UnrealEngine custom build

  • recommend to read first
  • this post covers
    • why we need the custom unreal engine
    • how to access to unreal engine code
    • how to build and configure our custom unreal engine
  • environment
    • Windows / 10
    • Visual Studio IDE / 2017 Community

overview

  • using unreal engine with the Epic Games Launcher means that you can use some parts of unreal engine
    • because, engines provided from Epic Games Launcher are lack of some features ( find more at here )
    • especially, you can only use Client and Server build target with custom unreal engine
  • if you want to use whole of unreal engine, you need to build unreal engine from source code
    • making a project with custom engine, Epic Games Launcher recognizes the project but not the version of engine
    • you can see the Other on the screenshot above, which means that versioning is not meaningful no more
  • for example, suppose you need to seperate your game project into client and server
    • that means, client version of your game only has the feature for client and vice versa
    • build targets supported by engine from Epic Games Launcher are only Game and Editor so you cannot

access

  • accessing to unreal engine repository needs some process below
  • visit epic games page and sign in
  • click PERSONAL in the combo box on your nickname and click CONNECTED ACCOUNTS
    • click CONNECT in the GITHUB box and sign in with your github account
    • then, some mails would be sent to your email and accept them
  • now you can find that you have entered the Epic Games organization
  • visit the unreal engine repository and download or clone it
  • if you want to make custom engine based on a specific version, select the proper branch
  • now you are ready to build custom engine

build

  • before starting, there are some requirements to visual studio IDE
  • execute visual studio 2017 and click Tools/Get Tools and Features...
    • in Individual components tab, you should check the components below
      • .NET Framework 4.5 things
      • .NET Framework 4.6 things
      • VC++ 2015 for desktop things
  • right click the Setup.bat in engine root folder and select Run as administrator
  • execute command prompt and move to engine root folder
    • type GenerateProjectFiles.bat -2017 and enter
    • now you can see UE4.sln is generated and open it with visual studio 2017
  • right click UE4 project and select build
    • it takes soooo long time ( about 1~2 hours )

usage

  • launch any engine on Epic Games Launcher
  • create some project
  • right click uproject and select Switch Unreal Engine version...
  • if the build was successfully done, there is the engine root in combo box
    • if not, find and choose the engine root directory
  • select proper one and it starts generating project files
  • open the [ProjectName].sln and you can check out the UE4 in solution explorer
  • even you would find the Client and Server options in solution configurations
    • this process is required whenever you want to use custom engine
    • hooh ! now you can use your own custom unreal engine !