Guide on Treadwell

Steam Leaderboard Grouping

Sat, 06 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

So in Backseat Drivers we wanted to group players together (since the game is coop) on the leaderboard. Well this isn’t something that’s supported out of the box by Valve so I had to do some hacky stuff.

How?

So in the Steam API UploadLeaderboardScore it accepts a pScoreDetails (const int32*). Do you see where I’m going with this yet?

I take each player’s SteamID, split it into two int32 values (low/high), and store them in sequence: [0] = P1.low, [1] = P1.high, [2] = P2.low, [3] = P2.high

How I Handle Backups

Sun, 02 Jan 2022 00:00:00 +0000

The normal rule is 3-2-1 - 3 backups, 2 onsite, 1 offsite. However I do 2 offsite only. I may do a third offsite, but not sure just yet.

I use Scaleway’s C14 Cold Storage. I used OVH Archive, but the upload speeds were super slow.

In proxmox I edited the /etc/vzdump.conf and added script: /path/to/my/perl/script.pl at the bottom. When I run vzdump from the ui or proxmox kicks off a backup cron the script will get ran.

How I Version Products in Unreal Engine

Wed, 16 Jun 2021 00:00:00 +0000

While waiting for this to be added to Unreal I came up with an alternative. This python script will update the version in your DefaultGame.ini.

 
import configparser

import sys

import argparse

def main(argv):

 parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()

 parser.add_argument('Workspace', help='The path to the project that you\'re wanting to use!')

 parser.add_argument('NewVersion', help='The new version to set for the project.')

 args = parser.parse_args()

 config_file = args.Workspace + '/Config/DefaultGame.ini'

 config = configparser.ConfigParser()

 config.optionxform=str

 config.read(config_file)

 config['/Script/EngineSettings.GeneralProjectSettings']['ProjectVersion'] = args.NewVersion

 with open(config_file, 'w') as configfile:

 config.write(configfile)

if __name__ == "__main__":

 main(sys.argv[1:])

Useful Resources for Game Dev

Mon, 12 Apr 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Over the years I’ve come across some really good resources so I figured why not dump them on here for other people to benefit from?

Some of this is really targeted at Unreal development, but you can really apply the knowledge to any engine. If you have any resources that you’d like to add to this list them please email me @ [email protected].

These lists aren’t ordered in any specific way.

How To Change UE4 Class Templates

Wed, 10 Feb 2021 00:00:00 +0000

So have you created a C++ class in UE4 and it creates the class like this? Do you just hate the extra comments or spacing that the template has? Same. 🙁

 
 
 
// Fill out your copyright notice in the Description page of Project Settings.

#pragma once

#include "CoreMinimal.h"
#include "GameFramework/Actor.h"
#include "MyActor.generated.h"

UCLASS()
class THINGGAME_API AMyActor : public AActor
{
 GENERATED_BODY()

public:
 // Sets default values for this actor's properties
 AMyActor();

protected:
 // Called when the game starts or when spawned
 virtual void BeginPlay() override;

public:
 // Called every frame
 virtual void Tick(float DeltaTime) override;

};

Well don’t worry, you’re in the right place to get it looking better.

UE4 and Steam Rich Presence

Tue, 01 Dec 2020 00:00:00 +0000

NOTE: If you’re wanting a Steam wrapper for UE4 then check out SteamBridge. If you use SteamBridge it already has the code below so you won’t need to do any code portion of this guide.

So you’re wanting some cool Rich Presence for your game right?

Cool so here’s a quick guide on doing this in C++ in UE4. (don’t worry, the methods are exposed to BP)

Go to your projects Build.cs and add Steamworks. PrivateDependencyModuleNames.AddRange(new string[] { "Steamworks" });
Regenerate your project and open your solution. Add the following code to whatever class you want. I chose to do this in the GameInstance as it exists for the lifetime of the game.

