Making my First Game in Unreal Engine (In 2.1 weeks) - Devlog

This devlog shows how I made the game WackABone in a couple of weeks for halloween in order to learn unreal engine. The game was made using blender 3d for modelling, rigging and animation, and UE4 as the game engine.
The game can be tested out here: jensven.itch.io/wackabone
Follow me on twitter: / jensven1
Music in background of video:
“Bacterial Love” by Rolemusic is licensed under CC BY 4.0
Source:
freemusicarchive.org/music/Ro...
Licence:
creativecommons.org/licenses/...
(The song has been adapted to fit the video and is not played in its entirety)

[@dannelalbert7111]

So inspiring that you made this in such a short period of time. Thanks for sharing!

[@JensDev]

Thanks a lot :)

[@VolpRS]

This is one of my favourite ever devlogs. Please make more little games like this, I would love to watch them! :)

[@ChristopherDiot]

Le résultat est génial, surtout en si peu de temps. Merci pour le partage, c'est très inspirant ! :)

[@unreal_metronomus678]

Awesome and very amusing Präsentation! Well done 😁

[@iladiani]

looking to make a video game for fun as well as university work, this looks amazing and is inspiring!!

[@gregoriofranchini1315]

cool, keep the great work up

[@JensDev]

Thanks :D

[@pr1meKun]

Amazing work where did you learn blueprints?

[@JensDev]

KZbin tutorials 😎I went through tutorials explaining all the basics so that I had a proper understanding of how it works. Now I just build on what I know whenever I need to implement something more complex :)

[@blackhatcs7962]

Med hjälp av din humor så kommer kanalen att explodera! Fortsätt kämpa :)

[@philipjerzak5317]

looks really good

[@JensDev]

Thanks a lot!

[@JamesonVex]

This is cool idea, it might be cool to add some coffins for where you throw the skulls instead of just square holes in the ground.

[@seancstudio]

Whens Grave Digger hitting the Steam Store?! Been waiting to wishlist. 😂. (Great vlog!)

[@JupXyou]

I LIKE IT BROHH

[@juancalara3997]

Very cool!

[@JensDev]

Thank you :)

[@falconvisuals3357]

keep it up

[@SwordMainEXE]

nice

[@jbleez4771]

epic

[@ferdinandkasangati5089]

hey my friend, can you tell me your experience by swithing from Unity to unreal? (me i use both, but still didnt learn unreal engine, so... id like to knwo your opinion

[@JensDev]

Of course! I would say the transition was very smooth for me. The workflow in unreal came much more natural to me compared to unity. I spent a few weeks learning the basics of blueprint and now I just learn new things as I develop. Personally, I work much more effective and get more done in unreal so I won't be switching back to unity!

[@ferdinandkasangati5089]

at 3:16 it's actually funny how they(AIs) all stare at you🤣

[@Hassan-mv2eu]

How muxh time you took to learn engine before creating this game? P.s. this is literally amazing.

[@JensDev]

I didn't actually spend that much time, I think a week maybe to understand how blueprints work then the rest I learnt while making the game! Thanks a lot! :)

[@Hassan-mv2eu]

@@JensDev by learning blueprints in a week, can you now make any game logic you want?

[@JensDev]

@@Hassan-mv2eu No, it still takes time, I learn new stuff everyday I just learnt the basics to understand what I was doing, I still need to look stuff up fairly often even though I'm even better now :)

[@Hassan-mv2eu]

@@JensDev are u still continuing? Im eagerly waiting for your next video. Good luck 👍

[@Fighter05]

