Building an Unreal RTS Game: The Basics

Course details

In this course, you will learn about gameplay programming in Unreal Engine 4, using examples from the well-known Real Time Strategy (RTS) genre. You will become familiar with how versatile the structure of the Unreal Engine is, and how it can be used to create many kinds of game. Beginning with implementing an RTS-style free roaming camera from scratch, you will then move on to selecting Non-Playable Characters (NPCs) through mouse input, and using basic Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Pathfinding to have selected NPCs move around a level. Finally, the course will cover how to modify Navigation Mesh (Nav Mesh) Data to provide varied and interesting gameplay.

Then, in Volume 2, you will add a second unit to the game, make a unit attack, create destructible environments, and finally bring everything together with an RTS-style user interface using Unreal Motion Graphics (UMG).

The topics covered in this course will not only form the basis for an RTS game, but will also introduce various concepts that underlie gameplay programming in Unreal Engine 4.

About the Authors

Jonathan A. Daley is a co-founder of independent game studio Nacelle Games, which he founded with his wife Carrie Daley, in 2014. Since then they've shipped several games and apps for iOS and tvOS, as well as consulted on several VR projects. Jonathan has programmed and designed over 20 games and apps since 2013, using everything from the Unreal Engine 4 and Unity 3D game engines, to programming games and apps from scratch in Xcode and Visual Studio.