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Learning C++ by Creating Games with UE4: Learn C++ programming with a fun, real-world application that allows you to create your own games!
Learn C++ programming with a fun, real-world application that allows you to create your own games!About This BookBe a top programmer by being able to visualize programming concepts; how data is saved in computer memory, and how a program flowsKeep track of player inventory, create monsters, and keep those monsters at bay with basic spell casting by using your C++ programming skills within Unreal Engine 4Understand the C++ programming concepts to create your own gamesWho This Book Is ForIf you are really passionate about games and have always wanted to write your own, this book is perfect for you. It will help you get started with programming in C++ and explore the immense functionalities of UE4.
What You Will LearnVisualize and truly understand C++ programming concepts, such as how data is saved in computer memory and how program flow worksWrite reusable code by grouping lines of code into functionsLearn how inheritance works-how traits of a base class are passed on to derived classesLearn about dynamic allocation of new memory for your programDesign your own world using the UE4 editorPractice programming by coding behaviors into your game world, including player inventory tracking, monsters, and NPCsIn DetailUnreal Engine 4 is used to create top notch, exciting games by AAA studios, and learning to program in C++ needs some serious motivation.
Learning C++ by Creating Games With UE4 will start with the basics of installing a code editor so you can begin to write C++ code. You will then learn how to write small, self-contained C++ programs that show you how to use the C++ language, without overwhelming you with too much code at the beginning. As we dig into more advanced C++ concepts, you will start to explore the functionality the UE4 engine has to offer. You will use the UE4 editor to create your own world, and then program in some seriously fun gameplay. By the end of this book, you should have a good grasp of how to program in C++.
What You Will LearnVisualize and truly understand C++ programming concepts, such as how data is saved in computer memory and how program flow worksWrite reusable code by grouping lines of code into functionsLearn how inheritance works-how traits of a base class are passed on to derived classesLearn about dynamic allocation of new memory for your programDesign your own world using the UE4 editorPractice programming by coding behaviors into your game world, including player inventory tracking, monsters, and NPCsIn DetailUnreal Engine 4 is used to create top notch, exciting games by AAA studios, and learning to program in C++ needs some serious motivation.
Learning C++ by Creating Games With UE4 will start with the basics of installing a code editor so you can begin to write C++ code. You will then learn how to write small, self-contained C++ programs that show you how to use the C++ language, without overwhelming you with too much code at the beginning. As we dig into more advanced C++ concepts, you will start to explore the functionality the UE4 engine has to offer. You will use the UE4 editor to create your own world, and then program in some seriously fun gameplay. By the end of this book, you should have a good grasp of how to program in C++.
534 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 20, 2015
9 people are currently reading
48 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
April 8, 2015
“Learning C++ by Creating Games with UE4” is one of the few books available for the Unreal 4 (UE4) gaming engine. It was written by William Sherif and published by Packt Publishing. Files that contain the code and assets for this book are available on Packt’s website as well as a PDF that contains the colored images from the book. Here is the link to the book at Packt website: http://bit.ly/1CyhlpZ
I have always wanted to learn C++ because it has been the computer language used by most professional game programmers. With all the casual and mobile games now available I don’t know if this statement is true anymore but nonetheless C++ is still a great language to learn.
The book starts out gently guiding you through the basics of C++. By chapter 3 you begin working with Unreal which is great since that is presumably why you bought this particular book. This chapter’s project involves changing the colors in the puzzle game that comes with the Unreal engine. I have to admit that I was quite thrilled with having this work when I hit the play button in the engine.
The middle chapters build on what you have learned previously. I have tried to teach myself C++ in the past and I usually end up stopping when I get to pointers. This book helped me understand what pointers are and how to use them. It accomplishes this using the Unreal engine. In addition, I enjoyed learning about classes and object-oriented programming.
Starting with chapter 8 you get to create a scene and build an example game that includes NPCs that will talk to your player character. You also learn how to cast spells, give the character an inventory and fight enemies. It is wonderful to see how all of this is done.
I really enjoyed this book but I also found it very frustrating. The code that is provided doesn’t always work and it is difficult to know where to exactly put each additional portion of code as it is introduced. This is not the author’s fault. The Unreal engine updates quite frequently and I discovered some issues with trying to use the code in the current version of Unreal. I think that any book written on Unreal 4 would almost have to be a living document that updates as the game engine does.
In summary I recommend the book’s first seven chapters as a fun way to learn C++. After that, you can use the book to learn C++ and UE4; but be prepared to use the Unreal engine’s own website to help you understand how to update the code so that your game works correctly.
I have always wanted to learn C++ because it has been the computer language used by most professional game programmers. With all the casual and mobile games now available I don’t know if this statement is true anymore but nonetheless C++ is still a great language to learn.
The book starts out gently guiding you through the basics of C++. By chapter 3 you begin working with Unreal which is great since that is presumably why you bought this particular book. This chapter’s project involves changing the colors in the puzzle game that comes with the Unreal engine. I have to admit that I was quite thrilled with having this work when I hit the play button in the engine.
