Chapter 1, Getting Started with Unreal Blueprints, introduces you to the Unreal Engine editor and Blueprint graph. We will create the first project on both Unreal Engine and Visual Studio 2013.

Chapter 2, Tic-Tac-Toe, covers a simple game: a player versus player, classic board game. You will learn how to the create a Blueprint graph with nodes and wires.

Chapter 3, C++ Code – PAC-MAN, explains the creation of a classic coin-up game only using the C++ code. You will learn how to communicate between Visual Studio and UE4 in this chapter.

Chapter 4, UFO Run - Play with the Environment Effects, explains the particle effect system and user interface tools by creating an action game, starting from a template offered by the engine.

Chapter 5, Top-Down Shooter, helps you to play with animations and create an artificial intelligence by customizing the assets that are offered by the marketplace.

Chapter 6, A Platform Maze, explains how to use Matinee to create short cinematic clips or move objects around a level. Use the physics to handle ragdolls and destructible objects.

Chapter 7, An Open World Survival Game, creates huge worlds with the terrain manipulation tools that are offered by the engine, populate them with object using the brush tools, and give them a life by creating an inventory system using the knowledge learned during the book.

You will require the following software:

A knowledge of basic C++ is recommended; however, not required. Some generic knowledge of the game programming terminology could be useful; however, not necessary.

This book is ideal for intermediate-level developers who know how to use Unreal Engine and want to go through a series of projects that will further develop their expertise. A working knowledge of C++ is a must.

In this book, you will find a number of text styles that distinguish between different kinds of information. Here are some examples of these styles and an explanation of their meaning.

Code words in text, database table names, folder names, filenames, file extensions, pathnames, dummy URLs, user input, and Twitter handles are shown as follows: "We can include other contexts through the use of the include directive".

A block of code is set as follows:

#pragma once

#include "GameFramework/Actor.h"
#include "Collectable.generated.h"

UCLASS()
class PACMAN_API ACollectable : public AActor
{
  GENERATED_BODY()
  
public:
  // Sets default values for this actor's properties
  ACollectable();

  // Called when the game starts or when spawned
  virtual void BeginPlay() override;
  
  // Called every frame
  virtual void Tick( float DeltaSeconds ) override;
};

New terms and important words are shown in bold. Words that you see on the screen, for example, in menus or dialog boxes, appear in the text like this: "Click on the Blueprints button in the Level Editor toolbar."

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