1unreal – M0ICR – Radio and Electronics

Plan your lessonsTime estimates for a beginner following closely

Project	Steps	Time	50-minute lessons
Project 1: A walk in the forest	45	4 h 39 min	7
Project 2: Give me some space	35	3 h 45 min	6
Project 3: The Trader	16	2 h 15 min	4
Project 4: The Mission Board	15	2 h 12 min	4
All four	111	12 h 51 min	21

For teachersEach lesson holds about 45 minutes of steps, leaving 5 to save and pack up. Lesson markers appear in the steps and every step shows its time. Installing the engine and packaging involve long waits: do them before class or let students read ahead while they run. Allow extra time for students who customise.

Words you will meetRead this once, come back when a word is new

Level

One world, saved as a file. Your forest is a level. Your space system is a level.

Actor

Anything you can place in a level: a tree, a light, a lantern, a ship.

Component

A part of an actor, such as its mesh, light or camera.

Mesh

The 3D shape of an object. A Static Mesh never moves its parts. A Skeletal Mesh can be animated, like a character.

Material

The surface of a mesh: its colour, shine and glow.

Blueprint

A set of connected boxes that tells an actor what to do. No typing code.

Node and pin

A node is one box in a Blueprint. Pins are the dots you wire together.

Compile

Press this button in a Blueprint to check it and make your changes real.

Content Browser

The file explorer inside Unreal. Everything you own in the project lives here.

Viewport

The big window where you look at your world.

Pawn

Anything a player can control, such as your ship.

Seed

A number that a random generator starts from. Same seed, same result.

When you get stuck, try these in order

Stop clicking. Read the step again and look at the picture.
Press Ctrl+Z to undo your last action.
In a Blueprint, press Compile and look for red nodes or messages. Fix the first one.
Open Window → Developer Tools → Output Log and look for red lines.
Save, close Unreal and reopen your project. It fixes more than you would think.
Ask for help. Say which step you are on, what you expected, and what happened instead.

CheckpointsLook for the yellow Checkpoint boxes. If your game does not match one, stop and fix it before moving on. A small problem now is a big problem three lessons later.

Project 1: A walk in the forest

Learn the editor, build a world, and package a game.

45 steps, about 4 h 39 min, 7 lessons of 50 minutes

What you will end up with

A ground you sculpted yourself, about 500 metres across
A painted forest, a dirt path and a small village
Sunset sky, fog and a glowing lantern pickup that you built with Blueprints
A standalone game folder you can zip and share

Tick the boxes as you go. Your progress bar fills up at the top and is remembered on this device.

How long?Plan a few relaxed evenings. Installing and downloading takes the longest. Every step is small, so you can stop anywhere and carry on later.

Know before you startUnreal likes a decent PC: roughly 16 GB of memory (32 GB is better), an SSD with 100 GB free, and a graphics card from about the last six years. If your computer struggles, the guide tells you how to turn the quality down. A towel is optional, though as ever recommended.

Install Unreal EngineAbout 45 minutes, mostly waiting

Project 1, lesson 1about 43 min of steps, then save and pack up

Go to unrealengine.com, choose Download and make a free Epic Games account (or sign in with the one holding your free assets).5 min

Install the Epic Games Launcher and open it. Use the Unreal Engine tab on the left.10 min

Click Install Engine and pick the newest 5.x version. Choose an SSD for the install location. Accept the defaults and wait for it to finish.20 min

TipStick with one engine version for this whole project. Switching version halfway can break things.

Create your project

Click Launch on your engine version. The Project Browser opens.3 min

Pick the Games category, then the Third Person template.2 min

On the right, set Blueprint (not C++), and turn Starter Content off. Leave Ray Tracing off; you do not need it.3 min

Project 1, lesson 2about 42 min of steps, then save and pack up

Name it ForestWalk, choose a folder, and click Create. The first load takes a few minutes while shaders compile.8 min

Press the Play button at the top. Walk with WASD, look with the mouse, jump with Space. Press Esc to stop. You already have a working game.4 min

CheckpointYour character walks, looks around and jumps in the grey template world.

Find your way around

The five areas you will use all the time.

Do this	How
Fly the camera	Hold `Right mouse`, then `WASD`, with `Q` down and `E` up
Move the camera faster	Scroll the mouse wheel while flying
Jump to what you selected	Select it, press `F`
Move / Rotate / Scale a thing	`W` / `E` / `R` (when not flying)
Undo	`Ctrl`+`Z`
Save everything	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`S` (do this often)

Make a fresh level: File → New Level → Basic. Save it as ForestLevel in the Content folder.3 min

In the Outliner, select the grey Floor and press Delete. Keep the sun, sky and Player Start.2 min

Edit → Project Settings → Maps & Modes. Set both Editor Startup Map and Game Default Map to ForestLevel.3 min

Sculpt the ground

Open the Modes dropdown (top left) and choose Landscape (or press Shift+2). Stay on the Manage → New tab.3 min

Set Scale X and Y to 100, Section Size 63×63, Sections per Component 1, and Number of Components 8 × 8. That makes a ground about 500 m wide. Click Create.5 min

Select the new Landscape in the Outliner. In Details, set its Location Z to 0 and move the Player Start above the ground (press End to drop it onto the surface).4 min

Switch to the Sculpt tab. Choose the Sculpt tool, set Tool Strength low (about 0.1) and a big Brush Size. Hold the left mouse to raise hills; hold Shift to lower.10 min

Project 1, lesson 3about 42 min of steps, then save and pack up

Use Smooth to soften sharp edges. Keep slopes gentle so the character can walk them. Flatten one wide area for the village with the Flatten tool.8 min

Aim for soft shapes, not mountains. Rolling land looks natural and is easy to walk.

