Differences in UnrealEngine build targets

overview

  • I suppose you already have the unreal engine built from source of 4.21 version
    • if you do not, read the custom-unreal-engine-build post
  • once you build the UE4 project with option Development Editor & Win64
    • you can find [EngineRoot]/Engine/Binaries/Win64/UE4Editor.exe and execute it
  • in this window, you can create project using your custom engine
    • create a Third Person template project for testing several build targets in this post

build-targets

  • in unreal engine, “build (file)” means the executable file or library file made from source code

    • ex1) UE4Editor-[ProjectName].dll of Editor build target
    • ex2) [ProjectName]Client.exe of Client build target
    • ex3) [ProjectName].exe of Game build target

  • there are four build targets frequently used

    • Client
    • Server
    • Game
    • Editor

  • Client

    • this target is used for building only client
    • it has several features especially displaying screen
    • so if the system does not have any graphics API, it cannot be executed

  • Server

    • this target is used for building only server
    • it does not have several features especially displaying screen
    • so regardless of graphics API, it can be executed

  • Game

    • this target is used for building whole game
    • it has all features from Client and Server targets
    • so a build from this target can be used as client, and server too
      • it is not recommended for the commercial game project because user could get the server feature

  • Editor

    • this target is used for executing the game on unreal editor
    • only the build from this target can be opened in unreal editor
      • also, unreal editor only can open this build, which means packaging impossible
    • totally, it has all features from Game

packaging

  • because build files do not contain unreal assets, it cannot be executed alone
    • we have checked out what happens when only using a build file in previous post
    • so, executing the game from any build file, you need to package unreal assets used in the project file
    • and packaging can be done in unreal editor, not the source code editor such as visual studio IDE
  • there are some prerequisites for pacakaging the test project
  • open the sln for the test project and build it with Development Editor & Win64
    • and press F5 to start debugging
  • you would see the Third Person default map with unreal editor
  • open the Project Settings window and find Maps & Modes tab
    • set every map with the default map
  • find Packaging tab
    • add the default map to the List of maps to include in a packaged build
  • write target config files for Client and Server targets

  • right click uproject and select Generate project files

  • re-open the sln and build the test project with each solution configuration

    • Development & Win64
    • Development Client & Win64
    • Development Server & Win64

  • now you can see the three build files

  • open the test project with unreal editor

    • way1) double click uproject
    • way2) execute [EngineRoot]/Engine/Binaries/Win64/UE4Editor.exe and select the project
  • select Development in File/Package Project/Build Configuration
  • select Windows (64-bit) in File/Package Project/Windows
    • choose an arbitrary directory for saving the package
    • in my case, I created Packages folder in project directory and use it
  • after packaging, you can see the directory like this
  • as we packaged the project with Development the executable files are the same
  • copy the build files into the Packages/WindowsNoEditor/[ProjectName]/Binaries/Win64
    • [ProjectName].exe
    • [ProjectName]Client.exe
    • [ProjectName]Server.exe
  • run the command prompt and move to the Packages/WindowsNoEditor/[ProjectName]/Binaries/Win64
    • execute each build file with some options for knowing what happens inside
  • execute Game build file with options -log -windowed resx=720 resy=480
    • -log option makes the game print logs
    • -windowed option prevents the game from running as full-screen
  • you can terminate the game
    • way1) click X on the right of game window
    • way2) press a grave accent and type exit
  • execute Client build file with options -log -windowed resx=720 resy=480
    • you can see the same result of Game build
  • execute Server build file with options -log
    • you can see there is no game screen with Server build

game-client-server

  • I mentioned Game as “it has all features from Client and Server targets”

  • execute Game build 3 times with options below

      1. -server 127.0.0.1 -log -windowed resx=720 resy=480
      1. 127.0.0.1 -log -windowed resx=720 resy=480
      1. 127.0.0.1 -log -windowed resx=720 resy=480

  • the first game acts as (client + server) and other games act as client

    • this means Game target = Client target + Server target

  • execute Server build with options below

    • 127.0.0.1 -log

  • execute Client twice with options below

      1. 127.0.0.1 -log -windowed resx=720 resy=480
      1. 127.0.0.1 -log -windowed resx=720 resy=480
  • the first game acts as server and other games act as client
    • you can see server do not have a screen