So... Semester started from the first week of September 2020 and that was the same week when I was tested COVID-19 positive. I was surprised and got worried. Lots of thoughts about who to tell, family, faculty, teammates but I couldn't hide it and told everyone I cared about. It was stressful, more because I was learning Unreal Engine 4, without having prior experience of game development. At the same time, I was expected to deliver prototypes, brainstorm, research, attend meetings with client, faculty and team. It was getting too much on me to handle so I told my team about my burden and worries and they understood and supported me. It helped me a bit but still the same things were expected of me.
I talked about this with my mentor and then I realized that I was doing multiple roles in the project, for example- I was the programmer, tech lead and the game engine trainer. As a tech lead, I had to take technical decisions in the meetings and articulate the designers and artists about the technology needs, as a programmer, I had to implement the prototypes (which was nowhere to be seen till mid-semester) and last major role was of trainer- as I had to search for the tutorials to learn Unreal engine by myself and there were only a few help available around me. Also, during the initial weeks, I was spending time on brainstorming and then designing but then I learned to be OK with the designers work on it. I used to provide them feedback on the designs. I thought of dividing my roles and then work on it but it was difficult for me to do multiple roles and switch roles in an instant.
Our mid-semester came and I was still struggling to create prototype using blueprints. I loved the cinematic part of Unreal engine and enjoyed working. With only 5 weeks remaining and nothing solid to deliver, I asked for help and took a feedback from faculty- to switch to Unity engine, because there was more help around me available for that and the learning curve for Unity engine was much easier as compared to Unreal Engine. It was a huge step and took a lot for me to convince my team. There were times before that as well when I tried convincing the team that I would like to switch to unity but the written communication from the faculty helped me convince everyone in the team. This has always worked for me - "Show the team about the not-so-good features in proof and they will be convinced".
Switching to Unity engine was quiet easy for me and in the first week, I finished everything I had done in Unreal engine till then. I worked on 2 mini games, got help from teammates as well and was finally able to deliver an executable build by the end of the semester, before deadline and was really happy with our final product. Clients really appreciated our product.
Conclusion: Learning Unreal engine in 2-4 weeks is unrealistic if you don't have previous game engine experience. Blueprints has its own challenges, especially for beginners because there are some nodes which are available at level but not at the sequencer or a widget. Know when to switch your platform, communicate effectively with your team to make your own life better, ask for help if you are stuck for too long- say a few hours at max. Know that learning Unreal engine has a couple of steps-
Learn how the engine works
Learn the language to communicate to Unreal (C++ or Blueprints)
Learn about your specific requirement and how it can be achieved in Unreal
Do it!
It was a failure for me, personally, but now I can pick Unreal engine anytime I want and start from where I left. Also, I learned the part I was most interested in, i.e., how to make an animated movie in Unreal engine using my knowledge of Maya. So, that's a huge win for me and my semester.
Cheers!
Link to my project: https://www.etc.cmu.edu/projects/hygienecare/