Introduction to Unreal Engine

Take your C++ skills into one of the most powerful game engines in the industry. In this hands-on course you’ll build real 3D games using Unreal Engine 5 — learning Blueprints, level design, materials, lighting, and more while working toward a complete playable project.

What will you learn in the course?

Unreal Engine interface

Get comfortable navigating UE5 — the viewport, content browser, outliner, and details panel — so you can move fast and build with confidence.

Blueprints visual scripting

Use Unreal’s Blueprint system to add gameplay logic, interactions, and game flow without writing raw C++ for every task.

Level design and world building

Build and dress 3D game levels using actors, static meshes, and Unreal’s powerful world-building tools.

Materials and lighting

Create visually compelling environments by applying PBR materials, setting up lights, and using post-processing to polish your scenes.

C++ in Unreal

Apply your C++ knowledge directly inside Unreal — writing game code, connecting it to Blueprints, and understanding how the engine uses your classes.

Build and export a game

Bring all your skills together to complete, package, and export a fully playable 3D game from inside Unreal Engine 5.

Meet the Creator

Reid Gillis

Reid is a game programmer specializing in C++ and C# who has shipped games using both Unreal and Unity. He trained at VFS in both programming for games, web and mobile, and writing for film, TV and games. Reid started as a game writer before teaching himself to code — which means he knows exactly where the hard parts are and has designed this course to remove them. His goal is to make sure you have every piece of context you need, explained clearly, so you can focus on building.

Ready to build your first 3D game?

Join Introduction to Unreal Engine and take everything you’ve learned in C++ into the engine that powers some of the biggest games in the world. Recommended prerequisite: Intro to C++.