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

Casting in Blueprints

There is a node named Cast To that tries to convert reference variable types to new specified types. To understand casting, it is necessary to remember the concept of inheritance between classes, as we covered in Chapter 3, Actors and the Gameplay Framework.

The following diagram represents a Blueprint called BP_GameModeWithScore. Game Mode Base is the parent class of this Blueprint. Based on the inheritance concept, we can use a variable of the Game Mode Base object reference type to reference an instance of BP_GameModeWithScore. However, this variable is unable to access the variables and Functions that were defined in the BP_GameModeWithScore Blueprint:

Therefore, if we have a Game Mode Base object reference, we can try to cast this reference using the Function Cast To BP_GameModeWithScore. If the instance is of the BP_GameModeWithScore type, then Cast...