(Part 2) Top products from r/unrealengine

Edit: Originally posted as a reply in the comment section of the gamedev subreddit.

Disclaimer: I am no expert with unreal, i simply did some reading for the engine and watched some videos to see how things are working and to decide if i should be sticking with this engine. I post this comment in high hopes that anything i write here might help you.

You should spend some time in unreal's documentation manual and read the Blueprint section. Basically, the manual is a great source and also has some links to videos about how some stuff works.

Different surfaces for the player to walk on

You create assets (surfaces) on your 3d software and import them to the engine and then use them in the level editor OR you use the boxes (or any shape basically) given by the engine (adjust their height/width/etc) and create the surfaces you want by combining them (placing basic shapes in the right order to create more complex shapes, buildings, etc). If i recall correctly, they (unreal editor's shapes) come collision-ready.

A very basic building that the player can enter

Same as above. You either create a building in a 3d software and import it or use 4 walls using unreal's editor. In order to enter it (if you want to make it so that entering a building loads a different location which would work as the inside of the building) you would have to put some kind of "trigger event on collision/player overlap" (look up the exact naming) blueprint (google is your best friend, as well as the manual) that would take you to the other area.

Switches for the player to interact with

Same as above: level blueprints that will have trigger boxes in certain locations inside your level that you want to be interact-able. The video i posted above has something similar with a moving door inside the level i think, check it out. It might be from an outdated version but most of the things should work the same (learning the logic comes first, you can find the exact naming from the manual/google/forums).

adding sounds for footsteps and music

I think this is done with the animation blueprints or animation menu. You add the sound/effect you want on the frame of the animation you want to use it and it plays itself (the sound/effect) every time the animation passes through that frame.

I have basically 0 experience with coding, should I learn coding at this stage, or will that confuse me even more?

Well, I think you would have an easier time with something like gamemaker studio but its not free (there is a free version but AFAIK its heavy limited). Unreal is a industry-focused engine and has it's quirks; also, it uses C++ which isnt considered the easier language to learn/use. BUT, in version 4.12 (latest) they have released an experimental "blueprints-to-C++" baker which is only gonna get better with each newer version. What does this have to do with you? You could learn the blueprints system (which is considered easier than learning to code in c++, especially for artists since it uses a more visual approach) and then, when the baker is finalised, use it to bake your blueprints to C++.
Why would you want to bake blueprints to C++? Well, its estimated by the unreal team that blueprints are around 20 times slower than coding your game in C++. So if you want a heavy mechanical game (with a lot of calculations etc), or a mobile game with a lot of features you can understand that making the whole game in blueprints would make the game slow. BUT, since you are a beginner you can easily make games by ONLY using the blueprints. Anyway, if you want to learn how to code (it's NOT that hard, really) i would suggest Alex Allain's excellent Jumping into C++

Should I use an Earlier version of Unreal so I know it will work, or use the most recent?

I would advice against that. Use the latest which is bug-free and simply learn the small differences for blueprint/naming between the version you use and the version the videos are using. If you learn the logic behind what they are doing with blueprints (which isnt hard if you pay a bit of attention and read the blueprint section of the manual) it will be easy to implement the same in the latest, feature-complete version. Take a look at unreal engine's youtube channel. They have a ton of blueprint videos. You can replicate a few of them to get a bit of taste of how blueprints work.

Take all of the above with a grain of salt. Like i said, i am not an expert in unreal engine so i might be wrong about some things (i dont think i am wrong about the topics discussed but still, i have to leave a disclaimer in case i am :P )
Hope it helps, have fun!

1. Its ok to not completely understand things. Try grab a working understanding of how things are put together loosely. Look at the epic game examples but do not despair if you cannot understand the shootergame demo.... the code in that game has many many layers. I started UE4 with a reasonable level of proficiency in C++, I imagine it would be quite hard to learn C++ and UE4s use of macros and templates at the same time.
   
   
2. Theres some good tutorial series out there. I personally liked posts from this guy. Link
   
   
3. Shameless plug for a mate :D
   
   
4. Lots of assets around. Shouldn't be hard to find some. Anything Epic released to the public is free to use.

I highly recommend the Content Examples project as it gives you a broad tour of what the engine can do: https://answers.unrealengine.com/questions/202293/how-do-i-download-content-examples.html

For multiplayer, there's a reasonable tutorial you can work from: https://docs.unrealengine.com/latest/INT/Resources/Showcases/BlueprintMultiplayer/

I also used this book to get started. It was a good reference material to supplement my learning elsewhere.

Good luck!

C++ is a complicated, technical language. I'd recommend hitting the books for it. Learning C++ properly will teach you a lot about almost any language.

Accelerated C++ is the place to start if you don't know how any of the syntax works (pointers, const, templates, etc). Read a bit of it and write some C++.

When you've written some files and feel comfortable in C++'s syntax, read Effective C++. It will teach you good practice with many points from it transferring over to other languages.

If you intent on learning C++ I advice against using Unreal to do so. First of you should get a more basic understanding of the language and programming in general.

As a game programming student I work together with designers. What I have noticed is that the blueprints these designers create are filled with mistakes and bugs. Simply because they don't understand the concept of programming, in any language that is.

Besides that you are only really ever forced to use C++ in Unreal for things that can seem rather more complicated, instantly being thrown in the deep.

I advice you start with the very basics (https://www.amazon.com/Beginning-C-Through-Game-Programming/dp/1305109910 read this if you want to understand the very basics). From there you should start exploring in smaller C++ projects to learn how to properly use functions and all the other benefits C++ brings with. This, in turn will help you make more robust blueprints making your code more readable, adaptable and less prone to bugs.

I could recommend you a youtube tutorial that teaches you how to make a very simple game from scratch using C++

https://www.amazon.com/One-Hour-Sams-Teach-Yourself/dp/0789757745 - Learn C++ in an hour a day

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also the Udemy courses are surprisingly very helpful. you can pick the classes that you think you would need the most, or just go general with intro to BP/C++/Unreal or whichever

I assume that would work, but that's a big assumption. The guide you linked should work, but you can stop after step 6. You don't need the workgroup.

I would definitely test it before trying to use it live. If it doesn't work, you can get a cheap switch, plug them both in with normal Ethernet, configure static IPs, and it should work fine.

It'd be helpful if you gave more context. What is the player's role and perspective in the game? What are the core gameplay elements? What is the set and setting of the game in more detail, e.g. pastoral or city, combat or none, wide variety (e.g. exploration) or more detailed (spend lots of time at one hearthplace), etc.

A blank canvas is harder for most people to start with than if you start with something.

For example, I would suggest swords if it were a fighting game, or including a setting where they might be stuck in the ground or a tree (war zone) or decor or just sitting (house or shed or armory), but not if it's a farming or family management sim during those times. They have lots of overlap, sure, but what about a sea-faring exclusive game? Etc...

I'd also recommend David Perry on Game Design's Part VII "Weapons and Armor"'s "Historical and Cultural Weapons" chapter.