Want to learn about Unreal engine for game, VFX, and AR/VR development? Here is how I am doing it.

First, we need to acknowledge that Unreal is a powerful game engine, and with powerful tools for programming comes powerful programming languages. Unreal Engine uses C++ for its development. Whether console games, VFX effects, or ar/vr simulations, you need to know C++ to get the job done.

Now I understand that the Unreal engine uses bluescripting, which is prewritten code, and it's much easier for newbies to use as C++ can be complex to learn. Still, I explicitly abandoned the engine and went straight to learning C++. Bluescripting is excellent, but I found it confusing; looking at all those spaghetti lines and nodes made my heart ache, and I just preferred traditional code. I have a fair background in writing C# code for Unity, so learning C++ was pretty good (if you are new to programming, please use Bluescripting as C++ might not be friendly). I took the time to learn the basics of C++ first, as I needed an in-depth understanding of its logic before tackling the Unreal engine itself; besides, the machine itself was made with C++, so learning gave me an edge.

After learning C++, I knew it was time to face the engine. It wasn't hard to know my way around (I knew the language the engine was built with, so I felt like I had x-ray visions using it, lol). I watched a YouTube video from Unreal sensei and knew the engine well enough.

To sum it up, the mistake most newbies make is that they go ahead and research YouTube videos or courses on unreal engine tutorials without having any background programming knowledge, and many of them end up watching long hours of YouTube videos only to get frustrated. They must understand that the Unreal engine is more challenging than Unity, and you will need much more research and dedication to know your way around it. Game, AR/VR development is software engineering/computer programming. Hence, you need to first think like a programmer before you can start making adequate progress in your work/learning curve. I also have to shift some part of the blame to Epic Games themselves for not providing a straightforward and beginner-friendly tutorial like Unity.

Suppose you want to do what I did to love Unreal Engine, FIRST KNOW C++, a compelling programming language that can open doors of opportunities for you. Aside from game or AR/VR development with Unreal, with C++, you can use it for Systems Programming, Scientific Computing and High-Performance Computing (HPC), Embedded Systems, Web Development Machine Learning, and Artificial Intelligence (A.I.). Do you need help finding a job as an Unreal engine developer? Well, my friend, you are a software engineer, not just a "Game developer." Take those C++ skills and apply them to other tech roles. Oh, by the way, even as a newbie, you can learn C++ as your first language; work hard and have a little faith.