Press Play and walk around. If you cannot climb something, smooth it. Save with Ctrl+S.5 min

CheckpointYou can walk across smooth hills with no holes, cliffs or places you get stuck.

Bring in your free assets

In the editor, open Window → Fab (or find Fab in the Launcher). Sign in, open Library, and look at what you own.5 min

Search your library or Fab for Megascans trees, bushes, rocks and grass. Look for Nanite or Unreal Engine format. Also grab one medieval or village building kit, ideally from a single pack.10 min

Click Add to Project on each, choose ForestWalk, and wait. They appear in the Content Browser, often inside a Fab or Megascans folder.8 min

Common trapMixing many packs makes a messy-looking world. Choose one tree set, one rock set, one ground-cover set and one building set. Done well, that looks like a real place. Not sure how to add or use a pack? See Using Epic and Fab assets.

No high-end PC?Prefer assets whose names say low or mobile if the editor feels slow, or lower the viewport quality with the Settings button above the viewport → Engine Scalability Settings → Medium.

Paint the ground and plant a forest

Ground colour

In Landscape mode choose the Paint tab. In the Content Browser find a Megascans Landscape Material (or a grass and dirt material). Drag it onto the landscape in the viewport, or assign it in Details → Landscape Material.6 min

Project 1, lesson 4about 40 min of steps, then save and pack up

If the material has layers (grass, dirt, rock), create a Layer Info for each when asked, then paint dirt along where your path will go.8 min

Trees and plants

Switch to Foliage mode (Shift+3). Drag 3 to 4 tree meshes from the Content Browser into the Drop Foliage Here box. Add a few bushes and ferns too.8 min

Untick the ones you do not want yet. Set Brush Size to about 1500 and Paint Density around 0.3. Then hold the left mouse over the hills to plant.8 min

Leave the village flat area and the path empty. Hold Shift and paint to erase trees you placed there.6 min

A simple layout: start in the woods, follow the path, find the lantern, arrive at the village.

Build the village

Open your village kit in the Content Browser. Drag one house into the viewport. Press F to focus on it, then W to move it onto the flat area.6 min

Turn on surface snapping (the icon at the top right of the viewport with a magnet or cube-to-plane) so buildings sit on the ground.4 min

Project 1, lesson 5about 43 min of steps, then save and pack up

Place 4 to 6 buildings in a loose circle around an open space. Rotate each slightly (E) so it feels organic, not like a grid.12 min

Add small details: a well, fences, barrels, a cart, rocks and bushes. Small clutter makes the village feel lived in.10 min

Paint a dirt path from the start to the village using your Landscape paint tool. Curve it. Use Foliage to place a few rocks and logs beside it.8 min

CheckpointA dirt path leads from the start towards a group of buildings on flat ground.

Make people want to walkPlace one tall landmark (a tower, a big tree) where the player can see it from the start. People walk toward things they can see.

Sky, light and mood

Click the Directional Light in the Outliner. Rotate it (E) until the sun sits low. Low sun gives long shadows and a warm, cosy feel.5 min

Click + Add (cube icon) → Visual Effects → Exponential Height Fog if there is none. Raise its Fog Density a little for misty woods.4 min

In Details on the Directional Light, change Light Color toward warm orange for a golden-hour look. Drag Intensity to taste.4 min

Project 1, lesson 6about 43 min of steps, then save and pack up

Add a Post Process Volume (same Add menu). Tick Infinite Extent (Unbound). Raise Exposure → Min/Max EV100 to the same value (about 9) for steady brightness.5 min

CheckpointThe scene has warm, low light and a little mist. Nothing is pure black or burnt white.

If it looks too dark or odd at firstUnreal adjusts exposure automatically. Step 34 stops the brightness drifting as you walk.

Your first Blueprint: a lantern to find

Blueprints are drag-and-connect nodes. You will make a glowing lantern that disappears and shows a message when the player touches it.

Content Browser → Add → Blueprint Class → Actor. Name it BP_Lantern and double-click it to open.3 min

Click Add in the Components panel. Add a Static Mesh (pick any small mesh, or a lantern from your assets; a cube scaled small works too), a Point Light (set colour to amber) and a Sphere Collision. Make the sphere about the size of a person’s reach.10 min

Select the Sphere Collision. In Details scroll to Events and click the + next to On Component Begin Overlap. A node appears in the Event Graph.3 min

White wires carry the “do this next” signal from left to right.

Drag a wire from the Other Actor pin of the overlap node and release in empty space. Search for Cast To BP_ThirdPersonCharacter and click it. Connect the white execution pins.8 min

From the Cast’s white exit, search and add Print String. Type You found a lantern! into its text. Then drag from its exit and add Destroy Actor.6 min

Click Compile (top left) then Save. Close the Blueprint window.2 min

Drag BP_Lantern into your level beside the path. Press Play, walk up to it. The message appears on screen and the lantern vanishes.4 min

CheckpointTouching the lantern shows your message and the lantern disappears.