 
 
 
UFUNCTION(BlueprintCallable, Category = "GameInstance")
void SetSteamRichPresence(const FString& Key, const FString& Value);

UFUNCTION(BlueprintCallable, Category = "GameInstance")
void ClearSteamRichPresence();

// At the time of writing this sdk version 150 is released, but UE4 only has 147. This doesn't matter, but just a note.
#include "ThirdParty/Steamworks/Steamv147/sdk/public/steam/steam_api.h"

void UCGameInstance::SetSteamRichPresence(const FString& Key, const FString& Value)
{
 SteamFriends()->SetRichPresence(TCHAR_TO_UTF8(*Key), TCHAR_TO_UTF8(*Value));
}
void UCGameInstance::ClearSteamRichPresence()
{
 SteamFriends()->ClearRichPresence();
}

Before you can go off and do what I did above you should know that you have to make a json file with the strings that can be set. Yeah, the messages have to be uploaded to Steam. 🙁

UE4 and Vivox

Wed, 18 Nov 2020 00:00:00 +0000

So you want a cross-platform and scalable voice chat? Great, let’s begin.

Prerequisites

A Vivox developer account (you need a v5 account so ask for a v5 account via email)
A Vivox app
A C++ UE4 project (or ability to add C++)
Patience

NOTE: Make sure you check this or like I said above email the support for a v5 account.

BeginPlay()

Cool once you have your app and credentials then proceed to step 1.

Adding Text Chat to UE4 in C++

Tue, 10 Nov 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Note, this is a C++ based example. However, it’s easily converted to BP.

If you want to just check out the code or skip the guide then you can download the project here.

There are a few things wrong with this setup such as no deletion of messages so you’ll keep a copy of them until you exit the game so you’re probably going to want to set up a timer to destroy them after x time.

Jenkins and UE4

Wed, 04 Nov 2020 00:00:00 +0000

NOTE: This guide assumes you already have a machine with Jenkins on it.

Prerequisites

Windows machine (or you can use a Windows agent)
UE4 and Jenkins installed
Patience

Create a new job as a freestyle project.
Choose “This project is parameterized.”
Add 1 choice parameter and 2 string parameters.
Fill in the content as follows.

 
 
 
==== Choice Parameter ====
== Name ==
BUILD_CONFIGURATION
== Choices ==
Development
Shipping
Test
DebugGame
== Description ==
Development = This configuration is equivalent to Release. Unreal Editor uses the Development configuration by default. Compiling your project using the Development configuration enables you to see code changes made to your project reflected in the editor.
Shipping = This is the configuration for optimal performance and shipping your game. This configuration strips out console commands, stats, and profiling tools.
Test = This configuration is the Shipping configuration, but with some console commands, stats, and profiling tools enabled.
DebugGame = This configuration builds the engine as optimized, but leaves the game code debuggable. This configuration is ideal for debugging only game modules.

==== String Parameter ====
== Name ==
ENGINE_PATH
== Default Value ==
C:\Program Files\Epic Games\UE_4.25\
== Description ==
The path for the engine install.

==== String Parameter ==
== Name ==
PROJECT_NAME
== Default Value ==
MyProject
== Description ==
This is the name of your project and the folder that it's in. (they need to match)

Set up your Source Control Management. We use PlasticSCM (requires you to install a plugin).
Check Poll SCM and put @hourly
Under Build add 3 Execute Windows batch command.

 
FOR /d /r . %%d IN (Intermediate) DO @IF EXIST "%%d" rd /s /q "%%d"
FOR /d /r . %%d IN (Binaries) DO @IF EXIST "%%d" rd /s /q "%%d"

@RD /S /Q "Build"
@RD /S /Q "Saved"
@RD /S /Q ".vs"
del "Shifted.sln" /s /f /q

===============================

"%ENGINE_PATH%Engine\Binaries\DotNET\UnrealBuildTool.exe" -projectfiles -project="%WORKSPACE%\%PROJECT_NAME%.uproject" -game -rocket -progress
"%ENGINE_PATH%Engine\Binaries\DotNET\UnrealBuildTool.exe" %PROJECT_NAME% %BUILD_CONFIGURATION% Win64 -project="%WORKSPACE%/%PROJECT_NAME%.uproject" -rocket -editorrecompile -progress -noubtmakefiles -NoHotReloadFromIDE -2019

