Details
Welcome back, to get started with C++ development within Unreal Engine we will install Micrsoft's Visual Studio IDE. Other options include Jetbrains Clion IDE or XCode if you're on OSX.
The Visual Studio community edition has full functionality for what is needed with Unreal Engine C++ development. During setup select desktop c++ development, mobile C++ development, game C++ development and Linux c++ development options. This will give you all the tools for developing and building your game for the different platforms Unreal Engine supports.
Once installed allow a reboot of your system. Once rebooted, start Visual Studio and select your initial configurations and preferences. You can always modify these later in Tools > Options menu.
Once we've verified Visual Studio is properly installed relaunch UE4 via the Epic Games launcher and we'll create a new C++ project.
You may be prompted to install the latest .NET framework. Once installed relaunch UE4's project creation and select c++ project. Unreal Engine will now use your installed toolchain via Visual Studio to build the Unreal Engine solution.
If you open Visual Studio and see a load failure of the source code. Simply close out of Visual Studio and within UE4 editor go File > Open Visual Studio. You can also use Refresh Visual Studio Project.
Once properly reloaded we can now see the source code for our basic starter project. To create a new C++ class hop back to UE4 editor and within the content browser right click and select `New C++ Class`. For our example we'll create a new Character class. Once created you'll have the skeleton of the Character class to which we can customize.
With development of C++ you'll want to run the UE4 editor from Visual Studio. To do so we'll launch via `Local Windows Debugger`. If your project build target is not setup properly you'll receive an error that UE4.exe can not be found. To fix we'll right click on our `project solution > set startup projects....`. Then set Single startup project to your active project.
Next, launch UE4 via `Local Windows Debugger` and this time you should see Visual Studio properly build and launch the UE4 editor with your active project. Launching and running the editor via Visual Studio gives us the additional benefits of diagnostic tools and debugging if our perfectly written bug free code crashes UE4.
Finally, Visual Studio IntelleSense is known for struggling with the immense size of projects that UE4 creates. Two great products you can add to your workflow are Resharper C++ by Jetbrains and Visual Assist by Whole Tomato Software. The biggest improvement that both offer over IntelleSense is faster code searching and code indexing. This offers a vastly improved autocompletion experience compared to built-in IntelleSense. Ultimately, both are great tools and come down to your personal preference and price range.
Now go forth and develop!