Programming Using Blueprints

Now, we have the Unreal engine installed and you have familiarized yourself with its layout. We've set up our project, looked at how to customize it, and we have added extra content with the Animation Starter Pack. Now, it's time to learn about Blueprints.

Blueprints are a powerful alternative to traditional C++ programming. As I said in the previous chapter, it is possible to create an entire game using only Blueprints. In this chapter, we will start laying the foundation for our Awesome Game using Blueprints, and, in later chapters, we will expand on this game so we can learn how to use other Unreal Engine 4 systems.

The following points will be covered in this chapter:

• Creating custom Blueprint classes and extending from Epic's base classes
• Using variables and functions within Blueprint classes
• Adding Components to a Blueprint class
• The difference between functions and events

Let's take our first look at a Blueprint window and start breaking it down.