===============================

"%ENGINE_PATH%Engine\Build\BatchFiles\RunUAT.bat" BuildCookRun -project="%WORKSPACE%\%PROJECT_NAME%.uproject" -noP4 -platform=Win64 -clientconfig=%BUILD_CONFIGURATION% -cook -numcookerstospawn=8 -compressed -EncryptIniFiles -ForDistribution -allmaps -build -stage -pak -prereqs -package -archive -archivedirectory="%WORKSPACE%/Saved/Builds"

Done.

Feedback via Discord in UE4

Sat, 26 Sep 2020 00:00:00 +0000

You can just download the class here if you’re lazy. mbpfl.h and mbpfl.cpp

Create a BlueprintFunctionLibrary class in C++ and add these includes and defines.

 C++
 
 
#if PLATFORM_WINDOWS
#include "Windows/WindowsPlatformMisc.h"
#elif PLATFORM_LINUX
#include "Linux/LinuxPlatformMisc.h"
#elif PLATFORM_MAC
#include "Mac/MacPlatformMisc.h"
#endif

#include "GameFramework/GameUserSettings.h"

#define BUG_REPORT_WEBHOOK_URL "YOURWEBHOOKURLHERE"
#define MYGAME_VERSION "v1.0-pre-alpha"
#define DEFAULT_ICON_URL "https://www.google.com/images/branding/googlelogo/1x/googlelogo_color_272x92dp.png"

Add the following enums and structs to the header.

 C++
 
 
UENUM(BlueprintType)
enum class EBugReportCategory : uint8
{
 Map,
 Weapon,
 Other
};

UENUM(BlueprintType)
enum class EBugReportPriority : uint8
{
 Crash,
 High,
 Med,
 Low
};

USTRUCT()
struct FDiscordMessageField
{
 GENERATED_BODY()

 UPROPERTY()
 FString name;
 UPROPERTY()
 FString value;
 UPROPERTY()
 bool binline;
};

USTRUCT()
struct FDiscordMessageEmbedAuthor
{
 GENERATED_BODY()

 UPROPERTY()
 FString name;
 UPROPERTY()
 FString url;
 UPROPERTY()
 FString icon_url;

 FDiscordMessageEmbedAuthor() : url("https://trdwll.com"), icon_url(DEFAULT_ICON_URL) {}
};

USTRUCT()
struct FDiscordMessageEmbedFooter
{
 GENERATED_BODY()

 UPROPERTY()
 FString text;
 UPROPERTY()
 FString icon_url;

 FDiscordMessageEmbedFooter() : icon_url(DEFAULT_ICON_URL) {}
};

USTRUCT()
struct FDiscordMessageEmbed
{
 GENERATED_BODY()

 UPROPERTY()
 FString title;
 UPROPERTY()
 FString description;
 UPROPERTY()
 uint32 color;
 UPROPERTY()
 TArray<FDiscordMessageField> fields;
 UPROPERTY()
 FDiscordMessageEmbedAuthor author;
 UPROPERTY()
 FDiscordMessageEmbedFooter footer;
 UPROPERTY()
 FString timestamp;

 FDiscordMessageEmbed() : color(720640), timestamp(FDateTime::Now().ToIso8601()) {}

 uint32 GetColor(const EBugReportPriority Priority)
 {
 switch (Priority)
 {
 case EBugReportPriority::Crash: return 16711680;
 case EBugReportPriority::High: return 12389388;
 case EBugReportPriority::Med: return 16742912;
 default:
 case EBugReportPriority::Low: return 720640;
 }
 }
};

USTRUCT()
struct FDiscordMessage
{
 GENERATED_BODY()

 UPROPERTY()
 FString username;
 UPROPERTY()
 FString avatar_url;
 UPROPERTY()
 FString content;
 UPROPERTY()
 TArray<FDiscordMessageEmbed> embeds;

 FDiscordMessage() : avatar_url(DEFAULT_ICON_URL) {}
};

USTRUCT(BlueprintType)
struct FBugReportUserData
{
 GENERATED_BODY()

 UPROPERTY(BlueprintReadWrite)
 FString Author;
 UPROPERTY(BlueprintReadWrite)
 FVector Location;
 UPROPERTY(BlueprintReadWrite)
 FString MapName;
 UPROPERTY(BlueprintReadWrite)
 FString Message;
};

Add the following to your header file.

