book

Game Development Patterns with Unreal Engine 5

by Stuart Butler, Tom Oliver

January 2024

Intermediate to advanced

254 pages

6h 13m

English

Packt Publishing

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ForewordContributorsAbout the authorsAbout the reviewer
Who this book is forWhat this book coversTo get the most out of this bookDownload the example code filesConventions usedGet in touchShare Your ThoughtsOnce you’ve read Game Development Patterns with Unreal Engine 5, we’d love to hear your thoughts! Please click here to go straight to the Amazon review page for this book and share your feedback.Download a free PDF copy of this book
Technical requirementsIntroducing Unreal Engine 5Installing Unreal Engine 5 and preparing your development environmentThe “Fuzzy” layer – bridging the gap from C++ to BlueprintProperty SpecifiersFunction SpecifiersUseful inheritanceTranslating back from Blueprint to C++Worked exampleSummaryQuestionsAnswers
Technical requirementsS.O.L.I.D. principlesSingle responsibilityOpen-closedLiskov substitutionInterface segregationDependency inversionExploring solutions to common problemsThe moving box problemThe rotating box problemThe cascading cast chain problemThe trade-offSummary
Technical requirementsDouble bufferFlyweightSpatial partitioningIntroducing World PartitionUnderstanding when objects are loadedEnsuring actors are loaded when requiredEnabling World Partition on an existing levelSummary
Technical requirementsUnderstanding and creating componentsApplying the update method for prototyping gameplayWorking with behavior treesCreating the AI controllerCreating the Blackboard assetBuilding the behavior treeSummary
Technical requirementsBefore we beginA world that ticksA clock that stopsEvent driven systemsSummary
Technical requirementsInterfacing communication across classes in UE5Blueprint interfacesInterface events versus functionsInterfaces in C++Building an example interface communicationImplementing event delegate communication across UE5Event delegates in BlueprintEvent delegates in C++Building a useful delegate toolSummary

Technical requirementsUsing UML to plan a sample hierarchyWhat are the types of class relations?What is a sequence diagram?Decoupling the reference trainModularity and decouplingEstablishing infrastructureImplementing decoupled design in an exampleBenefits of decouplingSummary
Technical requirementsImplementing a Singleton pattern – understanding why it’s a Pandora’s boxImplementing the Command pattern for different use casesCommand pattern for undo functionality in Blueprint UtilitiesCommand pattern for gameplay in C++Creating the many levels of a state machineExploring animation state machinesEnum/switch implementationStatic versus instanced statesConcurrent state machinesHierarchical state machinesPushdown automataSummary
Technical requirementsExploring the template patternBuilding the template (parent class)Creating child classesTemplate pistolTemplate shotgunUnderstanding subclass sandboxBuilding the sandbox (parent class)Creating child classesSandbox pistolSandbox shotgunType object patternVariantsData TablesData AssetsSummary
Technical requirementsUsing dirty flags to reduce unnecessary processingApplication of dirty flagsHow data locality affects code efficiencyHot/cold splittingContiguous arraysObject pooling our resources to save time laterImplementing object poolingMaking an object poolSummary
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Content preview from Game Development Patterns with Unreal Engine 5

4 Premade Patterns in UE5 – Component, Update Method, and Behavior Tree

This chapter will focus on the three main patterns widely used in game development that Unreal Engine 5 offers robust support and tools for, including pre-built implementations and editors – namely the component, update method, and behavior tree patterns. We will discuss the theory of why they exist and explore how you can implement them with guided exercises in our custom framework.

Understanding the tools at your disposal will improve your development speed, saving you from reinventing the proverbial wheel. Even if these are tools you are familiar with in Blueprint, some insight into the C++ workings will hopefully improve your effectiveness wherever you use them.

In this ...