Unreal Engine C++ Resources and Courses for Programmers

First Steps with Unreal Engine C++

Getting Started with Unreal Engine by Tommy Tran

In this course, the author will guide you through the basics of Unreal. It’s perfect for beginner game programmers.

Hands-on gameplay intro to Unreal Engine C++ by Tom Looman

Perfect place to kickstart your journey with C++ and Unreal Engine 4.

In this step-by-step video, you’ll learn how to make video games

Tom Looman will guide you through the setup of Visual Studio, and then you’re ready to dive deep into C++ programming.

Topics that are covered:

– Setup Visual Studio and dependencies

– Overlap queries to find nearby actors

– Creating material instances to change material parameters

– Spawning particle effects

– Creating a new C++ Actor class

– Exposing variables to Blueprint using UPROPERTY

– Spawning of Actors (And destroying)

– Scaling Actors when hit by a projectile

– Binding user input to a function in C++

Over 200 Unreal Useful Tips and Best Practices by Ari Arnbjörnsson

List of best practices and tips for Unreal Programmers compiled by Ari Arnbjörnsson – Unreal Engine Evangelist.

Unreal Programming Courses and Tutorials for Professionals

Unreal Engine C++ Pro Course by Tom Looman

Premium, project-based course where you create a third-person action game while learning the Unreal Engine C++ game development architecture. This tutorial will definitely help any software engineer advance in the role of UE Programmer!

Things that you’re going to learn are compatible with Unreal 5

Major Features:

• Building C++ Game Framework
• Combining C++ and Blueprint for flexible game logic
• Unreal Engine’s Gameplay Systems
• Event-based Programming Principles
• AI Programming (Behavior Trees, Blackboard, EQS, Custom C++ Nodes)
• Multiplayer Networking (Replication architecture, low-bandwidth, best practices)
• Saving Game State to Disk (Saving/loading player progression and world state)
• Performance Profiling Tools (Unreal Insights & in-editor tools)
• User Interfaces with UMG (using Event-based Principles)
• Async Asset Loading & Soft References

C++ Tutorial Collection (GitHub) by Orfeas Eleftherio

Dive into this vast Github collection of C++ Tutorials

The repository includes source code written for his tutorials regarding the implementation of Game Systems in Unreal Engine 4.

Topics covered:

• Custom AI Senses
• Custom Details Panel
• Editor Asset Creation
• In-Editor FilePicker
• Gameplay Debugger
• Http Calls
• JSON Parsing
• Adding Lib & Dll files in Unreal Engine projects
• Basic Networking functionality
• Procedural Mesh Creation
• Runtime Vertex Painting
• Save & Load
• Steam Integration
• Steam Achievements
• Profiling Code
• Unit Tests
• Functional Tests

Systems:

• Inventory System (pickup, equip, and drop items)
• Melee Combo System
• Dialog System
• Radar System
• Skill Tree
• Sniper Elite Cameras
• FlightPath System
• EQS Context
• EQS Custom Generator
• Cover system

Unreal Engine 5

Unreal Engine 5 Guided Tour by Chris Murphy Epic Games

Chris Murphy demonstrates Unreal Engine 5’s new features in the editor. Check how he creates a little scene from scratch and explains how the principles of the toolkit interact with one another while also providing some helpful pointers and tricks.

Lyra Starter Game Overview by Michael Noland Epic Games

Learn why Epic Games decided to create the Lyra Starter Game. Discover how you can use it to jumpstart the development of your new cross-platform game. The author discusses the sample’s contents and the modular development philosophy that underlies it, as well as provides a brief overview of how a gaming experience is constructed in UE5.

Large Numbers of Entities with Mass by Mario Palermo Epic Games

The Mass Framework in Unreal Engine 5 provides a new paradigm in how we stage things with activity in Unreal Editor. Although this system is significantly more scalable than the Actor and Components combination, mastering it to its full potential takes time and experience. This video shows how Mass makes data-oriented design easier by letting you build Fragments, Entities, and Processors from the beginning.

Unreal Engine Tools and Plugins for Programmers

Node Graph Assistant – more efficient workflows

Input Buffer – Input buffering plug-in for Unreal Engine 4

Extended Shading Pro – increases the shading possibilities without adding extra overhead. Plugin tools are simple to use and made to produce a variety of stylistic shadings, including Toon Shading, Flat Color Shading, Unlit with Shadows, Halftone Shading.

Dungeon Architect – Procedural Level Generation system

Rama Save System – Save system

Drakon.IK – Universal IK System – Save time and effort by utilizing only basic animation Blueprints to provide a realistic and fluid IK solution for different animals.

Logic Driver – a framework for implementing state machines

BlueprintUE – BlueprintUE is an unofficial tool. It’s a service for quickly sharing Unreal game engine blueprints with others.

Unreal Engine Communities

Unreal Slackers Discord Server

The Unreal Slackers Discord server is a very supportive and welcoming community. You are likely to receive a response if you specifically have queries on C++ or UMG (Unreal Motion Graphics).

Don’t be overly demanding; remember that it’s just folks helping each other out in their spare time.

Follow these people to learn more about Unreal!

Tom Looman – Tom is a huuuge contributor to the Unreal Community of developers. With 80+ tutorials made entirely by him, and his long experience with Unreal, you want to dig deep into what he has published over the years. Tom worked as a developer in Epic Games (creators of the Unreal), and for now, he’s working as a freelancer and educator for game developers.

More info: http://tomlooman.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/t_looman

Ben Humphreys – is an experienced Unreal developer who also likes to share his expertise on what he has learned about Unreal Engine and UX.

More info: https://benui.ca

Twitter: https://twitter.com/_benui

Ari Arnbjörnsson – Unreal Evangelist at Epic Games, game developer for 15 years, most recently as a Lead Programmer on Returnal.

Feel free to check his website and watch his presentations on Unreal

More info: https://ari.games

Twitter: https://twitter.com/flassari

Orfeas Eleftheriou

Unreal Engine Programmer who is making video games and tutorials in Unreal Engine 4

More info: https://orfeasel.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/orfeasel

We hope that the list we compiled for you will be helpful to you and that, with its help, you can level up your career as an Unreal Engine Programmer.

But if you have questions or would like to propose other valuable resources that we didn’t include here, please let us know on our socials!