Unreal Engine

The last time I used Unreal Engine was when I recreated Sorayama, a level from the Playstation 2 version of Unreal Tournament 99. It was one of my favorite levels, and I felt it needed a face lift for the new (at the time) Unreal Tournament 2004. Which quickly became a mainstay at our LAN parties. Building that level wasn’t a particularly in-depth experience, but it has always left with a fond memory of Unreal Engine. The engine is nothing like I remember it now; 14 years of updates will do that. After having tried several other engines over the past few years, I can safely say that UE4 is the best experience I’ve had yet. Save for a few crashes and the occasional caching issue, it gets the job done.

What really drew me back in, after so many years, was the stable release of Unreal Engine’s new Blueprints Visual Scripting system. Blueprints allow users with less programming experience a lower barrier of entry into a world of coding. While Blueprints don’t offer anywhere near as much control over the engine as C++ does, I’ve found that the system is still surprisingly versatile. As an added bonus, a C++ package can be converted into a Blueprint, and vice versa. I saw Blueprints as a way to visually learn how UE4’s components interact.

I’ve long procrastinated a goal of mine. The goal to become a competent C++ developer. I have never found myself with a fitting project to begin pursuing that goal. Blueprints’ ease of use, as well as its limitations have created that opportunity for me. I plan to charge through Blueprints until I run into something I’d like to accomplish that it doesn’t support. Once that happens, I’ll have a great starting point for digging into C++ with intimate knowledge of the systems I’ve already created.

The documentation is very thorough. The only thing I could ask for is better maintenance on legacy features when new patches are released. I’ve come across some pages that are inconsistent with the current user interface and workflow. I still found use in them, but developers who are likely to follow the info verbatim are going to get easily lost.

I was late to the party with using Discord. The reason I suddenly bring that up is because one of the best resources out there for UE4 is the Unreal Slackers Discord server. This seems to be the place to be if you’re interested in interacting with experts and leveraging their advice, or if you’re already knowledgeable and you just want to help out. I’ve asked a few questions in the relevant channels, and have gotten well informed responses in a reasonable amount of time. As long as you’re explicit with your inquiry, the other users are likely to chime in with an answer.

 

Twitch Creative

I have sporadic experience with streaming. Many years ago I would regularly stream my 3D modeling sessions. 2-4 viewers was considered a busy day for me. Fast forward to a few months ago, and I find myself streaming co-op games on Twitch. Which is fun, but I would garner a similarly sized audience. I was never looking to hit it big. There was always something fascinating about interacting with viewers. These viewers are present because they share your interest enough to spectate whatever game you’re broadcasting.

One day, while browsing what channels were available to watch, I came across the Twitch Creative community. I was under the impression that Twitch was only for playing games, what was this? It was there that I found creative people who were sculpting, cooking, sewing, composing music, and developing games. I decided to stick around and chat. They were excited to answer my questions, happily showcased what they were making, and shared insight into their creative processes. Making things invigorates me in a way that’s difficult to quantify. Sharing these things with others is quite rewarding too. So I switched my channel to Creative, and gave it a shot.

I noticed a small spike in my viewer count. The viewer count wasn’t what really fueled my interest to continue, it was the fact that viewers kept coming back to chat and check up on my progress. Clearly I was more entertaining with the things I was making than the things I was playing. This created an interesting side effect, I was now looking forward to sitting down and working.

Game development is always fun at first, but it quickly becomes difficult and tedious work, at which point you have to have the discipline to continue through to fruition. This has always been a struggle for me. The difference now was that I felt compelled to work for longer periods of time. Motivation came easy, and the audience naturally generated the discipline I needed. After a few streams, I set a regular streaming schedule, and have had little trouble sticking to it. The effort required to work was replaced with habit. The points didn’t matter, I had found momentum.

Fast forward a few weeks. I am now streaming 3 evenings each week and making steady progress. I’m learning a ton, and have made some good friends. People much more experience than I with UE4 are visiting my chat and giving me valuable technical advice, which has sped up resolving issues that would have otherwise blocked me for hours.

I’ve noticed there is a common ground for those who have helped me the most, and that is the official Unreal Engine Twitch channel. This is where the programmers and technical artists behind the development of Unreal Engine regularly give detailed talks about new features, as well as tutorials on how to make all sorts of cool things using their engine. These streams bring in hundreds of viewers, and yet the staff at Epic Games still manages to answer community questions live during the stream. Interacting directly with the creators of the engine is a unique opportunity that I never imagined I would have, let alone several times a week.

I never would have imagined this much support could exist when I dug through forum posts to figure out how to make a lift go up for my version of Sorayama. Both Unreal Engine and the Twitch Creative community have really changed how I approach game development. I’m still new to both, but it’s already been an awesome experience.