game-development

Unreal Engine Gameplay Framework

Core Classes

• AActor: Base class for placeable objects
• APawn: Actors that can be possessed
• ACharacter: Humanoid pawns with movement
• APlayerController: Player input and control
• AGameMode: Game rules and logic

Component Pattern

UCLASS()
class AMyCharacter : public ACharacter {
    GENERATED_BODY()

    UPROPERTY(VisibleAnywhere)
    UStaticMeshComponent* MeshComp;

    UPROPERTY(VisibleAnywhere)
    UBoxComponent* TriggerBox;

public:
    AMyCharacter() {
        MeshComp = CreateDefaultSubobject<UStaticMeshComponent>("Mesh");
        TriggerBox = CreateDefaultSubobject<UBoxComponent>("Trigger");
    }
};

Gameplay Ability System

• Attributes and AttributeSets
• GameplayEffects for buffs/debuffs
• GameplayAbilities for skills
• GameplayTasks for async operations

Best Practices

• Use Blueprintable C++ classes
• Leverage UProperty for reflection
• Minimize Tick usage
• Use Object Pooling for frequently spawned actors