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Unreal Engine Git#

Setting Up Engine Github Repo#

  • Add our own private github repo:
  • Make sure to add an 'upstream' remote too:
Bash
git remote add upstream https://github.com/EpicGames/UnrealEngine
git fetch upstream
git checkout release
  • Optimize git behavior
    Bash
    git config --global gc.auto 1024

Updating Engine Version#

Note: Examples are assuming 4.21.2-release tag is on the release branch and is the base, Bebylon is forked from that, and we're trying to update to 4.22.2-release (tag) on the upstream/release branch

  1. Sync from github into a clean directory so BBR subdirectory/game cruft or intermediate files aren't getting in the way
  2. Create a patch from the bebylon branch ranging from it's parent in the release branch to current
    Bash
    git checkout -b tmpsquash 4.21.2-release
git merge --squash Bebylon
git commit -a -m "Squashed 4.21.2 to Bebylon commits"
git format-patch 4.21.2-release

git checkout release
git pull upstream release:release
git branch -D tmpsquash
  3. Create a new branch at the sync off point off of the new engine release branch (e.g. branch: release, tag: 4.22.2-release). Call it bebylon-{new engine version}-merge{oldversion} (eg bebylon-4.22.2-merged4.21.2)
    Bash
    git checkout -f -b bebylon-4.22.2-merged4.21.2 4.22.2-release
  4. Apply patch to new said branch & manually solve the conflicts. Push this up to github
    Bash
    git am --3way --signoff 0001-Squashed-4.21.2-to-Bebylon-commits.patch
  5. Sync down into proper directory and actually solve the conflicts to get UE4 building & compiling
  6. Merge bebylon into the new branch with merge override from the new branch. We want to merge Bebylon with bebylon-4.22.2-merged4.21.2 but not actually do any merging but instead take bebylon-4.22.2-merged4.21.2 as authoritative.
    Note: git merge -X theirs private won't work bc it will still apply a merge strategy when there is no conflict*
    Use these commands to do that:
Bash
git merge -s ours Bebylon
git checkout Bebylon
git merge bebylon-4.22.2-merged4.21.2

Reference From https://stackoverflow.com/questions/4624357/how-do-i-overwrite-rather-than-merge-a-branch-on-another-branch-in-git

  1. Create tag at merge point bebylon-4.22.2-merged4.21.2
  2. Now you can push Bebylon up to github
    - Optional Rebase our private branch on top of the new UE4 repository. Make sure everyone has their stuff checked in before you rebase + force push the history rewrite. Otherwise the rest of the team will want to burn you alive after de-syncing their git tree
    http://stackoverflow.com/questions/14893399/rebase-feature-branch-onto-another-feature-branch
  3. Rerun Setup.bat to get the latest binary dependencies and reconcile
  4. Reconcile for perforce:
    Bash
    Utility/reconcile.py eng_upgrade_reconcile --uebinaries --uetemplatecontent --uecontent --uesrc --ueplugins --uedocs
  5. Rationalize the worktree and remove outdated files
    • Preview the files that will be nuked
      p4 status -I -mead UnrealEngine\\Engine\\...
    • DANGEROUS & DESTRUCTIVE Force the worktree to match (remove old files that are in the tree but need to be removed)
      p4 clean -I -mead UnrealEngine\\Engine\\...
  6. Run FullBuildClean on Jenkins to verify that the new build works as expected
    • This will sync the perforce tree
    • Nuke all files locally that are not in the perforce tree
    • Fully rebuild everything (engine, editor, cook, etc); this will take ~4-6 hours

Building The Source#

  1. Download the source and unzip it to a folder, or [create a fork] and clone the repository. If you clone, don't forget to switch to the correct branch for this release! (The 'master' branch has unstable code, so you will want to make sure to choose a release branch.)
  2. You should now have an UnrealEngine folder on your computer. All of the source and dependencies will go into this folder. The folder name might have a branch suffix (such as UnrealEngine-4.1), but that's totally fine.
  3. Download the required dependencies files for the latest release: [Required_1of2.zip], [Required_2of2.zip].
  4. Unzip the dependencies into the UnrealEngine folder alongside the source. Be careful to make sure the folders are merged together correctly. On Mac, we recommend Option + dragging the unzipped files into the UnrealEngine folder, then selecting Keep Newer if prompted.
  5. Okay, platform stuff comes next. Depending on whether you are on Windows or Mac, follow one of the sections below:

