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Unreal Engine Basics Textbook

A free, self-paced textbook in 8 chapters. Read a chapter, then drill it with the 231 companion flashcards using spaced repetition.

8 chapters · 231 cards · Updated

Chapters

  1. 1Editor Interface and Asset Management

    The Unreal Engine editor is built around a collection of docked panels that together give developers full control over the level, its contents, and the underlying project assets. T...

  2. 2Blueprints and Visual Scripting

    Blueprints are Unreal's visual scripting system and form the backbone of gameplay logic for most projects. A Blueprint Class is created from the Content Browser by right-clicking a...

  3. 3Materials and Shading

    Materials in Unreal Engine control the visual appearance of surfaces. A Material asset is created in the Content Browser by right-clicking and choosing Material, then opened in the...

  4. 4Lighting and Rendering

    Unreal Engine offers a flexible lighting toolkit built around a few core actor types. Directional Lights simulate distant sources like the sun with parallel rays and are paired wit...

  5. 5Physics, Collision, and Movement

    Unreal's physics system is driven by components and collision settings on actors. A Static Mesh component can be configured with Simulate Physics enabled to participate in rigid-bo...

  6. 6Actors, Levels, and Runtime Spawning

    An Actor is the base class for any object that can be placed in a level, supporting transforms, replication, and spawning. Pawns, Characters, Static Mesh Actors, and Trigger Volume...

  7. 7Animation, AI, and Multiplayer

    Animation in Unreal is driven by Skeletal Mesh components paired with Animation Blueprints. An Animation Blueprint is a specialized Blueprint that contains an AnimGraph and an Even...

  8. 8Packaging, Profiling, and Project Settings

    Packaging a project prepares it for distribution outside the editor. The File → Package Project menu targets platforms such as Windows (64-bit), with Unreal compiling content and c...

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