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Developer setup — Visual Studio and Unreal

End state: UE 5.8 editor launches Rephrased_Demo and the Rephrased_Demo module compiles. This page covers environment only. Optional coding agents and ChatGPT project files live on the same Setup tab — start from Setup overview, then open the page that matches your IDE.

Programming engineers: First day (engineering) after install.

Prerequisites

  • OS: Modern 64-bit Windows (matches team machines).
  • Disk: UE + VS + Derived Data Cache consumes tens of GB; keep project drive free.
  • Account: Epic Games account for Launcher access.
  • Source control: Clone from GitHub (team repo). Do not work from a copied Content/ folder without Git.

Verified engine association lives in Rephrased_Demo.uproject: EngineAssociation is 5.8.

Install Unreal Engine 5.8

  1. Install Epic Games Launcher.
  2. Library → Engine versions → + choose Unreal Engine 5.8 (matching the .uproject pin).
  3. Install to a path your course allows (local SSD preferred).
  4. When Windows prompts for first launch, approve required dependencies if Launcher requests them.

If the Launcher cannot find the association, browse to Rephrased_Demo.uproject and Switch Unreal Engine version explicitly to 5.8.

Install Visual Studio 2026 with Unreal workloads

The repository root contains .vsconfig, which lists required VS components (Native Desktop, Native Game, Unreal Debugger/IDE payloads, MSVC v14.50, Windows SDK 22621, etc.). Fastest reproducible route:

  1. Install Visual Studio 2026 Community from the stable channel (not Insiders).
  2. Open the Installer → Modify existing VS (or configure during fresh install).
  3. Use More → Import configuration and choose that .vsconfig file from the cloned repo root.
  4. Allow workloads/components to resolve; reboot if Installer requests it.

If Import is unavailable, check Desktop development with C++ plus Game development with C++. On Individual components, pin MSVC v14.50 and matching ATL — not Latest / 14.51. Also install Windows SDK 10.0.22621. Epic mastered 5.8 on 14.50; newer MSVC can fail to compile the engine.

Why VS matters

Programming engineers compile Source/Rephrased_Demo through Rephrased_Demo.sln. Designers and artists may use [OpenAfterPull]Build_Project.bat, which still needs the MSVC toolchain installed.

Open the repo

  1. Clone from GitHub to a writable path whose parent path avoids odd Unicode characters on Windows.
  2. Confirm Content/, Source/, Config/, and Rephrased_Demo.uproject at the repo root. Rephrased_Demo.sln appears after you generate project files (not checked into Git).

Optional: delete stale Intermediate / DerivedDataCache folders only after consulting lead (usually unnecessary on first checkout).

Build and run

Change history

  • 2026-08-14 — Gabriel Li — Next step is First day (engineering).
  • 2026-08-13 — Gabriel Li — Dropped named-skill environment check; MCP + AGENTS.md is the harness.
  • 2026-08-12 — Gabriel Li — Pinned environment to UE 5.8 and Visual Studio 2026 (MSVC 14.50) for Unreal MCP.
  • 2026-05-23 — Gabriel Li — Generic coding-agent wording and glossary link; GitHub source control; engineer VS vs designer batch script; .sln not in Git; build steps link to onboarding tracks instead of quick build guide.
  • 2026-05-10 — Gabriel Li — Linked project-environment-check skill for automated onboarding verification.
  • 2026-05-09 — Gabriel Li — Cross-links point at Setup tab sibling pages (wiki/AI/Home.md, assistant pages).