Hi everyone

This is my first post here, I am glad I found this forum. It was helpful seeing discussions here as a guest and decided this is a really friendly community and hence I joined.

The topic question seems somewhat absurd but I am ready to take the challenge and learn.

I would like to learn everything to do with Unreal, so I can work on my game and execute the idea as best I can.

The other aspects of game development, (game design, concepts, 3d models, marketing and promotion etc...) can be taken care of. At the moment I am learning C++ at Pluralsight, I have a free account from Microsoft which you can get as well.

Here:

Anyhow, do you guys have a comprehensive resource for Unreal which covers everything in clear and concise manner. I don't mind reading but I would greatly prefer video as it's the way I best learn.

I advise you to not aim to learn "everything" (in Unreal or other technologies), as it can be a futile endeavor and lead to frustration because of the huge ammount of content. Instead, aim to learn what you need to build your ideas (and most of the time it's much less than "everything"). Unreal has a steep learning curve, so it's good to break the learning in manageable chunks.

Anyway, Unreal site has a ton of learning resources, so it's a good starting point. They also have a Youtube channel, so check it out and see if it helps. Other than that, you could check online courses such as this on Udemy . I'm doing it, and liking so far.

14 minutes ago, TerraSkilll said:

I advise you to not aim to learn "everything" (in Unreal or other technologies), as it can be a futile endeavor and lead to frustration becaus of the huge ammount of content. Instead, aim to learn what you need to build your ideas (and most of the time it's much less than "everything"). Unreal has a steep learning curve, so it's good to break the learning in manageable chunks.

Anyway, Unreal site has a ton of learning resources, so it's a good starting point. They also have a Youtube channel, so check it out and see if it helps. Other than that, you could check online courses such as this on Udemy . I'm doing it, and liking so far.

 

Oh wow. This is great, it'll keep me busy for a while. I wasn't sure whether unreal was for me but skimming through their video tutorials and content is very reassuring. Live training in their YouTube channel is great as well, I also happen to come across other channels like quixel and maverick in recommended section that are JUST WHAT I WAS looking for!

Thanks TerraSkilll, will remember to give you credits in the game!

And I have quite some time to learn so the learning curve won't be a problem but you are right, I should learn just what I need, to do it well. Thanks again for the suggestions.

These are the official Unreal tutorials, in them you will find the basics of using Unreal. The tutorials cover mostly what make unreal different from other engines. If you have made games before these will be very useful.

https://docs.unrealengine.com/latest/INT/Videos/

1 minute ago, Scouting Ninja said:

These are the official Unreal tutorials, in them you will find the basics of using Unreal. The tutorials cover mostly what make unreal different from other engines. If you have made games before these will be very useful.

https://docs.unrealengine.com/latest/INT/Videos/

I am a beginner in unreal so I haven't really made a game before but I have seen others make them. Also I have a question. I have heard elsewhere that it is possible to create games, of let's say intermediate complexity solely using blueprint rather than coding. If that's true should I invest my time in learning C++ or blueprint. I did begin learning C++ basics but that doesn't matter as I have also seen good amount of blueprint in action as well. Just wondering which path is best to take.

I would not advise learning C++ in the context of Unreal. The way you write C++ for Unreal is different enough from the way one writes "pure" C++ that learning it first may warp your understanding of what is something you do in C++ versus something you do in Unreal; for example, Unreal has a garbage collector implementation and an invasive macro-and-preparsing-based reflection system.

I'd recommend you focus your Unreal learning on Blueprints. If you want and feel capable of also learning C++ at the same time, spend some time working with it outside of Unreal, by writing some simple text-mode games in Visual Studio or whatever IDE you prefer. Guess-the-number games, Hangman or Blackjack are good basic games to try building in that fashion.

4 minutes ago, jpetrie said:

I would not advise learning C++ in the context of Unreal. The way you write C++ for Unreal is different enough from the way one writes "pure" C++ that learning it first may warp your understanding of what is something you do in C++ versus something you do in Unreal; for example, Unreal has a garbage collector implementation and an invasive macro-and-preparsing-based reflection system.

I'd recommend you focus your Unreal learning on Blueprints. If you want and feel capable of also learning C++ at the same time, spend some time working with it outside of Unreal, by writing some simple text-mode games in Visual Studio or whatever IDE you prefer. Guess-the-number games, Hangman or Blackjack are good basic games to try building in that fashion.

Thanks for the heads up. I started on the course TerraSkilll recommended, seems promising. It includes both blueprint and C++ so hopefully by the end I will be able to get a better overview. I am also inclined towards blueprint as I prefer things visually, but what scares me is that if I don't know C++ I won't be able to implement features that are more complex into my game. That is the sole reason I started on C++ rather than blueprint.

1 hour ago, Apixy said:

Also I have a question. I have heard elsewhere that it is possible to create games, of let's say intermediate complexity solely using blueprint rather than coding.

Any game you can make as a single developer or small team can be made just using blueprints.

There is some slowdown from the Blueprint system, yet it's very small and should go unnoticed; a transparent material in unreal is more expensive than using blueprints and you will need a few of them before you are done.

I have also noticed Blueprints is also much faster than Python and there are some top games made with Python; so Blueprints is more than enough to make a game.

Just one thing: Blueprints is still code it's just a visual code. You will still need to use your programming knowledge to use it.

1 hour ago, jpetrie said:

he way you write C++ for Unreal is different enough from the way one writes "pure" C++ that learning

This is of course true for all engines, for example using JavaScript and C# with Unity is noting like using them on there own.

I find that Unreal's blueprints is more similar to C# than C++.

1 hour ago, Apixy said:

but what scares me is that if I don't know C++ I won't be able to implement features that are more complex into my game.

Not true at all. When Unreal 4 was first launched it was partly true that some complex things couldn't be done with just blueprints, you had to do complex workarounds or you know use C++.

The largest drawback from using Blueprints is the overhead of translating. It gets slower as your games get larger, yet by the time you make large games your team should have a C++ programmer.

Also if there is something that it turns out you need C++ to do it, then just learn how to do that one thing you need in C++.

I second the suggestion of learning some c++ outside of unreal (as you said you are doing, so keept it up ), this not for the purpose of using it inside unreal, but because it ease out the way into concept like what a variable is, what an array is, what control flow or loops are, and you can test this things quick and dirty in c++ with a window console program right after you write the usual "hello world" program, while maybe is not so immediate to get this kind of feedback and understanding straight into unreal blueprint, but maybe that is me.

I remember being super confused at variables 2y ago, that's why I decided to learn c++, and that cleared my mind from all the confusion 

Once you have this concept (functions, variables, data structures, inheritance) and so on, you'll be much more comfortable into blueprint

Humble Bundle currently have a bundle of books on learning Unreal and Unity, from Packt publishing.  As per usual for Humble Bundle, you can pay varying amounts to get more or less of the bundle depending on your desires, with the highest tier costing a minimum of $15.

I can't tell you what the quality of the books is, but I will mention that I have had a poor experience with some of their books in the past - some are really good quality, but others seem to be written by non-experts and are sometimes poorly edited.  If you're interested and don't want to just risk wasting money you could maybe check out some reviews of the included books before purchasing.

Other than that, agreed with some of the others: if you're interested in learning C++ and Unreal I would suggest learning C++ separately before approaching Unreal or to start learning Unreal with Blueprints while you learn C++ separately first.