Introduction Unreal Engine 4 is the latest version of the Unreal games development software produced by Epic Games. This software is responsible for titles such as Unreal Tournament, Gears of War and Deus X. The latest software offers a new interface and a different mode of delivery. There are two options for creating maps and content: blueprint (to create levels with visual scripting) and code (to create levels using C++ programming language). At the introductory stage we will be using blueprint mode. Hardware and Software minimum specifications If you want to install your own version of the software you need to create an account with epic and pay 19 euros per month you can cancel your subscription any time and continue using the version you are working with if you do this you are not entitled to further upgrades. Bear in mind the system requirements for graphics capability and make sure your system supports the editor. The software can be used with IOS or Windows you will need a relatively modern and powerful pc. The minimum required specifications are as follows: Unreal Engine has some specific hardware and software requirements for running the game and editor or developing with the engine. Recommended Hardware Running/Developing with the Engine Processor Quad-core Intel or AMD, 2.5 GHz or faster Memory 8 GB RAM Video Card NVIDIA GeForce 470 GTX or AMD Radeon 6870 HD series or higher frushton Page 1
Minimum Software Requirements Running the Engine Operating System DirectX Version.NET Version Windows 7/8 64-bit UE4's crash reporting feature requires you to have Windows Error Reporting enabled, which is the default. If you have disabled this feature, please enable it. DirectX End-User Runtimes (June 2010).NET 4.0 (should already be installed via Windows Update) All of the required software to run the engine is installed automatically by the installer. Creating a New Project First double click on the Unreal Engine Icon on the desktop to start the program. The first thing you have to do is sign into the Unreal Account. The details are as follows: Username: Password: fiona.rushton@wcs.ac.uk j4m3sw4tt frushton Page 2
username password Once you have inserted the username and password click on the white arrow to take you to the introductory screen. You will notice lots of links to forums and tutorials you should try some of these out in your own time. Click on the launch button to start the editor. The browser gives you a range of options relating to the type of map you want to create. Scroll down and select Blueprint First Person. Make sure you have a tick in the box beside Include starter content Name your project (the default will be MyProject) you should add a version number and your own initials. The file will automatically save in your My Documents area check the path by clicking on the down arrow at the right hand side. Now click on the Create Project button. frushton Page 3
The Interface The editor shows a 3D perspective view with some assets already in place. There are different menus and toolbars surrounding the viewport which all offer different options. frushton Page 4
Now that the scene has been created you can try it out by clicking on play on the top toolbar. Press the left hand button on your mouse to fire a bullet you should see some physics in the game if you hit a block. Press Esc to leave the playing mode. The first thing we are going to do is to hide some components. To do this, click on the Blueprints folder in the content browser on the left hand side of the screen. Then scroll down the icons and double click on MyCharacter you will see a window appear with a blueprint tutorial guide panel on top close this panel down by clicking on the x The window shows all the scripted behaviours for the character - not something to look at just now instead click on the components tab on the top right hand side of the window it should change to a yellow colour as you scroll over it. On the left hand side under Components click on the small arrow beside FirstPersonCamera to open up the tree. Now click on Mesh1P. In Details search for the term owner You should see a tick against Only Owner See you should also put a tick against owner No See Now click on the Compile button on the top tool bar of this window and the arms and gun should disappear from view. frushton Page 5
Now close the window down and trying clicking on Play the arms should have disappeared although you can still fire a bullet. Now click on File> New Level Build from the Default level so click on default and save Click on the playerstart and press delete on the keyboard do the same with the floor. We will start laying out the geometry that will make up our level. Look over at the Modes panel (top left) click and drag a box onto the viewport. frushton Page 6
On the right hand panel brush settings change the dimensions to: x 500 y 500 z 20 Now we have the start of our geometry we need to snap it to the grid first set the grid setting to 50 Select the floor panel by clicking on it and then press the ctrl + end on the keyboard this will snap the edge to the grid. We will make a copy of this floor panel and move it to the right. Hold down alt and click and drag the x axis translation widget arrow over to the right make sure the edges meet. Now hold down Ctrl and click both floor panels to select them together. Click on Alt and using the z axis translation widget drag a copy of both panels out to the front. You should end up with something like this: Now we are going to build walls working from copies of the floor panels. First copy one section of the floor upwards. And change the dimensions as follows: frushton Page 7
X 500 Y 20 Z 300 Lift the panel up into the air and click the end key you should see it snapping down to floor level. Now you have to move the perspective around a bit to see the corner using the widget move the panel so that it almost lines up with the bottom corner you will need to change the snapping to 10 to exactly match up the corners. That s one wall panel in place use the skills you have learned to copy and place another panel beside it. As you did with the floor, use the ctrl key to select both wall panels and the alt click and drag to copy them over to the other side make sure to line them up correctly. frushton Page 8
Now create a back wall click on one of the wall portions and alt click and drag a copy over to the middle of the building. The new dimensions for this are: X 20 Y 480 Z 300 Place this panel along one of the empty edges and make sure it matches up to the edge of the existing wall. Once you are happy with its position select it and use Alt click and drag to move a copy over into place beside it you should now have 3 walls. Note: if you make a mistake with anything you can always use Edit>Undo from the main menu. We are going to leave the front of the building open just now. Next to make the room double height select all the parallel wall panels and using alt click and drag move a copy up on top of the existing walls. Copy the back right panel and move up too. Now we are going to use geometry mode to change the dimensions of the top back left wall panel to change it into a box shape. First select the top left wall panel. Then go into Geometry Mode this allows us to manipulate geometry shapes and angles. Geometry Mode is the rightmost icon under Modes at the top left of the screen frushton Page 9
Note the look of the panel in the viewport has changed there are different types of edit we can perform now but what we want to do is to extend the front face out to make a box to take up the gap left on the back wall. Click on the face it should turn yellow then use the translation widget (probably the red one) to click and drag the box shape to snap to the back wall edge. IT IS IMPORTANT TO CLICK BACK TO PLACE MODE after you have finished with geometry that s the first icon under Modes. You will note that shadows are developing in your room now which might make your editing more difficult. You can place a light in the space. To do this hold down the l key (l for light) and double click near the floor you should see a point light appear which you can move around to give more light. Now make a ceiling ctrl click three floor panels (remember you have a top on the box) and alt click and drag the vertical translation widget. Go round the outside of the room and check everything lines up make small adjustments if you need to. Your room should now look something like this: frushton Page 10
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