 C++
 
 
 // Thanks to Rama for this method
 // GetEnumValueAsString<EEnumType>("EEnumType", Value);
 template<typename TEnum>
 static FString GetEnumValueAsString(const FString& Name, TEnum Value)
 {
 const UEnum* enumPtr = FindObject<UEnum>(ANY_PACKAGE, *Name, true);
 if (!enumPtr)
 {
 return FString("Invalid");
 }
 return enumPtr->GetNameByValue((int64)Value).ToString();
 }

 UFUNCTION(BlueprintCallable, Category = "Discord")
 static void SubmitBugReport(const EBugReportCategory Category, const EBugReportPriority Priority, const FBugReportUserData& AuthorData, FString& ReportID, bool bIncludeSpecs = true);

 /**
 * Gets the number of RAM on the system
 */
 UFUNCTION(BlueprintPure)
 static FORCEINLINE int32 GetTotalRAM()
 {
 const FPlatformMemoryConstants& MemoryConstants = FPlatformMemory::GetConstants();
 return MemoryConstants.TotalPhysicalGB;
 }

 UFUNCTION(BlueprintPure)
 static FString GetGameResolution() { return *FString::Printf(TEXT("%dx%d"), UGameUserSettings::GetGameUserSettings()->GetScreenResolution().X, UGameUserSettings::GetGameUserSettings()->GetScreenResolution().Y); }

 /**
 * Gets the CPU Brand Name information.
 */
 UFUNCTION(BlueprintPure)
 static FString GetCPUBrandName()
 {
#if PLATFORM_WINDOWS
 return FWindowsPlatformMisc::GetCPUBrand();
#elif PLATFORM_LINUX
 return FLinuxPlatformMisc::GetCPUBrand();
#elif PLATFORM_MAC
 return FMacPlatformMisc::GetCPUBrand();
#endif
 }

 /**
 * Gets the CPU Vendor Name information.
 */
 UFUNCTION(BlueprintPure)
 static FString GetCPUVendorName()
 {
#if PLATFORM_WINDOWS
 return FWindowsPlatformMisc::GetCPUVendor();
#elif PLATFORM_LINUX
 return FLinuxPlatformMisc::GetCPUVendor();
#elif PLATFORM_MAC
 return FMacPlatformMisc::GetCPUVendor();
#endif
 }

 /**
 * Gets the GPU Brand Name information.
 */
 UFUNCTION(BlueprintPure)
 static FString GetGPUBrandName()
 {
#if PLATFORM_WINDOWS
 return FWindowsPlatformMisc::GetPrimaryGPUBrand();
#elif PLATFORM_LINUX
 return FLinuxPlatformMisc::GetPrimaryGPUBrand();
#elif PLATFORM_MAC
 return FMacPlatformMisc::GetPrimaryGPUBrand();
#endif
 }

 /**
 * Gets the GPU Driver information.
 */
 UFUNCTION(BlueprintPure)
 static FORCEINLINE FString GetGPUDriverInfo() { return GRHIAdapterUserDriverVersion; }

Using Google Cloud Storage for Screenshots

Tue, 22 Sep 2020 00:00:00 +0000

For a while, I used vgy.me for hosting my screenshots, and while I didn’t have any issues with it until recently. It never really occurred to me that I should host my own. A few days ago I started having 404 and 500 errors with vgy.me so I said that’s enough and I began research on the top cloud providers (Google, AWS, and Azure). I settled on Google Cloud Platform hence this post.

