Learning Unreal Engine

So I have decided that I will make a game this summer on my own. I really liked working on my Python game for my CS 1410 class, it reminded me that I hadn't actually worked on a game for almost 2 years.

I have decided that I want to make a top down shooter, but in 3d and not in Python. I downloaded Unreal Engine 4 a while ago, but never even opened it since I don't know anything about it. After doing some research, I will be doing my small game in the Unreal Engine. The problem is that I don't know anything about it... That is where Digital Tutors comes in!

I have used Digital Tutors in the past to learn ZBrush, but so this time I will be taking a few of their courses to learn Unreal. The problem is that I am still fairly new to coding, and I don't think I can do C++ yet. Which is why I was so happy when I found out that Unreal can use something called Visual Scripting which is a lot like how Substance Designer works, but it allows you to "code" in your game functions without knowing coding. I haven't looked to much into it, but I'm guessing that you are probably limited on what you can do as opposed to actually coding everything by hand and getting stuff working exactly how you want it.

So I have now started to take Digital Tutors' class in creating Blue Prints in Unreal Engine. Blue Prints is what they are calling their visual scripting feature, and its not that hard to understand. I haven't done too much on it yet, but I have finished the first 6 or 7 lessons and I have started to create a simple dungeon crawler game using Unreal. I have to say that I am really excited to finish this tutorial and maybe taking a few more before I jump in and starting making my game. Here is a screenshot of the node networks I have made so far:

I will continue to work on the tutorial and post something when I'm done. In the meantime, thanks for reading!