Make it yours nextAdd a Play Sound 2D node before Destroy Actor for a chime, and place three lanterns along the path. Then you have a tiny quest.

Package your game

Save everything. Check Edit → Project Settings → Maps & Modes still shows ForestLevel as default.2 min

Project 1, lesson 7about 26 min of steps, then save and pack up

Open Platforms → Windows → Package Project. Choose an empty folder.3 min

Wait. The first package can take 20 minutes to over an hour. Watch the Output Log pop-up in the corner for progress.20 min

Open the folder → Windows → run ForestWalk.exe. Your game runs without the editor. Zip the whole folder to share it.3 min

CheckpointYou have a folder containing ForestWalk.exe, and it runs without the editor.

When things go wrong

Problem	Try this
Editor very slow or low frame rate	Viewport Settings → Engine Scalability → Medium. Plant fewer trees. Turn off Realtime when idle.
Character falls through the world	Move Player Start above the landscape (`End` key drops it).
Trees look pink or checkered	Shaders still compiling. Wait for the bottom-right counter to reach zero.
Everything is too bright or dark	Post Process Volume with fixed exposure (step 34).
Lantern does nothing	Check the Sphere Collision is bigger than the mesh, you compiled, and the Cast node matches the character’s name.
Package fails	Read the red line in Output Log. Often a missing Windows SDK: install Visual Studio with “Game development with C++” and retry.
Lost work	Look in `ProjectFolder/Saved/Autosaves`.

Where to go next

Add a day and night cycle with a sun that rotates in Blueprint.
Add footstep and ambient forest sounds.
Add a door that opens when you press a key.
Epic’s free Unreal Learning courses are a good next step.

Come back and tell me which step you are on and I can help with any one of them in more detail.

Hints and tipsFor Project 1: A walk in the forest

Save in two ways

Press Ctrl+Shift+S often. Every so often copy the whole project folder somewhere safe. A copy takes a minute and can save a week. The Earth had no backup, and look how that turned out.

Press Play after every change

Small changes, then a quick walk. When something breaks you will know which change caused it.

Use the mannequin as a ruler

The character is about 1.8 m tall. Doors, steps and fences that look right next to it will feel right when you play.

Duplicate fast

Hold Alt while dragging an actor to make a copy. Press End to drop a selected actor onto the ground.

Check your frame rate

Press the backtick key (`) and type stat fps. Aim for 60 or more. If it is lower, plant fewer trees or lower the Scalability setting.

Name things clearly

Start names with a short label: BP_ for Blueprints, M_ for materials, SM_ for meshes. Put them in folders such as Maps and Blueprints.

Design with your eyes

Walk the route yourself. Where do you look first? Put a landmark, a light or a bend in the path there. Add something small to find every minute or so.

Switch the view

The Lit menu above the viewport has Unlit and Wireframe. They help you find stray objects and see where the detail is heavy.

Things to try to enhance your projectProject 1: A walk in the forest

Sound of the woods

Add Ambient Sound actors for wind and birds, and a Play Sound 2D chime when you pick up a lantern.

Easy

Three lanterns, one goal

Count the lanterns you have found in a variable. Show a “You found them all” message when you reach three.

Easy

A door that opens

Make a Blueprint door with a Timeline that rotates it when you press a key near it.

Medium

A river or lake

Enable the Water plugin in Edit → Plugins, restart, and add a lake or stream beside the village.

Medium

Day turning to dusk

Rotate the Directional Light slowly in a Blueprint so the sun sets as you explore. Add a warm lantern light in each window.

Medium

People in the village

Place characters with an idle animation near the well and the doors, so the village feels lived in.

Medium

A score on screen

Build a simple Widget Blueprint showing how many lanterns you have found.

Medium

Rain and mist

Raise the fog density over time and add a Niagara rain system for a stormy ending.

Harder

Project 2: Give me some space

A procedurally generated space adventure in the spirit of Elite. Fly a ship, arrive in a star system built from a number, then jump to the next one. Space is big. Really big. You just won’t have to build all of it.

35 steps, about 3 h 45 min, 6 lessons of 50 minutes

What you will end up with

A ship you fly with keyboard and mouse
A star with 2 to 8 planets, all generated from a single seed number
A system name and planet count shown on arrival
A jump key that takes you to the next system, and the same seed always gives the same system

Solid boxes are this guide. The dashed box is where you go next.

Before you startFinish at least the editor tour and the lantern Blueprint in Project 1. You will reuse the same skills: moving around the editor and connecting Blueprint nodes.

One correctionUnreal 5 has no ready-made flying template (Unreal 4 did). You will build the ship yourself. It is about ten nodes.

