Raining Weaver

The Best Practices For Unreal Engine – Beginner Edition

Table of Contents

When using Unreal Engine, you might get confused by its powerful but complex features. This short guide gives clear, practical rules you can follow right away so your projects stay organized, run smoothly, and let your team (or just you) always stay on top of your work.

1) Project setup — start clean

When starting a project, there are a few easy guidelines to follow to make sure you don’t get lost in the amount of content your project starts to take up. For this, I have some fairly easy-to-understand concepts that you should read up on and understand when making your game and such.

  • Use a simple folder structure: Make an Individual Folder for Content/Gameplay, Content/UI, Content/Environments, Content/Characters.
  • Turn on source control from day one (Perforce for big teams; Git + LFS for small teams). Exclude Binaries, Saved, Intermediate, and local DerivedDataCache.
  • Make a starter template that creates folders, default plugins, and .ini settings so every branch begins consistently.
  • Keep one short README or “Project Playbook” in the repo that explains naming rules, texture limits, and who owns what, also, you can use it as a way to remember what you were last working on if you take a break at any time.

Why it matters:

When making a game, management of the resources you are utilizing is of utmost importance, as it is easy to get lost in the work and not really know what you’re even doing up to a certain point.

2) Assets and performance — basics to follow

  • Always export at least 2–3 LODs(Level of Development) for meshes (high, medium, low). Use HLOD(Hierarchical Level of Detail) for distant groups of objects.
  • Use free and easy-to-place models/objects to keep the project moving, then swap them in for the actual models you want to use.
  • Use material instances instead of unique shaders for each object. Share master materials.
  • Treat Nanite and Lumen as optional tools—try them on a test scene first before enabling globally, as they can easily mess with performance.
  • Profile early: run the editor’s GPU/CPU profiler after major changes to catch slowdowns.

Why it matters: Keeping your frames stable while working is very important, as a slower instance of your project can slow down your entire rhythm.

3) Blueprints vs C++ — how to choose

  • Start with Blueprints for fast prototyping and designer-friendly tweaks.
  • Move heavy, repetitive, or math-heavy code to C++ once it becomes slow or complex.
  • Use a hybrid pattern: C++ core systems + Blueprints for glue and tuning (Data Assets and Data Tables let non-coders adjust values).

Practical tip: Blueprints are best used for getting systems set up and testing features, as they are easy to put together and require practically 0 coding skill to understand. However, beyond that, you will need to know C++ to make the game more efficient and tailor it to your liking.

4) Workflow and automation — small steps that help a lot

  • Automate basic checks in CI(Continuous Integration): missing LODs, oversized textures, redirectors, and failed packaging.
  • Run a simple “smoke test” before merging: start game, run core mechanic, exit cleanly, package build.
  • Version the Project Playbook with the repo so onboarding is fast and consistent.

Why it matters: automating your system to catch errors and make sure bugs don’t happen while your coding can seriously help you continue to code and not have to worry about the millionth bug in your system that slows down the entire project.

5) Iteration and testing — keep feedback fast

  • Use Live Coding, Hot Reload, and Play In Editor to shorten edit-test cycles.
  • Add lightweight logging or telemetry for crashes, long frames, and missing assets.
  • Do short, focused playtests—fix the top issues before broad testing.

Why it matters: Being able to test your game fast is very good for letting you know what state your game is in, as being able to catch bugs and such is pretty important when making a game and such.

6) Simple explanations of key concepts

  • LODs (Levels of Detail): Think of LODs as cheaper versions of a model used when an object is far away. The engine swaps to lower-detail models at distance so the game runs faster without obvious visual loss. Always include at least 2 LODs so distant scenes stay smooth.
  • HLOD (Hierarchical LOD): HLOD groups many nearby objects into one simplified mesh when far away, reducing the number of things the GPU must draw.
  • Nanite: A UE5 system that lets you use extremely detailed meshes without manually making many LODs. It’s great for dense, static scenery but can increase build time and memory for some workflows—use it where it clearly helps.
  • Lumen: A real-time lighting system that gives dynamic global illumination (more realistic light bounces). It speeds up iteration on lighting but can cost performance compared to baked lighting on lower-end platforms.
  • Derived Data Cache (DDC): A cache of processed assets (shaders, cooked data) shared across machines. A shared DDC means less waiting when other team members build or open the project.
  • Source control basics: Treat it like a project diary. Commit often, write short clear messages, and branch for features. If you accidentally break something, you can roll back to a working state.

7) Practical starter checklist (copy into your repo)

  • [ ] Starter template with folders and plugins
  • [ ] Source control configured and tested
  • [ ] Texture budget sheet per platform
  • [ ] LOD requirement enforced at import (min 2 LODs)
  • [ ] CI smoke test for packaging + automated asset checks
  • [ ] Project Playbook in repo

Final note

When starting a project, make sure to start with simple, repeatable rules. Enforce them early, automate the boring checks, and keep prototypes readable (Use Blueprints) while moving performance-critical code to C++. Small habits—consistent folders, source control, LODs, and nightly profiling—prevent most headaches and let you focus on making the game fun.

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