How to Setup Your Own VPN

Wed, 08 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

With security and privacy being a major thing nowadays I figured I’d write up a short guide on how to set up your own VPN.

For this guide I used Vultr (affiliate link) since I had some credit left with them and only needed a VPS for an hour max. The main thing with this is you’re going to want at least a 1Gbps connection on your VPS, 1GB ram, and no less than 1 core. The VPS cost me $0.02 for the hour that I had it online.

Logging in UE4

Sun, 05 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Macros that I use for logging/printing.

Use them via PRINT("MyStringToPrint"); or LOG("MyStringToLog"); or LOG("MyStringToLog %f", 3.0f); etc.

 C++
 
 
#if 1
#include "Engine/Engine.h"
#include "DrawDebugHelpers.h"

#define GETSTR(text, ...) *FString::Printf(TEXT(text), ##__VA_ARGS__)

#define PRINT(color, text, ...) if (GEngine) GEngine->AddOnScreenDebugMessage(-1, 10.f, color, CUR_CLASS_LINE + ": " + GETSTR(text, ##__VA_ARGS__))
#define PRINT_S(text, ...) if (GEngine) GEngine->AddOnScreenDebugMessage(-1, 10.f, FColor::Yellow, CUR_CLASS_LINE + ": [SUCCESS] " + GETSTR(text, ##__VA_ARGS__))
#define PRINT_E(text, ...) if (GEngine) GEngine->AddOnScreenDebugMessage(-1, 10.f, FColor::Red, CUR_CLASS_LINE + ": [ERROR] " + GETSTR(text, ##__VA_ARGS__))
#define PRINT_W(text, ...) if (GEngine) GEngine->AddOnScreenDebugMessage(-1, 10.f, FColor::Orange, CUR_CLASS_LINE + ": [WARNING] " + GETSTR(text, ##__VA_ARGS__))
#define LOG(text, ...) UE_LOG(LogTemp, Log, TEXT("%s: %s"), *CUR_CLASS, GETSTR(text, ##__VA_ARGS__))
#define LOG_S(text, ...) UE_LOG(LogTemp, Log, TEXT("%s: [SUCCESS] %s"), *CUR_CLASS, GETSTR(text, ##__VA_ARGS__))
#define LOG_W(text, ...) UE_LOG(LogTemp, Warning, TEXT("%s: [WARNING] %s"), *CUR_CLASS, GETSTR(text, ##__VA_ARGS__))
#define LOG_E(text, ...) UE_LOG(LogTemp, Error, TEXT("%s: [ERROR] %s"), *CUR_CLASS, GETSTR(text, ##__VA_ARGS__))
#define LOG_D(text, ...) UE_LOG(LogTemp, Display, TEXT("%s: [WARNING] %s"), *CUR_CLASS, GETSTR(text, ##__VA_ARGS__))

#define PRINT_LOG(color, text, ...) PRINT(color, text, ##__VA_ARGS__); LOG(text, ##__VA_ARGS__);
#define PRINT_LOG_S(text, ...) PRINT_S(text, ##__VA_ARGS__); LOG_S(text, ##__VA_ARGS__);
#define PRINT_LOG_W(text, ...) PRINT_W(text, ##__VA_ARGS__); LOG_W(text, ##__VA_ARGS__);
#define PRINT_LOG_E(text, ...) PRINT_E(text, ##__VA_ARGS__); LOG_E(text, ##__VA_ARGS__);

/** Current Class Name + Function Name where this is called! */
#define CUR_CLASS_FUNC (FString(__FUNCTION__))

/** Current Class where this is called! */
#define CUR_CLASS (FString(__FUNCTION__).Left(FString(__FUNCTION__).Find(TEXT(":"))) )

/** Current Function Name where this is called! */
#define CUR_FUNC (FString(__FUNCTION__).Right(FString(__FUNCTION__).Len() - FString(__FUNCTION__).Find(TEXT("::")) - 2 ))

/** Current Line Number in the code where this is called! */
#define CUR_LINE (FString::FromInt(__LINE__))