Build a ship you can fly

Project 2, lesson 1about 42 min of steps, then save and pack up

New project: Games → Blank, Blueprint, Starter Content off. Name it SpaceTrader.5 min

File → New Level → Empty Level. Save it as SpaceLevel and set it as the startup and default map (Project Settings → Maps & Modes).4 min

Controls

In the Content Browser: Add → Input → Input Action. Make five: IA_Thrust, IA_Pitch, IA_Yaw, IA_Roll, IA_Jump. Open each. Set Value Type to Axis1D for the first four, and leave IA_Jump as Digital (bool).8 min

Add → Input → Input Mapping Context, named IMC_Ship. Open it and map keys using the table below. For a key marked Negate, click the arrow on that mapping, add a Modifier and choose Negate.10 min

Action	Keys
IA_Thrust	`W`, and `S` with Negate
IA_Pitch	`Mouse Y`
IA_Yaw	`Mouse X`
IA_Roll	`E`, and `Q` with Negate
IA_Jump	`J`

The ship

Add → Blueprint Class → Pawn, named BP_Ship. Open it.2 min

Add components: a Static Mesh (drag it onto DefaultSceneRoot to make it the root; use your ship asset, or a Cube scaled to 3, 1, 0.4), a Spring Arm under it, a Camera under the arm, and Floating Pawn Movement.8 min

Spring Arm: Target Arm Length 1500, tick Enable Camera Lag. Floating Pawn Movement: Max Speed 300000, Acceleration 150000, Deceleration 30000. (Unreal measures in centimetres, so that is 3 km per second.)5 min

The Blueprint nodes

Project 2, lesson 2about 45 min of steps, then save and pack up

Event Graph: Event BeginPlay → Get Player Controller → Get Enhanced Input Local Player Subsystem → Add Mapping Context. Set the context to IMC_Ship. This switches your controls on.6 min

Right-click, search IA_Thrust and add the Triggered event. Connect it to Add Movement Input. Set World Direction from Get Actor Forward Vector and Scale Value from the event’s Action Value.6 min

Add the Triggered events for IA_Pitch, IA_Yaw and IA_Roll. Each goes to Add Actor Local Rotation, with Delta Rotation from a Make Rotator whose Pitch, Yaw or Roll pin gets the Action Value. For Roll, multiply by Get World Delta Seconds and 90 first. If the mouse feels upside down, multiply Pitch by −1.12 min

Compile and Save. Drag BP_Ship into the level. In Details set Location X to -1000000 and Auto Possess Player to Player 0.4 min

CheckpointPress Play. W moves the ship, the mouse turns it, and Q and E roll it.

Make it look like space

Add a Directional Light as your sun. Leave its rotation at 0, 0, 0 so the light shines along the X axis, onto the sides of planets that face your start point.4 min

Add a Post Process Volume, tick Infinite Extent (Unbound), and set Exposure → Min EV100 and Max EV100 to the same number. Start at 2 and tune it if planets look black or burnt out.5 min

Make M_Star: Add → Material. Open it, hold 3 and click to add a Constant3Vector, set it to a bright orange (such as 10, 5, 1) and connect it to Emissive Color. Save.8 min

Project 2, lesson 3about 42 min of steps, then save and pack up

Make M_Planet: right-click, add a VectorParameter, name it exactly Tint, connect it to Base Color. Save.6 min

In the Content Browser, open Settings → Show Engine Content. You need this to find the built-in Sphere mesh for stars and planets.2 min

Optional stars: in Fab, find a free space skybox. Add it to the project, then add its mesh to BP_Ship as a component. Set its scale large (tens of thousands), set collision to No Collision, and tick Absolute next to Location and Rotation so the stars stay still when the ship turns.12 min

Give every system a name

In the Construct Script, after the planet loop, add Make Array (String) with about 8 syllables: Al, Ve, Kor, Ra, Thu, Zan, Mi, Or.5 min

Project 2, lesson 5about 34 min of steps, then save and pack up

Pick three with Get (a copy), each index from Random Integer In Range From Stream (0 to 7). Join them with Append and store the result in SystemName. You now have names like “KorMiAl”.8 min

Event Graph: Event BeginPlay → Print String. Build the text with Append: Welcome to , SystemName, with , PlanetCount, planets. Set Duration to 8.6 min

CheckpointA welcome message with the system name appears when you start.

Jump to the next system

In BP_Ship, add an Integer variable CurrentSeed with a default value of 1.2 min

Add the IA_Jump Started event. Connect: Set CurrentSeed (itself + 1) → Get Actor Of Class (BP_StarSystem) → Destroy Actor.6 min

Then Spawn Actor from Class (BP_StarSystem, Spawn Transform left at default, and its Seed pin connected to CurrentSeed). If there is no Seed pin, compile BP_StarSystem and check Expose on Spawn.6 min

Finally Set Actor Location to X −1000000, Y 0, Z 0, then Set Actor Rotation to 0, 0, 0 so you arrive facing the new star. Compile, save, play, and press J repeatedly.6 min

CheckpointPressing J takes you to a different system, and going back to Seed 1 looks exactly as before.

Make it yoursAdd a second key that goes to Seed minus 1. Fly back to a system you visited and notice it is identical. Nothing was stored; it was recalculated.

Package, fix and grow

Project 2, lesson 6about 20 min of steps, then save and pack up

Package as in Project 1: Platforms → Windows → Package Project. Zip the Windows folder to share it.20 min

Messages missing in the packaged game?Print String is hidden in Shipping builds. In Project Settings → Packaging set Build Configuration to Development, or later swap it for an on-screen text widget.

Problem	Try this
Ship will not move	Check Auto Possess Player is Player 0, the Add Mapping Context node is connected, and you clicked in the game window.
Nothing appears at the start	The Directional Light is missing, or the system is not at 0, 0, 0 with the ship at X −1000000.
Sphere is not in the mesh list	Turn on Show Engine Content (step 61).
Planets are black or white	Change the Post Process EV100 values or the Directional Light intensity.
Systems change when you revisit	Something in the loop runs in a different order, or you used plain Random Float instead of the From Stream version.
Jitter far from the origin	Expected at huge distances. Stay within about 50 km of the star, which this project does.

