unreal-cpp

name	unreal-cpp
description	Unreal Engine C++ development — Actor/Component patterns, GameFramework, Blueprints integration, and UE5 best practices
allowed-tools	["Read","Write","Bash","Grep"]
effort	high

When to activate

• Building games with Unreal Engine 5
• Writing C++ gameplay classes with UPROPERTY/UFUNCTION macros
• Integrating C++ with Blueprint systems
• Using GAS (Gameplay Ability System) for abilities and effects
• Implementing Unreal's networking and replication model

When NOT to use

• For Unity development (use unity-csharp)
• For Godot development (use godot-gdscript)
• For non-game Unreal projects

Instructions

1. Class hierarchy. AActor → APawn → ACharacter → YourCharacter. Use components for functionality (UActorComponent).
2. Reflection macros. UPROPERTY for serialization/editor, UFUNCTION for Blueprint/networking. Always include generated.h.
3. GameFramework. GameMode (rules), GameState (match state), PlayerController (input), PlayerState (persistent data), HUD (UI).
4. Blueprints integration. Expose C++ to Blueprint with BlueprintReadWrite/Callable. Use BlueprintImplementableEvent for override points.
5. Networking. Server-authoritative. UFUNCTION(Server) for RPCs. Replicated properties with GetLifetimeReplicatedProps. OnRep for client notification.
6. GAS. GameplayAbility (actions), GameplayEffect (stat changes), GameplayTag (labels). Use for complex ability systems.
7. Performance. Object pooling (UPoolComponent), async loading (Soft References), Nanite for meshes, Lumen for lighting.

Example

// Unreal Actor Component with replication
UCLASS(ClassGroup=(Custom), meta=(BlueprintSpawnableComponent))
class MYGAME_API UHealthComponent : public UActorComponent {
    GENERATED_BODY()
    
    UPROPERTY(Replicated, BlueprintReadOnly, Category="Health", meta=(AllowPrivateAccess=true))
    float CurrentHealth = 100.f;
    
    UPROPERTY(EditAnywhere, BlueprintReadOnly, Category="Health")
    float MaxHealth = 100.f;
    
public:
    UFUNCTION(BlueprintCallable, Category="Health")
    void TakeDamage(float DamageAmount, AActor* DamageCauser);
    
    void GetLifetimeReplicatedProps(TArray<FLifetimeProperty>& OutLifetimeProps) const override {
        DOREPLIFETIME(UHealthComponent, CurrentHealth);
    }
};