No point really in learning C++. C# in Unity is essentially a scripting language and runs ontop of the engine. C++ in Unreal is actually compiling the code into the engine. C++ really exists for modern Unreal Engine when extreme performance is required, for example multiplayer games. Where a code execution time of say 7 milliseconds for a server replication command using Blueprints is too slow for say a 50v50 multiplayer game so compiling your network code into C++ to get that down to 3ms can be required. Also C++ is better if you are running a high server tick. All more advanced concepts and not something an indie team is really going to experience using the engine. But, there will be a point where you will learn it as part of your journey as a Unreal developer. I actually recommend people learn blueprints first, because blueprints are exposed across the entire engine, for example meta sounds, Control Rig, Niagara etc, all core components of Unreal Engine have blueprints as part of their workflow. Also C++ in Unreal Engine is more like U++ then writing in native C++. There is a particular way Epic wants you to do things and that workflow is also reflected in blueprints. UPROPERTY(EditAnywhere) UStaticMeshComponent* Door; UPROPERTY(EditAnywhere) UStaticMeshComponent* DoorFrame; UPROPERTY(EditAnywhere) UCurveFloat *DoorCurve; UFUNCTION() void ControlDoor(); UFUNCTION() void ToggleDoor(); UFUNCTION() void SetState(); bool Open; bool ReadyState; float RotateValue; float CurveFloatValue; float TimelineValue; FRotator DoorRotation; FTimeline MyTimeline; Here is a code example for opening a door in C++. So imagine opening a new actor blueprint. You would then on the left add a static mesh object, that is the door, you would then add another static mesh for the door frame. this C++ example is doing the same. It is then declaring functions, which adding functions is the same as in blueprint, then working down the left side of the actor window again you are declaring variables. The timeline utility is a tool that you call in the engine, it functions the same as in blueprints and it does in C++. If you are familiar with blueprints you can see that there exists a lot of similarities to developing in C++. Thats why I recommend learning blueprints first, going into Unreal and learning how to write U++ while not fully understanding how the engine works would be an incredibly steep learning curve. And also not really required. Even Epic Games used a lot of blueprints for Fortnite, and only kept networking native C++. They converted blueprint to C++ only when they wanted to release Fortnite on the Nintendo Switch and mobile at a solid 60 FPS. Blueprints also teach you how to manage memory in Unreal Engine a lot better then C++. Because of the speed advantages a lot of people will use tick functions for something like, GetPlayerLocation() AIMoveToLocation() for example. But in reality you don't want to for performance be checking where the player is at in memory. If the player is standing still for example, you're wasting process time pulling the same result 120 times a second. What you want to do is, when the player is moving, pull the players movement vector, When that vector changes you get a point in the field ahead of the player, if the player changes directions, fire a new event to the AI that gets a new move location in the new field. So a location update is sent to the AI only when the player changes directions or moves in a constant direction, and update the constant direction about every 30 frames or so. Event driven design like that is core to having high performance games be them single player or multiplayer games. As you're process load is reduced by over 95% then solving the solution using a tick. Freeing up more compute overhead for graphics, particle effects etc, or for multiplayer games, having vastly improved server performance. There are lots of examples like that, but its just a lot easier to learn how Unreal Engine wants you to set up complex systems. You can also learn engine functions easier. Like when you right click the blueprint editor window and see hundreds of functions in the dropdown window, those are all things Unreal has solved for you. C++ has more functions exposed. But that is because epics engineers design new things first in C++, then are later created as blueprint callable.

[@JensDev]

Hey, thanks for this thorough explanation, it is actually really helpful. I had only understood that using blueprints would be slightly less performant but for the games I make it would most likely not matter. Reading this I am less worried I'm gonna have to delve into c++ too much in the future. Even so, the way you explained it is build up makes it sound less intimidating. Thanks!

[@Aladius]

Could you please make a tutorial/give me a copy of this blueprints? I'm a indie game dev,I would love to study this project :)

[@rodneyosumo3970]

Where did you learn blueprint without learning C++?

[@JensDev]

I went through a few tutorials before I started this project so I got the basics of how blueprints worked. I've used unity in the past and know how to do some code in Java and C#, which I felt helped in understanding blueprints. Since it's a visual tool I think it's much easier for a beginner to get into :)

[@drawmaster77]

nice! Needs faster animations on the character though, he looks like he's floating through air.

[@DeAdventUriSt]

Is that C++ Language only to learn for Unreal Engine if you want to start developing a simple game or there's something else add on it ??

[@JensDev]

not sure if I understand your question, but you are not required to learn C++ to make a game in unreal engine. You can just learn blueprints if you want to. C++ seems to be only required for massive games where performance is essential.

[@gaming4K]

Well i just tried it unfortunately for me the controls don't feel so great, it's hard to manouver the character, the pick up of the candles a little small i think the collision box is small. It's pretty hard to hit the enemies too. It's awesome for a first game tho. :D Oh yeah and throwing the candles with right mouse button is so uncomfortable for me. xD I would like to throw with E or right mouse button. 😅

[@MyPoodleDiary]

Did you take a course?

[@JensDev]

No I didn't but I went through various tutorials to learn different aspects of how to make the game. Especially I spent some times learning the fundamentals of blueprints :)

[@me-ld2gq]

I guess you already figured but use functions and macros.

[@JensDev]

Yeah I'm getting better with the blueprints each day! Learning new stuff all the time :)

[@GoshJosh]

idk why but my brain is just so dumb lol, idk what anything means in the blueprints

[@ForeverNils]

So you've made all animations by yourself and didn't use mixamo?

[@JensDev]

Indeed! I made the animations myself for this game.

[@ForeverNils]

@@JensDev And did you use Blender or Unreal to create animations or Maya?

[@JensDev]

@@ForeverNils It's all done in Blender!

[@extra-lives]

That Horror game ??

[@GG-cn6es]

I was excited about Blueprints because I don't know how to code, but man... it looks even harder to learn than c++!