/** Current Class and Line Number where this is called! */
#define CUR_CLASS_LINE (CUR_CLASS + "(" + CUR_LINE + ")")

/** Current Function Signature where this is called! */
#define CUR_FUNCSIG (FString(__FUNCSIG__))
#else
#define PRINT(color, text)
#define PRINT_S(text)
#define PRINT_E(text)
#define LOG(text, ...)
#define LOG_S(text, ...)
#define LOG_W(text, ...)
#define LOG_E(text, ...)
#define LOG_D(text, ...)
#define PRINT_LOG_S(text)
#define PRINT_LOG_W(text)
#define PRINT_LOG_E(text)
#endif

Using const in C++

Thu, 02 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

So what is const? Const means constant… Why should you use const? You should use const when you don’t need to edit the value etc.

I’m by no means an expert, but if I made a typo feel free to reach out.

 C++
 
 
class Example
{
public:

 Example() {}

 // const on the end means you "promise" that the method won't edit any values in the class Example (can get around this by marking a variable mutable)
 int GetA() const { return m_A; }

 // If you're going to return a pointer you can add const before and after the * just like below (ugly)
 const int* const GetB() const { return m_B; }

private:
 int m_A;
 int* m_B;
};

int main()
{
 // const before a * means you can't modify the contents of the pointer
 // const after a * means you can't modify the pointer
 // const before and after adds both above

 int VALUE = 1337;

 int* a = new int(1);
 const int* b = new int(50);
 int* const c = new int(100);
 const int* const d = new int(8000);

 // You can also do int const* instead of const int* which means the same thing as they're before the *

 std::cout << "A: " << *a << std::endl;
 std::cout << "B: " << *b << std::endl;
 std::cout << "C: " << *c << std::endl;
 std::cout << "D: " << *d << std::endl;

 *a = 2; // We can set the value
 // *b = 10; // We can't set the value of b since const is before the *
 b = &VALUE; // We can set the pointer
 *c = 25; // We can set the value
 // c = &a; // We can't set the pointer to something else

 // We can't do anything to d as we specify const before and after the * (there are ways around stuff like this though)
 // *d = 80;
 // d = &CONST_VALUE;

 std::cout << "A: " << *a << std::endl;
 std::cout << "B: " << *b << std::endl;
 std::cout << "C: " << *c << std::endl;
 std::cout << "D: " << *d << std::endl;

 std::cin.get();
}

How I Take Screenshots

Tue, 17 Mar 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Depending on what the screenshot is for will determine how I take the screenshot. If I’m sharing the screenshot via Discord etc then I’ll just use vgy.me by using ShareX. If I’m sharing via this site then I’ll just use the snipping tool that’s built into windows.

A note on ShareX, it’s crazy bloated with tools that shouldn’t be in the application - but it works just fine. In fact, I built a tool a few years ago called CaptureThat (I doubt it still works lol), because ShareX is just bloated with stuff that I didn’t use. One great thing about ShareX is it supports a TON of sites to upload your screenshot to and it also supports recording video.

Base64 in UE4

Sun, 15 Mar 2020 00:00:00 +0000

While I was looking for projects to contribute to on GitHub I remembered VaRest was on GitHub. I headed over to VaRest’s repo and was looking at issues. I found the issue and so I went on my way of finding a solution.

My solution for encoding was to convert the input string to utf8 and then encode. My solution for decoding was practically the same, I convert the string to a tchar from utf8, decode, and then output the result. Pretty easy right? Yeah no this solution took me about an hour and I had to get some assistance from an acquaintance, because the encoding was adding extra chars on the end and some other random issues.

Using Interfaces in UE4

Thu, 05 Mar 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Interfaces are an amazing thing that’s in programming. An interface describes the behavior or capabilities of a C++ class without committing to a particular implementation of that class. Meaning any class that extends an interface has to implement the methods of that interface. You can also add more than 1 interface to a class and an abstract class you can’t. More on this later. The simplest way to explain what an interface is would be it’s a class with no implementation.

