Properties ..................................................... 221

5.3 Arrays........................................................................ 224

ForEachLoop Node ..................................................... 225