book

Learning Unreal Engine Game Development

Name: Learning Unreal Engine Game Development
Author: Joanna Lee
ISBN: 9781784398156

by Joanna Lee

February 2016

Beginner

274 pages

5h 48m

English

Packt Publishing

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Learning Unreal Engine Game Development
Table of Contents
Learning Unreal Engine Game Development
Credits
About the Author
About the Reviewers
www.PacktPub.com
Support files, eBooks, discount offers, and moreWhy subscribe?Free access for Packt account holders
Preface
What this book covers
What you need for this book
Who this book is for

Conventions
Reader feedback
Customer support
Downloading the example codeDownloading the color images of this bookErrataPiracyQuestions
1. An Overview of Unreal Engine
What goes into a game?
What is a game engine?
The history of Unreal Engine
Game development
ArtistsCinematic creatorsSound designersGame designersProgrammers
The components of Unreal Engine 4
The sound engineThe physics engineThe graphics engineInput and the Gameplay frameworkLight and shadowPost-process effectsArtificial intelligenceOnline and multiplatform capabilities
Unreal Engine and its powerful editors
Unreal EditorMaterial EditorThe Cascade particle systemThe Persona skeletal mesh animationLandscape – building large outdoor worlds and foliageSound Cue EditorMatinee EditorThe Blueprint visual scripting system
Unreal programming
Unreal objects
A beginner's guide to the Unreal Editor
The start menuProject BrowserContent BrowserToolbarViewportScene OutlinerModes
Summary
2. Creating Your First Level
Exploring preconfigured levels
Creating a new project
Navigating the viewport
ViewsControl keys
Creating a level from a new blank map
Creating the ground using the BSP Box brush
Useful tip – selecting an object easilyUseful tip – changing View Mode to aid visuals
Adding light to a level
Useful tip – positioning objects in a level
Adding the sky to a level
Adding Player Start
Useful tip – rotating objects in a level
Viewing a level that's been created
Saving a level
Configuring a map as a start level
Adding material to the ground
Adding a wall
Duplicating a wall
Creating an opening for a door
Adding materials to the walls
Sealing a room
Adding props or a static mesh to the room
Adding Lightmass Importance Volume
Applying finishing touches to a room
Useful tip – using the drag snap grid
Summary
3. Game Objects – More and Move
BSP BrushBackgroundBrush typeBrush solidity
Static Mesh
BSP Brush versus Static Mesh
Making Static Mesh movable
Materials
Creating a Material in UnrealMaterials versus TexturesTexture/UV mappingHow to create and use a Texture MapMultitexturingA special form of texture maps – Normal Maps
Level of detail
Collisions
Collision configuration propertiesSimulation Generates Hit EventsGenerate Overlap EventsCollision PresetsCollision EnabledObject TypeCollision ResponsesTrace ResponsesObject ResponsesCollision hullsInteractions
Static Mesh creation pipeline
Introducing volumes
Blocking VolumeCamera Blocking VolumeTrigger VolumeNav Mesh Bounds VolumePhysics VolumePain Causing VolumeKill Z VolumeLevel Streaming VolumeCull Distance VolumeAudio VolumePostProcess VolumeLightmass Importance Volume
Introducing Blueprint
Level Blueprint
Using the Trigger Volume to turn on/off light
Using Trigger Volume to toggle light on/off (optional)
Summary
4. Material and Light
Materials
The Material Editor
The rendering systemPhysical Based Shading ModelHigh Level Shading LanguageGetting startedCreating a simple custom materialCreating custom material using simple texturesUsing custom materials to transform the level
Rendering pipeline
Shaders
APIs – DirectX and OpenGL
DirectXDirectX12Pipeline state representationWork submissionResource access
Lights
Configuring a Point Light with more settingsAttenuation RadiusIntensityUse Inverse Squared FalloffColorAdding and configuring a Spot LightInner cone and outer cone angleUsing the IES ProfileDownloading IES Light ProfilesImporting IES Profiles into the Unreal Engine EditorUsing IES ProfilesAdding and configuring a Directional LightExample – adding and configuring a Sky lightStatic, stationary, or movable lightsCommon light/shadow definitionsStatic LightStationary LightMovable LightExercise – extending your game level (optional)Useful tipsGuidelinesArea expansionPart 1 – lengthening the current walkwayPart 2 – creating a big room (living and kitchen area)Part 3 – creating a small room along the walkwayPart 4 – Creating a den area in the big roomCreating windows and doorsPart 1 – creating large glass windows for the dining areaPart 2 – creating an open window for the window seatPart 3 – creating windows for the roomPart 4 – creating the main door areaCreating basic furniturePart 1 – creating a dining table and placing chairsPart 2 – decorating the sitting areaPart 3 – creating the window seat areaPart 4 – creating the Japanese seating areaPart 5 – creating the kitchen cabinet area
