Install the Unreal Engine SDK

Last updated on 9/15/2023, 3:53:21 PM

Overview

You can use the AccelByte Gaming Services (AGS) Game Software Development Kit (SDK) for Unreal Engine to implement AGS in your game. The SDK acts as a bridge between your game and AGS.

Unreal Engine SDK on GitHub

Prerequisites

Unreal Engine 4 versions 4.26 or 4.27, or Unreal Engine 5 version 5.0 or 5.1
Create a Game Namespace
Create an IAM Client
Get the Client ID

AGS Starter

If you are using the AGS Starter tier, make sure you use the following format for the BaseUrl, otherwise your API calls may return an error due to a domain mismatch:

https://<Game TitleID>.<environment name>.gamingservices.accelbyte.io

Use the dev value when you're working on a development environment. For example: https://spaceshooter.dev.gamingservices.accelbyte.io
Use the prod value when you're ready to launch to a live environment. For example: https://spaceshooter.prod.gamingservices.accelbyte.io

Tutorial

Follow this tutorial to learn how to set up our Unreal Engine SDK.

AGS Starter

In Starter tier, you can download the configuration file for Unreal Engine and save the file for this installation.

You can download the configuration files in the Starter tier dashboard during setup. Later, you can also download them from the OAuth Clients page in the AccelByte Admin Portal.

AGS Premium does not yet have the configuration file download option.

Download and install the Unreal SDK Plugin

Open your project with the Unreal Editor.
Copy the plugin folder Plugins/AccelByteUe4Sdk from the downloaded SDK and paste it into your game's plugins folder.

Add this plugin to your [MyAwesomeGame].uproject file.

"Plugins": [
...
{
    "Name": "AccelByteUe4Sdk",
    "Enabled": true
},
]
...

Add this plugin to your /Source/[MyAwesomeGame].Target.cs file.

ExtraModuleNames.AddRange(new string[]
{
    ...
    "AccelByteUe4Sdk",
    ...
}

Add this plugin to your /Source/[MyAwesomeGame]Editor.Target.cs file.

ExtraModuleNames.AddRange(new string[]
{
    ...
    "AccelByteUe4Sdk",
    ...
}

Add this plugin to your /Source/MyAwesomeGame/[MyAwesomeGame].Build.cs file.

PublicDependencyModuleNames.AddRange(
new string[] {
    ...
    "AccelByteUe4Sdk",
    ...
}

Configure the Game SDK

Before using the SDK, configure the AGS SDK in the Unreal Editor or input the JSON content into DefaultEngine.ini.

Input your configuration in Unreal Editor

Open your project with the Unreal Editor.
Ensure you configured the plugin in your project.
In the top menu bar, go to Edit > Project Settings.
In Project Settings, scroll down to the Plugins section and select AccelByte Unreal Engine 4 Client SDK.
note
Leave the Publisher namespace parameter empty.
Fill in Client ID, Client Secret, Namespace, Redirect Uri and Base Url. Leave the remaining input fields empty.
Note
Contact support or your Account Manager if you are unsure of your API URLs. If you're in AGS Starter, the development env's base URL is https://dev.gamingservices.accelbyte.io and the production env's base URL is https://prod.gamingservices.accelbyte.io.
Click Set as Default to save your configuration. This should populate the DefaultEngine.ini file in the /Config folder automatically.

Input JSON content into `DefaultEngine.ini`

In the /Config folder, open DefaultEngine.ini.
Input your information using the following format:
note
Leave the Publisher namespace empty.
```
[/Script/AccelByteUe4Sdk.AccelByteSettings] 
ClientId=<client_id> 
ClientSecret=<client_secret> 
Namespace=<namespace> 
PublisherNamespace=<> 
RedirectURI="http://127.0.0.1" 
BaseUrl=<base_url> 
AppId=<app_id> 
```
info
Ensure you enter the ClientId, ClientSecret (if applicable), Namespace, AppId (for Steam Games), BaseURL, and RedirectUri. Find your ClientId, ClientSecret, and Namespace settings in the AGS Admin Portal, or refer to the Access documentation.
Contact support or your Account Manager if you don't know your API URLs. If you're using AGS Starter, the development env's base URL is https://dev.gamingservices.accelbyte.io and the production env's base URL is https://prod.gamingservices.accelbyte.io.
If you are implementing our Multiplayer services using a Dedicated Server, then you need to input the Server Settings too. The format is as follows:

[/Script/AccelByteUe4Sdk.AccelByteServerSettings] 
ClientId=<client_id> 
ClientSecret=<client_secret> 
Namespace=<namespace> 
PublisherNamespace=<publisher_namespace> 
RedirectURI="http://127.0.0.1"
BaseUrl=<base_url>

Warning

It is highly recommended to remove the Server Settings when building a Game Client as a Shipping build. In order to do this, the following command in the PreBuildSteps in the AccelByteUe4Sdk.uplugin file needs to be set to True.

"PreBuildSteps": {
        "Win64": [
            "call \"$(PluginDir)\\PreBuildProcessor.bat\" \"$(EngineDir)\" \"$(ProjectDir)\" $(TargetConfiguration) $(TargetType) True"
        ]
    }

The PostBuildSteps in the same file will revert back your DefaultEngine.ini file back to its original state after the build process.

Additional features

AGS now supports additional features that you can enable in [/Script/AccelByteUe4Sdk.AccelByteSettings].

Client-Side Data Caching (In-Memory): You can now cache static data/files in memory to reduce HTTP calls. To activate this feature, ensure that the service sending the response can provide HTTP Cache Control headers.
```
[/Script/AccelByteUe4Sdk.AccelByteSettings] 
... 
bEnableHttpCache=true 
```
Quality of Service (QoS) Scheduled Latencies Updater: we created a scheduler that updates the latencies on all specified areas. This feature helps game developers implement matchmaking in multiple regions.
You can specify the time interval for the scheduler. The system initiates polling at the authentication level because it must update latencies to eliminate bottlenecks before matchmaking. Players may also want to know their region latencies (ping) before they begin matchmaking.
```
[/Script/AccelByteUe4Sdk.AccelByteSettings]
...
QosLatencyPollIntervalSecs=0 
QosServerLatencyPollIntervalSecs=0 
```
The default value for both parameters is 0.
To enable the scheduler, set QosLatencyPollIntervalSecs to a value greater than 0. When active, the minimum polling interval is 10 minutes.
To enable the scheduler for other regions, set QosServerLatencyPollIntervalSecs to a value greater than 0.

Congratulations! You successfully configured the AGS SDK for Unreal Engine.

Overview​

Prerequisites​

Tutorial​

Download and install the Unreal SDK Plugin​

Configure the Game SDK​

Input your configuration in Unreal Editor​

Input JSON content into DefaultEngine.ini​

Additional features​