UE4 and GameLift

Wed, 04 Mar 2020 00:00:00 +0000

I recently got hired by a company that had me implement GameLift into their UE4 project. Since there’s not much useful information out there on this in my opinion I figured I’d write up a guide on using it.

Prerequisites for either platform

Dedicated Server support in your UE4 project

Building the GameLiftServerSDK for Windows

Prerequisites

Visual Studio
cmake (When installing make sure to enable the add to PATH setting)

Accessing Your GameLift Instance

Thu, 20 Feb 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Prerequisites

AWS CLI
A GameLift fleet already created
Patience

This guide is assuming you’re on Windows as your main OS, but if you’re using Linux then the commands will be the same for AWS, but the system commands like changing the ssh key permission for Linux would be chmod 400 gameliftkey.pem.

Windows

Open Command Prompt (cmd) and type in aws gamelift describe-instances --fleet-id <your-fleet-id>. Replace with your actual fleet id which you can find here.
Now in cmd run aws gamelift get-instance-access --fleet-id <your-fleet-id> --instance-id <your-instance-id>. Again replace the contents in with the details from the command above.
Excellent, now you can log into your instance. Open Remote Desktop Connection (RDP) on Windows (Windows key and type in RDP). Log in with the details from the command above.
To access your game go to C:\Game.

Installing a UE4 Plugin Into Your Project

Thu, 13 Feb 2020 00:00:00 +0000

This is a very easy thing to do so don’t worry.

If the plugin is downloaded from the Marketplace then go into your Engine install directory (mine is C:\Program Files\Epic Games\UE_4.24\Engine\Plugins\Marketplace). If it’s download elsewhere then just go to step 2.
Copy the plugin folder that you’re wanting to add to your project into your project/Plugins directory

That’s literally all that you need to do. Just open your project and done.

Securing Your Game Studio Brand

Mon, 10 Feb 2020 00:00:00 +0000

So you want to use a team name or whatever and verify that it’s not taken? Great, then continue reading.

Before we get started I have to say that I’m not an attorney and that you should speak with yours or even if you don’t have one go speak with one anyway. They do consultations for free! mind = blown

This guide is structured for US teams/businesses but can be applied to anywhere by using the trademark/business search for said country.

Debugging the Speed of Websites

Tue, 04 Feb 2020 00:00:00 +0000

When developing a website one main concern should be is performance. Here are a few tools to help you debug what could be causing speed issues. (load times)

These sites are basically the same thing, but it’s always a good idea to use different references when debugging.

Using these sites I was able to speed up this site by a good amount. At the time of writing this I could still strip out some of my css from bootstrap that it’s being used, but I think it’s ok enough.

Packaging Your UE4 Plugin

Tue, 04 Feb 2020 00:00:00 +0000

I got asked yesterday how to package UE4 plugins for distribution. It’s honestly very simple to do.

Go to Edit -> Plugins and scroll down to Project/Other.
On the plugin that you want to package select Package.
Then just choose a folder to package to. If you get any compile/build errors then fix them and press Package again.

Easy as 1, 2, 3. 😁

UPDATE: I posted about Jenkins and UE4 and I have a command at the bottom for building plugins.

Adding a Day/Night Cycle in UE4 in C++

Mon, 27 Jan 2020 00:00:00 +0000

UPDATE: This method shouldn’t be used anymore. Epic released an atmosphere plugin that replaces the skybox that was used in this guide. To get it working with that it just requires some small changes and I’ll eventually update the post.

This code was apart of an old project of mine that never went anywhere so I figured I’d add it to an example project and release for free. Everyone could use a day/night cycle that’s networked right?

Setting up a UE4 Project for Dedicated Server

Mon, 20 Jan 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Ready to build your game’s dedicated server? Whoa there buddy. We have some work to do before you can.

Before you start down the road of following this guide make sure you have ~130GB free storage for the engine.

