3D Game Design with Unreal Engine 4 and Blender

Key Features

• The only resource that shows how you can incorporate Blender into your Unreal Engine 4 Game environment
• Create amazing 3D game environments by leveraging the power of Blender and Unreal Engine 4
• Practical step-by-step approach with plenty of illustrative examples to get you started immediately

Book Description

Unreal Engine 4 now has support for Blender, which was not available in earlier versions. This has opened up new possibilities and that is where this book comes in. This is the first book in the market combining these two powerful game and graphic engines. Readers will build an amazing high-level game environment with UE4 and will show them how to use the power of Blender 3D to create stunning animations and 3D effects for their game. This book will start with creating levels, 3D assets for the game, game progression, light and environment control, animation, and so on. Then it will teach readers to add amazing visual effects to their game by applying rendering, lighting, rigging, and compositing techniques in Blender. Finally, readers will learn how to smoothly transfer blender files to UE4 and animate the game assets. Each chapter will add complexities to the game environment.

What you will learn

• Create a fully functioning game level of your own design using Blender and Unreal Engine 4
• Customize your level with detailed 3D assets created with Blender
• Import assets into Unreal Engine 4 to create an amazing finished product
• Build a detailed dynamic environment with goals and an ending
• Explore Blender's incredible animation tools to animate elements of your game
• Create great environments using sound effects, particle effects, and class blueprints

About the Author

Justin Plowman is a game designer and educator, who resides in the United States. At a young age, he discovered his love for video games and the joy they bring to others. He began teaching high school students about game development in 2005 and enjoys supporting the dreams of the next generation developers. He currently teaches at risk youth about game design and development through the West Michigan Center for Arts and Technology (www.wmcat.org); and also teaches Unreal Engine development as part of the Digital Animation and Game Design program at Ferris State University (www.ferris.edu). Justin has worked with Unreal Technology in the education arena for more than 10 years. When not teaching, he writes learning tutorials on different topics related to Unreal Technology, and continues to further his education by keeping up on recent industry news and learning about best practices related to both teaching and game development. He can be found on the Web at https://gamingbootcamp.wordpress.com/.

Table of Contents

1. Unreal, My Friend, I'd Like You to Meet Blender
2. Starting Our First Project
3. It's Time to Customize!
4. Getting the Assets to the Level
5. Taking This Level Up a Notch
6. Monster Assets – The Level Totally Needs One of These
7. Let's Dress to Impress!
8. Lights, Camera, Animation!
9. Bang Bang – Let's Make It Explode