Blueprint Networking Tutorials
A previous blog post offered a crash course in blueprint networking, but now we’re back with a thrilling six-part mini-series on creating blueprint content that works in a networked game!
Part I: Networking Basics
Our glorious multiplayer adventure begins with some simple basics about networking, terminology, and how to launch and test your game in network play.
Part II: Actor and Variable Replication
The quest continues with an introduction and walkthrough of how to setup blueprint actors and variables for network play. We also take a look at how to determine if script is executing on a network authority or remote machine, as well as special blueprint iconography related to networking along the way.
Part III: Function Replication
With variable replication under our belts, we venture into the mysteries of function replication: what it is, why we want to use it, and when it’s best to use it instead of variable replication. We also investigate what it means for a function to be reliable or unreliable.
Part IV: Network Relevancy
Armed with our newfound replication weaponry, we move to slay one of the villains of creating multiplayer content: network relevancy. We go into an in-depth examination of what network relevancy is, why it affects how we create content, and how to address the problems it poses.
Part V: Adding Networked Features to 3rd Person Template–Part I
As we approach the end of our riveting journey, we look to bolster our blueprint networking skills by adding networked features to the third-person blueprint template project. Like all bold adventurers, we draw up a plan on the fly and execute on it, setting up the character blueprint with health and bomb-throwing capabilities.
Part VI: Adding Networked Features to 3rd Person Template–Part II
We hit our thrilling conclusion, in which we ponder how anyone could possibly listen to my voice for two hours, while also simultaneously completing our half-baked plan from the previous part. We misappropriate some art assets to create a simple “bomb” blueprint that is capable of exploding and dealing damage, ending both the life of the poor blue template man and our tutorial series.
The tutorial may be over, but the fun doesn’t have to stop here! Stop by the forum post or hit me up on twitter: @EpicIrascible and let me know what you think. Questions, comments, concerns, feedback, I want to hear it! I’ve started a little mini-FAQ in the forum post as well, so if you’re wondering some hard-hitting questions like: “Where the heck is that demo map I just saw in the tutorials?!,” that’s where you want to be!