Summary
5. Animation and AI
What is animation?
Understanding how to animate a 3D model
Preparing before animationHow is animation created?
What Unreal Engine 4 offers for animation in games
Importing animation from Maya/3ds MaxTutorial – importing the animation pack from MarketplaceWhat can you do with Persona?Tutorial – assigning existing animation to a PawnWhy do we need to blend animations?Tutorial – creating a Blend AnimationTutorial – setting up the Animation Blueprint to use a Blend AnimationAnimGraphEventGraph
Artificial intelligence
Understanding a Behavior TreeExercise – designing the logic of a Behavior TreeExample – creating a simple Behavior TreeHow to implement a Behavior Tree in Unreal Engine 4Navigation MeshTutorial – creating a Navigation MeshTutorial – setting up AI logicCreating the Blueprint AIControllerCreating the Blueprint characterAdding and configuring Mesh to a Character BlueprintLinking AIController to the Character BlueprintAdding basic animationConfiguring AIControllerNodes to add in EventGraphAdjusting movement speedCreating the BlackBoardDataAdding a variable into BlackBoardDataCreating a Behavior TreeCreating a simple BT using a Wait taskUsing the Behavior TreeCreating a custom task for the Behavior TreeUsing the PickTargetLocation custom task in BTReplacing the Wait task with Move ToImplementing AI in games
Summary
6. A Particle System and Sound
What is a particle system?
Exploring an existing particle system
The main components of a particle system
Modules
The design principles of a particle system
ResearchThe iterative creative process
Example – creating a fireplace particle system
Crafting P_FireplaceObserving the solo emitters of the systemDeleting non-essential emittersFocusing on editing the Flame emitterLooking at the complete particle system
Sound and music
How do we produce sound and music for games?
Audio quality
How are sounds recorded?
The Unreal audio system
Getting audio into Unreal
The audio formatThe sampling rateBit depthSupported sound channels
Unreal sound formats and terminologies
The Sound Cue Editor
How to open the Sound Cue Editor
Exercise – importing a sound into the Unreal Editor
Exercise – adding custom sounds to a level
Configuring the Sound Cue Editor
Summary
7. Terrain and Cinematics
Introducing terrain manipulationExercise – creating hills using the Landscape toolLandscape creation optionsMultiple landscapesUsing custom materialImporting height maps and layersScaleThe number of componentsSection Size
Introducing cinematics
Why do we need cut scenes?
Cinematic techniques
Adjusted camera functionsZoomField of viewDepth of fieldCamera movementTiltPanDolly/track/truckPedestalCapturing a sceneLightingFramingSome framing rulesShot typesShot plan
Getting familiar with the Unreal Matinee Editor
Exercise – creating a simple matinee sequence
Summary
Index

Content preview from Learning Unreal Engine Game Development

BSP Brush versus Static Mesh

In game development, many objects in the game are Static Meshes. Why is that so? Static Mesh is considered more efficient, especially for a complex object with many vertices, as they can be cached to a video memory and are drawn by the computer's graphics card. So, Static Meshes are preferred when creating objects as they have better render performance, even for complex objects. However, this does not mean that BSP Brushes do not have a role in creating games.

When BSP Brush is simple, it can still be used without causing too much serious impact to the performance. BSP Brush can be easily created in the Unreal Editor, hence it is very useful for quick prototyping by the game/level designers. Simple BSP Brushes can be ...

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Unreal Engine 4 Game Development Essentials

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Learning Unreal Engine Game Development

by Joanna Lee

BSP Brush versus Static Mesh

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