Where to go next

A galaxy map: a UI widget listing nearby seeds with a position and name for each.
Trading: a Data Table of goods, with prices calculated from the seed and the system.
Stations: a docking zone that opens a trade screen.
Combat: an enemy ship that follows you, with weapons and damage. Do this last.

Projects 3 and 4 take the first two of these further.

Hints and tipsFor Project 2: Give me some space

Add new random calls at the end

Every random call moves the stream along. If you insert a new one in the middle, every system changes. Add new ones last and existing systems stay the same.

Mix the seed first

Neighbouring seeds like 1 and 2 can feel alike. Multiply the seed by a big number such as 7919 before feeding it to the stream. It is close to an infinite improbability drive, and no hot tea is required.

See what the numbers are

Temporarily add a Print String after each random value. Seeing the distances and sizes makes problems easy to spot.

Draw the orbits

A Draw Debug Circle or Draw Debug Sphere node shows you where planets should be, even before the meshes look right.

Tidy your graph

Select nodes and press C to add a comment box. Right-click a group and choose Collapse to Function to keep big graphs readable.

Mind the distances

Unreal counts in centimetres. 5,000,000 is 50 km. Keep the action within about 50 km of the centre, or objects start to shake.

Fly one thing at a time

If the ship feels wrong, test with just the ship in an empty level. Adjust Max Speed, Acceleration and Deceleration before touching anything else.

Break wires quickly

Alt+click on a wire pin removes it. Drag a node over a wire to splice it in.

Things to try to enhance your projectProject 2: Give me some space

Speed and name on screen

Build a Widget Blueprint showing speed, the system name and the current seed.

Easy

Spinning planets

Add a Rotating Movement component to each planet so they turn slowly.

Easy

Different kinds of star

Pick the star’s colour and size from the stream: red dwarfs, yellow stars, blue giants.

Easy

Engine sound and trail

Raise the engine sound’s pitch as speed goes up, and add a simple Niagara trail behind the ship.

Medium

Moons and rings

Give some planets one to three moons using the same loop idea, with the stream deciding how many.

Medium

An asteroid belt

Use an Instanced Static Mesh and Add Instance in a loop to scatter thousands of rocks cheaply.

Medium

Scan a planet

Press a key to line-trace at what you are aiming at, then show the planet’s name, size and type.

Medium

Remember where you were

Use a Save Game object to store CurrentSeed, so your game resumes in the same system.

Medium

Project 3: The Trader

Buy low, jump, sell high. Prices differ in every system, worked out from its seed. Always know where your towel is.

16 steps, about 2 h 15 min, 4 lessons of 50 minutes

What you will end up with

Goods whose prices are different in every star system
A trading screen you open with T, with Buy and Sell buttons
Credits, a cargo hold, and a fuel cost for every jump
A goal: reach 5,000 credits

Before you startCarry on in your SpaceTrader project from Project 2. You need the ship, the star system Blueprint and the jump key working.

Prices that change from system to system

Project 3, lesson 1about 37 min of steps, then save and pack up

In the Content Browser: Add → Blueprints → Structure. Name it S_Good. Add two variables: GoodName (String) and BasePrice (Integer). Save.3 min

Add → Miscellaneous → Data Table, choose S_Good, and name it DT_Goods. Open it and add four rows (Row Name, then the two values): Food 20, Tea 35, Towels 60, Gems 300. Towels are the most massively useful thing a hitchhiker can carry, so they are priced accordingly.8 min

Open BP_StarSystem. Add a variable Prices, type Integer, and click the grid icon beside the type to make it an Array.4 min

At the very end of the Construct Script (after the name, so older systems stay the same), add: Clear (Prices) → Get Data Table Row Names (DT_Goods) → For Each Loop → Get Data Table Row (Row Name from the loop) → Break S_Good. Multiply BasePrice by Random Float In Range From Stream (0.6 to 1.6), Round it, and Add it to Prices.12 min

Check it works: in Event BeginPlay add a Print String that appends Food costs and Prices[0] (use Get). Play, press J a few times. The price should change from system to system, and Seed 1 should always be the same.6 min

CheckpointPress J a few times: the printed price changes from system to system.

A trading screen

Open BP_Ship. Add Credits (Integer, default value 1000) and Cargo (Integer array; in Details click + four times so it holds four zeros).4 min

Project 3, lesson 2about 42 min of steps, then save and pack up

Add → User Interface → Widget Blueprint (User Widget), named WBP_Trade. In the Designer add a Vertical Box holding five Text widgets named Text_System, Text_Credits, Text_Good, Text_Price, Text_Owned, then a Horizontal Box of five Buttons: Btn_Prev, Btn_Buy, Btn_Sell, Btn_Next, Btn_Close, each with a Text child as its label. Tick Is Variable on every named widget.10 min

Switch to the Graph tab. Add variables Ship (type BP Ship Object Reference) and Index (Integer).6 min

Make a function RefreshUI. Use Get Actor Of Class (BP_StarSystem) to read Prices[Index] and SystemName. Use Get Data Table Row Names → Get (Index) for the good’s name. Show them with Set Text on each Text widget (use Append and To Text), including Ship.Credits and Ship.Cargo[Index]. Call it from Event Construct.14 min