Windows#

  1. Be sure to have Visual Studio 2013 installed. You can use any desktop version of Visual Studio 2013, including the free version: Visual Studio 2013 Express for Windows Desktop
  2. Make sure you have June 2010 DirectX runtime installed. You don't need the SDK, just the runtime.
  3. You'll need project files in order to compile. In the UnrealEngine folder, double-click on**GenerateProjectFiles.bat**. It should take less than a minute to complete. On Windows 8, a warning from SmartScreen may appear. Click "More info", then "Run anyway" to continue.
  4. Load the project into Visual Studio by double-clicking on the UE4.sln file.
  5. It's time to compile the editor! In Visual Studio, make sure your solution configuration is set to**Development Editor**, and your solution platform is set to Win64. Right click on the UE4 target and select**Build**. It will take between 15 and 40 minutes to finish compiling, depending on your system specs.
  6. After compiling finishes, you can load the editor from Visual Studio by setting your startup project to UE4**and pressing **F5 to debug.
  7. One last thing. You'll want to setup your Windows shell so that you can interact with .uproject files. Find the file named UnrealVersionSelector-Win64-Shippping.exe in the *UnrealEngine/Engine/Binaries/Win64/*folder and run it. Now, you'll be able to double-click .uproject files to load the project, or right click them to quickly update Visual Studio files.

Reference From https://github.com/EpicGames/UnrealEngine

Visual Studio Customization#

Build Configuration#

Unreal Engine 4 and the UnrealBuildTool use different build configurations to determine how the engine is compiled. Which configuration you use will be determined by the purposes of the build you want to create.

Each build configuration contains two keywords. The first of these indicates the state of the engine and your game project. For instance, if you compile using a Debug configuration, you will be able to debug your game's code. The second keyword indicates the target you are building for. If you would like to open a project in Rocket, you need to build with the Editor target keyword, but if you are building an executable version of your game, you would need to build using the empty target keyword.

Build Configuration: State Description
Debug This configuration contains symbols for debugging. If you compile your project using the Debug configuration and want to open the project with the Rocket Editor, you must use the "-debug" flag in order to see your code changes reflected in your project.
Development This configuration is equivalent to Release. In order to see your project's code changes reflected when you open the project later in the Rocket Editor, you must compile in the Development configuration.
Shipping This is the configuration for optimal performance and shipping your game. This configuration strips out console commands, stats, and profiling tools.
Build Configuration: Target Description
[empty] This configuration builds a stand-alone executable version of your project, but requires cooked content specific to the platform.
Editor To be able to open a project in Unreal Editor and see all code changes reflected, the project must be built in an Editor configuration.
Uncooked Projects built using configurations that have an Uncooked type should be opened in Unreal Editor with the "-game" flag. This runs your game with uncooked content, in a new window, and is equivalent to Play in > New Window at Default Player Start in the editor.

Generating Project Files#

Not all configurations will appear by default. Edit the GenerateProjectFiles.bat file in the main UE4 directory to generate the project files for additional configurations as needed.

Unreal Engine 4 and the UnrealBuildTool use different build configurations to determine how the engine is compiled. Which configuration you use will be determined by the purposes of the build you want to create.

The available configurations:

Build Configuration Description
Debug This configuration builds both engine and game code in debug configuration.
DebugGame This configuration builds the engine as optimized, but leaves the game code debuggable. This configuration is ideal for debugging only game modules.
Development This configuration is equivalent to Release. Both engine and game code will be built in this configuration.
Shipping This is the configuration for optimal performance and shipping your game. This configuration strips out console commands, stats, and profiling tools.
Test This configuration is the Shipping configuration, but with some console commands, stats, and profiling tools enabled.

Reference From: https://docs.unrealengine.com/latest/INT/Programming/Development/BuildingUnrealEngine/index.html