If you’re developing a game in Unreal Engine and you are using the C++ API, this tip should save you some time. In the Engine’s editor preferences, you can disable automatically compilation when new c++ classes are added.

NOTE: This tip is for those using c++ projects. The tip also doesn’t require much technical knowledge, so blueprint users should be able to understand it as well.

Why would i do this?

I do this to avoid having to wait unnecessarily when creating multiple classes. Compilation after creating new classes doesn’t take an abnormally long amount of time, but when you are in a groove it can be annoying. In addition, with the option unchecked; you can actually edit your newly created class before compilation. Being able to edit classes before manually compiling saves time as well.

Here’s an example to explain what i mean, and the gains of disabling this setting.

Example – Adding two classes.

Let’s say you want to add two more c++ classes to your Unreal project. For the sake of the example, let’s assume it takes your engine 1 minute to re-compile after creating a new c++ class, and it will take you 5 minutes to actually code the new classes.

With the setting enabled, here is how things would go:

1. You create a new c++ class
2. The engine re-compiles (1 minute)
3. You create a second new c++ class
4. The engine re-compiles again. (1 minute)
5. You edit the created classes. (5 minutes)
6. You manually re-compile. (1 minute)

If you disable the setting, you would cut out the first 2 re-compilations. The overall time difference would be as follows:

• Automatic Compilation Enabled: 8 minutes
• Automatic Compilation Disabled: 6 minutes

Wow! A WHOLE 2 MINUTES!! Yeah…. i know, not a big deal. But if you want to create 3 classes that turns into a 3 minute difference. Also, depending on your machine; what if re-compilation takes 2 minutes? Then that 8 minutes turns into 11 minutes, whereas the 6 minutes only turns into 7 minutes. If recompilation for your takes 2 minutes, there is a 4 minute difference.

It’s definitely not required for game development with Unreal Engine. I just thought i’d let other people know it’s there. Automatic compilation after creating c++ classes was very annoying for me for a while. I now do this at the start of every project.

T-th-th-Tha-That’s all folks. Thanks for reading, i hope it helps someone.