Button events, each ending with RefreshUI. Next: Index = (Index + 1) Mod (Length of Prices). Prev: Index = (Index + Length − 1) Mod Length. Buy: Branch if Credits ≥ price, then Credits − price and Cargo[Index] + 1 (Set Array Elem). Sell: Branch if Cargo[Index] > 0, then Credits + price and Cargo[Index] − 1.12 min

Project 3, lesson 3about 41 min of steps, then save and pack up

Close button: Remove from Parent, then Get Player Controller → Set Input Mode Game Only and Set Show Mouse Cursor off.4 min

Add an Input Action IA_Trade (Digital) and map it to T in IMC_Ship. In BP_Ship, on its Started event: Create Widget (WBP_Trade) → set its Ship to Self → Add to Viewport → Set Input Mode Game And UI and show the mouse cursor.8 min

CheckpointPress T. The trade screen opens, and Buy and Sell change your credits and cargo.

Make it a game

Jumping costs fuel. In the IA_Jump event, before the old logic, add a Branch: Credits ≥ 50. True: Credits − 50, then carry on. False: Print String Not enough credits for fuel.8 min

After the jump, add a Branch: Credits ≥ 5000. True: Print String You are now rich enough to stop. Mostly.6 min

Playtest and balance. Buy the cheapest good, jump, sell where it costs more. Change the price range (0.6 to 1.6), the jump cost and the starting credits until reaching 5,000 takes a satisfying 10 minutes.15 min

Project 3, lesson 4about 15 min of steps, then save and pack up

Package again (Platforms → Windows → Package Project) and let a friend try to beat your time.15 min

Hints and tipsFor Project 3: The Trader

Test with cheap numbers

Start with 100000 credits while you test, then set it back. You will thank yourself.

Prices need a pattern

If every system has the same cheapest good, widen the random range for just one good.

Close the menu first

If the mouse sticks, check Close sets the input mode back to Game Only.

Keep a list

Write down your first profitable route. If you can’t make money, neither can your players.

Things to try to enhance your projectProject 3: The Trader

Cargo space

Limit the hold to 20 items so players must choose what to carry.

Easy

Price news

Print a message when a good is unusually cheap or expensive here.

Medium

Ship upgrades

Sell a bigger hold or cheaper jumps for credits.

Medium

Save your game

Use a Save Game object to keep Credits, Cargo and CurrentSeed.

Medium

Project 4: The Mission Board

Stations offer delivery jobs with a reward. The best jobs, the Guide says, are mostly harmless.

15 steps, about 2 h 12 min, 4 lessons of 50 minutes

What you will end up with

Names you can work out for any system, even one you have not visited
Three generated jobs in every system
A mission board you open with M
Pay when you deliver the goods to the right place

Before you startFinish Project 3 first. Missions use the goods, credits and cargo you built there.

Name any system from its seed

Project 4, lesson 1about 32 min of steps, then save and pack up

Add → Blueprints → Blueprint Function Library, named BPFL_Galaxy. Add a function MakeName with an Integer input Seed and a String output Name.4 min

Inside it: add a local variable S (Random Stream), seed it with Seed × 7919 + 13, Make Array of eight syllables, pick three with Random Integer In Range From Stream (0 to 7), Append them and return the result. This is the same idea as before, moved to a function so any seed can use it.10 min

In BP_StarSystem, delete the old naming nodes and set SystemName to MakeName (Seed). Systems get new names. That is fine, and they will now match everywhere.5 min

Check it: Print String of MakeName(1) and MakeName(2) on BeginPlay. Run it twice. The names must not change.5 min

CheckpointMakeName gives the same names every time you run the game.

Generate the missions

Add a Structure S_Mission with Integers GoodIndex, Amount, DestSeed, Reward and a String Title.4 min

In BP_StarSystem add a variable Missions, an Array of S_Mission.4 min

Project 4, lesson 2about 42 min of steps, then save and pack up

At the very end of the Construct Script: Clear (Missions) → For Loop 0 to 2 → Make S_Mission. GoodIndex: random 0 to 3. Amount: 2 to 10. DestSeed: Seed + random 1 to 6. Reward: 200 to 900. Title: pick from Urgent, Hush-hush, Mostly harmless. Every random value comes from the stream. Add each to Missions.14 min

In BP_Ship add ActiveMission (type S_Mission) and HasMission (Boolean).4 min

The mission board screen

Make WBP_Missions (Widget Blueprint). Add three Text widgets Text_Mission0 to 2, three Buttons Btn_Accept0 to 2 and Btn_Close. Tick Is Variable on all.10 min

In a RefreshUI function, for each of the three: read Missions[i] from Get Actor Of Class (BP_StarSystem), Break S_Mission, and set the text with Append: Title, : deliver , Amount, x , the good’s name, to , MakeName (DestSeed), for , Reward.14 min

Project 4, lesson 3about 43 min of steps, then save and pack up

Each Accept button: set Ship.ActiveMission to Missions[i], set Ship.HasMission to true, and Print String Mission accepted. Close works as in Project 3.8 min

Add IA_Missions mapped to M and open the widget exactly as you did for the trade screen.6 min

CheckpointPress M. A board with three jobs appears, and Accept works.

