Table Of ContentUnreal 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