The middle chapters build on what you have learned previously. I have tried to teach myself C++ in the past and I usually end up stopping when I get to pointers. This book helped me understand what pointers are and how to use them. It accomplishes this using the Unreal engine. In addition, I enjoyed learning about classes and object-oriented programming.
Starting with chapter 8 you get to create a scene and build an example game that includes NPCs that will talk to your player character. You also learn how to cast spells, give the character an inventory and fight enemies. It is wonderful to see how all of this is done.
I really enjoyed this book but I also found it very frustrating. The code that is provided doesn’t always work and it is difficult to know where to exactly put each additional portion of code as it is introduced. This is not the author’s fault. The Unreal engine updates quite frequently and I discovered some issues with trying to use the code in the current version of Unreal. I think that any book written on Unreal 4 would almost have to be a living document that updates as the game engine does.
In summary I recommend the book’s first seven chapters as a fun way to learn C++. After that, you can use the book to learn C++ and UE4; but be prepared to use the Unreal engine’s own website to help you understand how to update the code so that your game works correctly.
March 11, 2024
Libro que busca enseñar C++ y Unreal Engine para quienes no poseen ningún conocimiento de programación. Los primeros capítulos son llamativos en tanto en cuanto presentan los conceptos de la programación en una forma y orden muy distintos del tradicional. Podría valer la pena reestructurar un curso de programación de primer curso de universidad siguiendo esta estructura y ver los resultados. Especialmente interesante es el planteamiento para enseñar punteros y manejo de memoria, uno de los aspectos más peliagudos de la enseñanza de C (y C++) a estudiantes de primero.
El resto del libro, sin embargo, no vale la pena ni para aprender Unreal. Por dos razones: en primer lugar, el libro está muy desfasado (antes incluso de la versión 5 gran parte del código de ejemplo no funciona); en segundo lugar, se introduce mucho código sin explicar cómo funciona ni por qué, por lo que el lector no aprende la estructura de clases ni las plantillas de Unreal y, lo que es peor, el estudiante rellena huecos sin aprender nada útil al hacerlo. El resultado final es código que hace algo llamativo, sí, pero nunca gracias al trabajo del lector, que siente que añade líneas a un código previo que no alcanza a comprender. Es el clásico problema del “public static void main(String []args)” de Java pero llevado al extremo sin necesidad.
El resto del libro, sin embargo, no vale la pena ni para aprender Unreal. Por dos razones: en primer lugar, el libro está muy desfasado (antes incluso de la versión 5 gran parte del código de ejemplo no funciona); en segundo lugar, se introduce mucho código sin explicar cómo funciona ni por qué, por lo que el lector no aprende la estructura de clases ni las plantillas de Unreal y, lo que es peor, el estudiante rellena huecos sin aprender nada útil al hacerlo. El resultado final es código que hace algo llamativo, sí, pero nunca gracias al trabajo del lector, que siente que añade líneas a un código previo que no alcanza a comprender. Es el clásico problema del “public static void main(String []args)” de Java pero llevado al extremo sin necesidad.
April 4, 2018
Ottimo libro per riprendere le basi del C++, aiuta a rinfrescare la memoria sui vari puntatori e nel contempo fornisce una infarinatura di base su Unreal Engine 4.
Ormai è un po' datato perché la versione trattata è la 4.5, ma è comunque valido per comprendere non solo la struttura del motore ma anche vari componenti come il particle system e le collisioni.
Ormai è un po' datato perché la versione trattata è la 4.5, ma è comunque valido per comprendere non solo la struttura del motore ma anche vari componenti come il particle system e le collisioni.
December 17, 2021
Kind of outdated now as a lot has changed in the engine since then, other than that it is organized and topics are accumulated in alogical way making it easy to learn for beginners.
March 6, 2017
Good book in overall...although having plenty of C++ experience for me the first half of the book wasn't too important...
The second part...that means coding a real game was good...although...and this wasn't the author fault at all...many thing have changed since the version of Unreal used in the book...so I needed to do a lot of research in order to have the code running smoothly...
What I can say is that the explanation of how to code in C++ is not in pair with what is used in the book...some parts are not clearly explained and for someone who doesn't have previous C++ experience it just can be...copy this code because you have too..whether or not you understand it...
Would I recommend it? I'm not so sure...
The second part...that means coding a real game was good...although...and this wasn't the author fault at all...many thing have changed since the version of Unreal used in the book...so I needed to do a lot of research in order to have the code running smoothly...
What I can say is that the explanation of how to code in C++ is not in pair with what is used in the book...some parts are not clearly explained and for someone who doesn't have previous C++ experience it just can be...copy this code because you have too..whether or not you understand it...
Would I recommend it? I'm not so sure...
March 11, 2016
Only book I could find for ue4 c++. Some things are outdated but I was able to complete my ue4 project.
Thanks to author.
Thanks to author.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews