Book Image

Blueprints Visual Scripting for Unreal Engine - Second Edition

By : Marcos Romero, Brenden Sewell
Book Image

Blueprints Visual Scripting for Unreal Engine - Second Edition

By: Marcos Romero, Brenden Sewell

Overview of this book

Blueprints is the visual scripting system in Unreal Engine that enables programmers to create baseline systems and can be extended by designers. This book helps you explore all the features of the Blueprint Editor and guides you through using Variables, Macros, and Functions. You’ll also learn about object-oriented programming (OOP) and discover the Gameplay Framework. In addition to this, you’ll learn how Blueprint Communication allows one Blueprint to access information from another Blueprint. Later chapters will focus on building a fully functional game using a step-by-step approach. You’ll start with a basic first-person shooter (FPS) template, and each chapter will build on the prototype to create an increasingly complex and robust game experience. You’ll then progress from creating basic shooting mechanics to more complex systems, such as user interface elements and intelligent enemy behavior. The skills you will develop using Blueprints can also be employed in other gaming genres. In the concluding chapters, the book demonstrates how to use arrays, maps, enums, and vector operations. Finally, you’ll learn how to build a basic VR game. By the end of this book, you’ll have learned how to build a fully functional game and will have the skills required to develop an entertaining experience for your audience.
Table of Contents (22 chapters)
Free Chapter
1
Section 1: Blueprint Fundamentals
6
Section 2: Developing a Game
11
Section 3: Enhancing the Game
16
Section 4: Advanced Blueprints

Points and vectors

There is a structure in Unreal Engine named Vector, which has three variables of the float type: X, Y, and Z. These values can be used to represent a point (or location) in 3D space. They can also be used as a mathematical vector and represent movement.

Let's first look at an example of using Vector as a point. The following screenshot has two Actors. One Actor represents a character and the other represents a couch:

The next screenshot shows the character's Location. The Location variable of the Transform structure is of the Vector type, and one Unreal unit equals 1.0 cm by default:

We can represent the character's Location simply as (50.0, 0.0, 20.0). The couch's Location is (450.0, 0.0, 20.0), which can be seen in the next screenshot:

Now, let's see how to use a vector to represent movement. We are going to instruct our character...