Finish the job

In BP_Ship, after every jump add a Branch: HasMission AND CurrentSeed equals ActiveMission.DestSeed AND Cargo[GoodIndex] ≥ Amount. True: remove the cargo, add the Reward to Credits, set HasMission false, Print String Mission complete!. If you have flown past the destination instead, print The recipient has left. Mostly. and clear the mission.14 min

Playtest: take a mission, buy the goods, jump to the destination, get paid. Then try to fail it on purpose and check nothing breaks.15 min

CheckpointYou accept a job, deliver the goods and get paid.

Project 4, lesson 4about 15 min of steps, then save and pack up

Package your finished game and share it.15 min

Hints and tipsFor Project 4: The Mission Board

Test with a near destination

While testing, set DestSeed to Seed + 1 so you can finish a mission in one jump.

Same stream, same order

Add any new random value last in the loop, so earlier missions don’t change.

Read the board aloud

If a mission reads strangely, fix the Append order. Clear text beats clever text.

Break it on purpose

Try accepting twice, or delivering too early. Real players will.

Things to try to enhance your projectProject 4: The Mission Board

Time limit

Fail the mission if it takes more than five jumps.

Easy

Bigger rewards, bigger risks

Give high-reward jobs a smaller deadline.

Medium

Mission chains

Finishing one job unlocks a follow-up at the destination.

Medium

Reputation

Track how many jobs you finish and offer better jobs as it grows.

Hard

Ideas for Project 5 and beyondPick the one that excites you most

The Galaxy Map

A map of about 100 systems, with names and positions from their seeds. Plan a route and spend fuel to get there.

Medium

Landfall

Land on a planet and step out as your walking character into a forest the seed generated, using Unreal’s Procedural Content Generation tools. It joins Projects 1 and 2.

Hard

Pirates

Enemy ships that chase and shoot, with weapons, shields and a health bar. Great for learning AI.

Hard

The Living Village

Back to the forest: day and night, villagers with daily routines, conversations and a small mystery.

Medium

Tell me which you wantChoose one and I will add it to this page as Project 5.

Using Epic and Fab assetsHow to add free assets to your own game

Free packs from Epic’s Fab store can make your game look much better. You do not need to type any code to use them. This section shows you what to download, how to add it and what to do with it.

Add an asset to your project

Open Fab (fab.com, or Window → Fab inside Unreal). Sign in with your Epic account. Free items say Free or Add to My Library.
Before you add it, check three things: the format says Unreal Engine, the supported versions include the one you use, and the download size is sensible.
Click Add to My Library. Then open the Epic Games Launcher → Library → Fab Library (or the Library inside Fab in the editor), find it and click Add to Project. Choose your project.
Back in Unreal, open the Content Browser. The asset is in a new folder named after the pack. Open the folder and explore.
Drag it into your world, or into a Blueprint (see the table below).
Check it: is it the right size, does it have collision, does it look right? The tips below show you how.

Add to Project or Create Project?Environment, prop and character packs use Add to Project. A complete game or template uses Create Project instead and starts a whole new project. Do not mix a complete game into your own project. The blue button in Fab tells you which one you have: it says Add to project or Create project. To borrow something from a complete project, open it and use Asset Actions → Migrate.

What works, and what it is for

Asset type	What you will see	How to use it
Static Mesh (houses, trees, rocks, props, a ship)	Names like `SM_`	Drag into the level. In a Blueprint, pick it in a Static Mesh component, such as your ship’s body.
Skeletal Mesh (animated characters)	A figure with an animation icon	Open your character Blueprint, select Mesh, and set Skeletal Mesh and Anim Class. Choose packs made for the UE5 Mannequin skeleton, or they will not animate.
Materials and textures	Names like `M_` and `T_`	Drag a material onto a mesh in the level, or set it in Details. Landscape materials go in the landscape’s Landscape Material slot.
Foliage (trees, grass, bushes)	Static Meshes	Drop them in the Foliage mode box and paint them on the ground.
Sounds	Sound Wave or Sound Cue	Use Ambient Sound for background sound, or Play Sound 2D in a Blueprint for effects.
Niagara effects (fire, rain, engine trails)	A Niagara System icon	Drag into the level, or add a Niagara Particle System component to a Blueprint.
Skyboxes and HDRIs	A sphere mesh or a texture	Use the skybox step in Project 2, or an HDRI Backdrop in an outdoor level.
Blueprints	Names like `BP_`	Drag into the level. Open one first and see what it does before you rely on it.

Worked examples: free assets from Fab

The first three came from a Fab search with the Free filter on: Underground Tunnel, 3D Platformer Game Bundle and SciFi Beast06 Bull. All three show a green Saved in My Library tick, so they are already yours. Adding them to a project works the same way. What you do afterwards is different for each.

The asset panel in Fab. Check 1 and 2, then press 3.

Click the asset card. The panel opens on the right. Read the Description all the way down, because it tells you what the pack is and any special setup.
Open the Formats tab and check the engine versions it supports include yours.
Check Export target says Unreal Engine and the Unreal icon is under Format.
Click the blue Add to project button. If a box asks which project, choose yours (for example ForestWalk). If you opened Fab from inside Unreal with Window → Fab, it goes into the project you have open.
Wait for the download to finish, then look in the Unreal Content Browser for a new folder named after the pack.

