This one-hour live "StudyHall" is the first part of the "Blueprint Alchemy" series and will cover the basics of Blueprint, the Visual Scripting Language (VSL) used in Unreal Engine 4 and 5. Even if you've never written a program before, you will use Epic Games' robust Blueprint system to program incredible visuals, gameplay mechanics, and sound inside of a real game level that YOU will create! If you're a beginner and want to learn Visual Scripting the Epic way, you won't want to miss this one!"

HOW TO PREPARE TO "FOLLOW ALLONG" FOR THIS STUDY HALL: 

1. Download the SlideDeck: https://1drv.ms/u/s!ArjMde7nootQk_R75Z7_eaFHFX_qsA?e=nIfbsA

2. Please visit the link below to verify your computer’s compatibility with Unreal Engine 5:https://docs.unrealengine.com/5.0/en-US/hardware-and-software-specifications-for-unreal-engine/

3. Note: If you are using MacOS, you will need to install the appropriate version of Xcode for your operating system. You can search for the correct version here:

https://developer.apple.com/xcode/resources/ (Links to an external site.)

(If you need an earlier version of Xcode, you'll need to click "Additional Downloads" and enter your Apple credentials.)

4. Instructions for installing Unreal Engine can be found at the link below. Please set up your Epic Games account first, obtain the Epic Launcher, and install Unreal Engine version 5.0.3. for your operating system.

https://docs.unrealengine.com/5.0/en-US/installing-unreal-engine/

5. When everything is installed, use the Epic Launcher to launch Unreal Engine for the first time. Note: The very first launch of the engine can take a long time -- much longer than it seems it should. It may appear to get "stuck" at certain percentages while loading. In most cases, this is perfectly normal, and I recommend just walking away for a few hours while it does its thing. As soon as the Unreal has successfully loaded (regardless of how much time it took), just quit the program. Subsequent launches should load much more quickly. You can test this by launching and quitting a second time. Please do this BEFORE the workshop, so that you’ll be able to follow along!

6. Once the engine has loaded, please follow the prompts to creae a new project. Use the Third Person Template with its default settings. Once you provide a name and a saving path, the project should launch.

Please take some time to look around. Since we will be moving straight into Blueprint basics, it’s helpful if you’ve already spent a little bit of time navigating inside the editor. It’s okay if you feel lost at first! Do your best to locate the Content Drawer, the Viewport, and the Details Panel, and how to move around the level using your mouse and WASD keyboard controls. I suggest using a two-button mouse with a center scroll wheel that can also function as a middle mouse button. (This is optional, but highly recommended.)

7. Prepare to have a lot of fun!