To create a computer game, you need to choose an engine on which it will be built at the stage of developing an idea. Unreal Engine, which once appeared in 1998, became a real bomb in game design. Developed and maintained by Epic Games, this game engine is free. Free Unreal Engine is popular among developers due to its versatility and platform openness – using its features. In almost no other free engine, you will be able to develop an AAA-level game.
Statista reports about 27% of gamers in the UK use Unreal Engine. And this is almost a third of the game engine market!
In this article, we will take a closer look at how the programming process in the Unreal Engine works.
Why Unreal Engine?
This question is easy to answer. With the Unreal Engine, you can develop high-graphics mobile and PC games. There is no need to write code for the Unreal Engine, which immediately simplifies the interaction process. With the Unreal Engine, you can freely design every 2D and 3D game.
At the same time, Unreal Engine became free only in 2015. However, game developers on this Engine pay a 5% royalty after their game is ready and distributed to customers. The Engine is based on C ++ and is suitable for developing games for Windows; Mac OS, Linux; Xbox; Game console; Wii: Dreamcast, and other platforms.
The Unreal Engine Programming Language
Without a doubt, any dedicated development team developing games is interested in which programming language the Unreal Engine works.
Unreal Engine uses the programming language C ++. In addition, the Unreal Engine uses the Blueprints visual script, which offers a faster drag and drops scheduling option.
What do you need to know about C++?
C ++ is a general-purpose, high-level, object-oriented programming language. The first name for C ++ was “C with Classes,” which served as an add-on for the C programming language.
What is Blueprints?
Blueprints is a visual programming tool used in Unreal Engine 4 and Unreal Engine 5. It allows you to create motion codes and structures with all sorts of references to visual elements.
Features of Unreal Engine programming
Many game developers are wondering: what language for Unreal Engineering they should choose to create their game. However, there is not much to think about here. If you have advanced knowledge of C ++ programming, you can efficiently perform operations with advanced algorithms. Blueprint is perfect for those new to their craft. If you are good with software and plan to develop games using an advanced algorithm, you should choose C ++.
What resources do you need to create an Unreal Engine game?
As of today, the latest version of the Engine is Unreal Engine 5. However, the system requirements remain the same as for UE 4. It means to test your games on UE, you need:
- processor – 4 cores with a frequency of 2.5 GHz or higher;
- RAM – at least 8 GB;
- a video card that supports DirectX 11
And you should remember that the Engine is constantly being updated and improved; Epic Games is releasing new packages and optimizing the development environment for new devices. The critical goal of Unreal Engine is to simplify the development of a quality project, including a project with playable and stable multiplayer. Numerous resources with the ability to control game mechanics and graphics – one of the main features of the UE.
New in Unreal Engine 5
Forbes writes that at the presentation of the new version of the game engine, two aspects of Unreal Engine 5 were highlighted: Nantines, which are the millions upon billions of tiny polygons and triangles that make up the detailed objects shown in the demo, and Lumen, a new lighting system that responds better to changes in the environment than ever.
Unreal Engine Game Programming and Coding
Game programming is almost no different from other creative jobs. It would help if you also had tools, hardware, a development environment, and an end goal. The more proficient you are with your devices, the better the result will be.
Game programming has one peculiarity – you get immediate feedback on your work. That is, you literally see whether your character moves on the screen if it should or not. Therefore, you can immediately start to find out if something went wrong. This process is repeated until you know precisely how to solve specific problems.
Without a doubt, if you are fluent in C ++, you can take advantage of the large codebase with documentation provided in the Unreal Engine. The Unreal Engine is easy to manage, and the built-in visual scripting language makes prototyping very easy without hard coding. The best part is the same problem solving, and you can apply logic to schemas, create classes, functions, variables, etc., and it is much more error-proof as you don’t have to deal with any syntactic mistakes.
Unreal Engine versatility
Unreal Engine has proven to game creators that you can create your magical worlds without severe labor costs. That is how Unreal Engine became a universal engine for creating games.
If you want to create your own game, you can do so using the Unreal Editor that comes with the software. Even with minimal experience with computer technology, you can master this editor and specialize in developing your games. Plus, Unreal Engine has given you unlimited permission to create and publish games. Unlimited resource use is offered from the UE Asset Store.
The world of computer games is a separate universe of users and creators of these worlds, which is so closely connected with our world and at the same time so different. Many companies like https://mlsdev.com/blog/top-custom-software-development-companies specialize in game development and design, and you can also order these services to create your unique game. After all, nothing is impossible in the world of gaming today.
If you are starting to learn to program and want to start developing games, you can safely begin by learning Unreal Engine because the creators of this Engine have done everything to make it easy, even for a beginner.
Author’s bio: Anastasiia Lastovetska is a technology writer at MLSDev, a software development company that builds web & mobile app solutions from scratch. She researches the area of technology to create great content about app development, UX/UI design, tech & business consulting.