Underground Tunnel

A whole environment: modular tunnels and a big central junction. Its description says it was built for Unreal 4 with baked lighting, and in Unreal 5 you must turn Lumen off for the lighting to work. That changes settings for the whole project, so add it to a copy of your project or a new test project, not your main one. Open its demo map from the pack folder. If it still looks flat, rebuild the lighting from the Build menu. Great for a bunker or dungeon game.

Harder

3D Platformer Game Bundle

Fab lists this under Game Systems, so it is probably gameplay, not just art, and may be a complete project. Read the description first. If it says project or template, use Create Project from your library and keep it separate from your own games. A good one to explore on its own and learn from.

Medium

SciFi Beast06 Bull

A creature model. Check the Formats tab and description for a skeleton and animations. Drag it from the Content Browser into your level and compare its size with the mannequin, then change Scale if needed. If it has animations, select it, open Details, set Animation Mode to Use Animation Asset and pick one. Use it as a monster, guardian or statue. Do not try to swap it in as your player yet, because that needs the right skeleton.

Easy to place, harder to animate

Procedural Nature Seasons Pack

A nature environment pack: the preview shows snowy forest, rocks, fences and a track. It suits Project 1. The description says the studio has stopped making content, so it is an older pack. Check the Formats tab for engine versions and test it in a copy of your project first. The button says Add to project, so use that. Open its demo map from the pack folder to see how it is set up, and read the description to find out how the seasons change. Then paint the trees with Foliage mode and use its landscape material as in step 21.

Medium

Northwood

A complete project from Epic Education. The button says Create project, not Add to project, so it makes a brand new project: a box asks for a name, a folder and an engine version, and it can be a big download. Open it and explore. The preview shows the mannequin walking through a town of wooden buildings, which is great village inspiration. To borrow a building for your own game, right-click it in the Content Browser, choose Asset Actions → Migrate and pick your own project’s Content folder. Keep your own game in its own project.

Easy to explore, medium to borrow from

Your own files

You can also bring in files from elsewhere. Drag them into the Content Browser, or click Import.

Use	File types that work
3D models	`.fbx` is the safest. `.glb`, `.gltf` and `.obj` usually work in recent versions.
Pictures and textures	`.png`, `.jpg`, `.tga`. Use sizes like 512, 1024 or 2048 pixels.
Sound	`.wav` is the safest. Convert MP3 files to WAV first.

Hints and tips

Move files only inside Unreal

Rename, move and delete assets in the Content Browser, never in Windows Explorer. Otherwise things break and go pink.

Check the size

Place the mannequin next to your asset. A house should be about 3 m tall per floor. If it is wrong, change Scale in Details.

Make it solid

If you walk through something, double-click the mesh, open Collision in the toolbar and choose Add Box Simplified Collision. Save it.

Pink or checkered?

Wait for shaders to finish compiling (bottom right). If it stays pink, the pack may be for a different engine version.

Take only what you need

Packs can be several gigabytes. Add one pack at a time, and test it before adding the next.

Keep one style

Pick one pack per kind of thing, such as trees or buildings. Mixing many styles makes a world look like a car boot sale.

Lots of triangles are slow

If your game stutters, choose lower-detail assets, or fewer of them. Words like low poly or mobile help.

Move between projects

Right-click an asset and choose Asset Actions → Migrate to copy it and everything it needs into another project’s Content folder.

Check the licence

Free Epic assets are usually fine to use inside games you build. Do not give the raw asset files to other people. Ask your teacher before sharing a finished game outside school.

Not sure?

Make a copy of your project folder first and try the asset there. If it goes wrong, nothing is lost.

A beginners guide to your first Unreal game engine projects

Plan your lessonsTime estimates for a beginner following closely

Words you will meetRead this once, come back when a word is new

Level

Actor

Component

Mesh

Material

Blueprint

Node and pin

Compile

Content Browser

Viewport

Pawn

Seed

When you get stuck, try these in order

Project 1: A walk in the forest

What you will end up with

Install Unreal EngineAbout 45 minutes, mostly waiting

Create your project

Find your way around

Sculpt the ground

Bring in your free assets

Paint the ground and plant a forest

Ground colour

Trees and plants

Build the village

Sky, light and mood

Your first Blueprint: a lantern to find

Package your game

When things go wrong

Where to go next

Hints and tipsFor Project 1: A walk in the forest

Save in two ways

Press Play after every change

Use the mannequin as a ruler

Duplicate fast

Check your frame rate

Name things clearly

Design with your eyes

Switch the view

Things to try to enhance your projectProject 1: A walk in the forest

Sound of the woods

Three lanterns, one goal

A door that opens

A river or lake

Day turning to dusk

People in the village

A score on screen

Rain and mist

Project 2: Give me some space

What you will end up with

Build a ship you can fly

Controls

The ship

The Blueprint nodes

Make it look like space

Generate a star system from a seed

Give every system a name

Jump to the next system

Package, fix and grow

Where to go next

Hints and tipsFor Project 2: Give me some space

Add new random calls at the end

Mix the seed first

See what the numbers are

Draw the orbits

Tidy your graph

Mind the distances

Fly one thing at a time

Break wires quickly

Things to try to enhance your projectProject 2: Give me some space

Speed and name on screen

Spinning planets

Different kinds of star

Engine sound and trail

Moons and rings

An asteroid belt

Scan a planet

Remember where you were