Download UnrealEngine from GitHub. If you don’t have access to this then go and follow this guide. You can either download the zip (release) or do a git clone.
Go into the directory where you downloaded the engine and run Setup.bat.
Run GenerateProjectFiles.bat and then open UE4.sln.
Select Development Editor, Win64, and UE4 then press Local Windows Debugger (or Debug -> Start Debugging or Build -> Build Solution). This will take a while (~40 minutes) so just let it do its thing.
After it’s completed the project selector will show up (if you had no errors) and then you can just close the editor and Visual Studio.
Go to your project and right click your uproject (Switch Unreal Engine version) then select the Source build.
Create a Server and Client target.cs file. The Client.Target.cs file will look similar to: (download example ExampleProjectClient.Target.cs)

 
 
 
using UnrealBuildTool;
using System.Collections.Generic;

public class ExampleProjectClientTarget : TargetRules
{
 public ExampleProjectClientTarget(TargetInfo Target) : base(Target)
 {
 Type = TargetType.Client;
 DefaultBuildSettings = BuildSettingsVersion.V2;
 ExtraModuleNames.Add("ExampleProject");
 }
}

The Server.Target.cs file will look similar to: (download example ExampleProjectServer.Target.cs)

Using Unreal Frontend to Package Your Project

Fri, 17 Jan 2020 00:00:00 +0000

So you’re wanting to use UF to package your projects like a pro? You’re in the right place then. 😃

UF makes it easier to build for different platforms with different settings (such as Development or Shipping) with just the click of a button.

Go to your engine install folder and find UnrealFrontend.exe. (Mine is C:\Program Files\Epic Games\UE_4.24\Engine\Binaries\Win64)
Create a shortcut and put on your desktop or wherever.
Open UnrealFrontend and click the bottom right + sign under Custom Launch Profiles.
Customize settings for your game. These are some settings that I use when packaging.
Click the back button at the top.
Press the build button.
The default directory will be Project/Saved/StagedBuilds.

Cross-Compiling for Linux on Windows for UE4

Wed, 15 Jan 2020 00:00:00 +0000

There’s really not much information on this so I figured I’d write about it to help other people and help myself if I forget how. lol

This guide is written for 4.24, but should work for other versions. Or at the very least will be very similar for other versions.

Download and install the clang toolchain.
Add the settings to your DefaultEngine.ini.

[/Script/LinuxTargetPlatform.LinuxTargetSettings]
TargetArchitecture=X86_64UnknownLinuxGnu

There are 3 options for this. X86_64UnknownLinuxGnu, ArmUnknownLinuxGnueabihf, or AArch64UnknownLinuxGnueabi 3. Go into the launcher and download the Linux platform. (if you have source build then ignore this step) Click the down arrow on the right then make sure Linux is selected. 4. Package your project however you do whether it be via Editor (File -> Package Project) or Unreal Frontend.

Installing Python 3 on CentOS 7

Tue, 15 Oct 2019 00:00:00 +0000

CentOS 7 ships with 2.7.5 and that’s not the best when you’re wanting to use Python 3.x so I’m going to teach you how to install 3.x.

This will work for any python version so you don’t have to use 3.7.5 like I did here. You can go and use the latest instead.

Run python -V and see what it says. If it’s not 3.x then continue to step 2.
Run whereis python, if you don’t see any python3.x binaries then continue to step 3.
Run as root/sudo yum groupinstall -y "Development Tools" then run yum install gcc openssl-devel bzip2-devel libffi-devel -y
Jump on over to the Python download page and find the link for the Gzipped source tarball. For this guide we’re going to be installing 3.7.5.
Run wget https://www.python.org/ftp/python/3.7.5/Python-3.7.5.tgz or upload the source to the machine.
Once the source is on the machine then run tar -xvzf Python-3.7.5.tgz.
Run cd Python-3.7.5/ and then run ./configure --enable-optimizations
Now that you’ve configured the build for Python you can build and install it by doing make altinstall. This process will take some time so let it run. You don’t want to do make install, because this will mess with Python 2 which is required by most of the components of CentOS 7.
Python 3.x should be installed now so now you can do python3.x -V (in this guide should be python3.7 -V)