Usually when you get a great idea for a game, you need to spend time plugging in boilerplate code and assets to get a player character into the world so you can move around and start prototyping the FUN stuff. This is where templates can help!
What Are Templates?
Templates are very basic game containers that you can start your project with to give you a leg up on getting to what you really want to be working on - your gameplay ideas! They come in two flavors: there is a C++ version if you're comfortable working at that level and there is a blueprint version which is going to be the best choice for most users as it will allow for faster iteration by designers and artists.
How To Use Templates
When you launch Unreal Engine 4, navigate to the "New Project" tab.
Once there, you'll see a list of project templates you can use. The first few in the list are great for starting with an empty project but scroll down a little and you'll find a few more exciting options! Let's look at the Blueprint First Person template.
Selecting this template and clicking "Create Project" gives us a basic game template for creating a first person shooter. When the editor loads, click the "Play" button on the toolbar and you'll see something like this:
And just like that you have a great jumping off point for starting to work on your gameplay ideas!
For example, look inside the "Blueprints" folder that was created for this project and double click the "MyCharacter" blueprint. Inside of here is everything you need to make your character move, jump and shoot projectiles.
Try changing things and see how the game reacts! A great way to learn how things work is to change things interactively. Blueprints are great for fast iteration so try changing a value or two and hit "Play" again. Your changes will be in the game and you can see what they do right away.
Other Templates
We've included some other templates as well. There's one for a third person game, a top down game and a side scroller game. Try them all and see what appeals to you the most and try to build on it.
We have a lot of ideas for game templates so this list will be growing as we move forward.
Have fun! And don’t forget to swing by our forums for any questions you might need answered!