Any reader will need to have installed a version of Unreal Engine on their computers; the latest version, if possible. Most of the recipes we'll look at should work on different engine versions, but we recommend 4.22 in order to have the latest features installed.

Prior knowledge about the engine is not a must, but having some working experience with Unreal will help the reader enjoy a smoother experience throughout the book. Whilst no coding skills are required, some fluency with the Blueprint visual scripting language would also be of great help.

You can download the example code files for this book from your account at www.packt.com. If you purchased this book elsewhere, you can visit www.packt.com/support and register to have the files emailed directly to you.

You can download the code files by following these steps:

1. Log in or register at www.packt.com.
2. Select the SUPPORT tab.
3. Click on Code Downloads & Errata.
4. Enter the name of the book in the Search box and follow the onscreen instructions.

Once the file is downloaded, please make sure that you unzip or extract the folder using the latest version of:

• WinRAR/7-Zip for Windows
• Zipeg/iZip/UnRarX for Mac
• 7-Zip/PeaZip for Linux

The code bundle for the book is also hosted on GitHub at https://github.com/PacktPublishing/Unreal-Engine-4-Shaders-and-Effects-Cookbook. In case there's an update to the code, it will be updated on the existing GitHub repository.

We also have other code bundles from our rich catalog of books and videos available at https://github.com/PacktPublishing/. Check them out!

We also provide a PDF file that has color images of the screenshots/diagrams used in this book. You can download it here: https://www.packtpub.com/sites/default/files/downloads/9781789538540_ColorImages.pdf.

There are a number of text conventions used throughout this book.

CodeInText: Indicates code words in text, database table names, folder names, filenames, file extensions, pathnames, dummy URLs, user input, and Twitter handles. Here is an example: "Add a Cheap Contrast node after the Texture Sample, and connect its In (S) input pin with the output of the previous image"

Bold: Indicates a new term, an important word, or words that you see onscreen. For example, words in menus or dialog boxes appear in the text like this. Here is an example: "Drag a cable out of the original Texture Sample and create a new Multiply node"

This section tells you what to expect in the recipe and describes how to set up any software or any preliminary settings required for the recipe.

This section contains the steps required to follow the recipe.

This section usually consists of a detailed explanation of what happened in the previous section.

This section consists of additional information about the recipe in order to make you more knowledgeable about the recipe.

This section provides helpful links to other useful information for the recipe.