I've been working more in Unreal Engine 5 lately, and I discovered a post by Marco Secchi about a new book with Packt called Mastering Unreal Engine 5 Game Development with C++ Scripting that I had to read.
I'm a huge fan of Marco's prior Unreal Engine books, and this one is no exception. In fact, this is exactly the resource I've been waiting to see for Unreal Engine 5. Special shout-out to Packt for giving me an early look at the book so I can provide this review for you.
(Note: my reviews are written 100% by me without the use of AI)
TL;DR: If you have experience with C++ and Unreal Engine already, you will still come away from this book with a better understanding of how the engine works and improve your ability to create more modular, scalable architecture for your games. Even if you're new to Unreal, I'd still pick this book up as a reference to aid you in your journey.
Every chapter is packed with useful insights, starting with Chapter 1, which provides an overview of the tools and files associated with the Unreal Engine build pipeline as a foundation. Here, you'll learn about the Unreal Build Tool (UBT), Unreal Header Tool (UHT), the build file, generated header files, and more.
Chapter 2 introduces the project "Paws in the Shell," which you'll follow throughout the rest of the book. You'll get access to the entire project upfront and use it to better understand the topics, with opportunities to test your learning by implementing additional features after each chapter.
Major props to the artists who made their assets available to use freely. They come together very well to make the project look great and inspire further exploration!
In lieu of going through every chapter, here are some of my favorite chapters:
2️⃣ Understanding the Engine Reflection System
5️⃣ Handling Event-Driven Architectures
7️⃣ Improving Your Code with Subsystems
🔟 Developing Plugins and Modules
I had a blast going through this one and came away with new knowledge about some of the underpinnings of the engine. It's easy to recommend!
Available now at Amazon!
👉 https://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Unreal-Engine-Development-Scripting/dp/180666593X