Editing Unreal Engine (section)

===UnrealScript===
{{Infobox programming language
| name = UnrealScript
| paradigm = [[Object-oriented programming|Object-oriented]], [[Generic programming|generic]]
| released = {{Start date and age|May 1998}}
| developer = [[Tim Sweeney (game developer)|Tim Sweeney]]
| typing = [[Type system|Static, strong, safe]]
| influenced by = [[C++]], [[Java (programming language)|Java]]
| operating system = [[Cross-platform|Cross-platform (multi-platform)]]
| website = [https://docs.unrealengine.com/udk/Three/UnrealScriptHome.html docs.unrealengine.com]
| file ext = .uc .uci .upkg
}}

UnrealScript (often abbreviated to UScript) was Unreal Engine's native [[scripting language]] used for authoring game code and [[gameplay]] events before the release of Unreal Engine 4. The language was designed for simple, [[high-level programming language|high-level]] [[game programming]].<ref>{{cite web |title=UDK - Design Goals of UnrealScript |url=https://docs.unrealengine.com/udk/Three/UnrealScriptReference.html#Design%20goals%20of%20_UnrealScript |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130703145732/http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/UnrealScriptReference.html |archive-date=July 3, 2013 |access-date=June 26, 2013 |website=Unreal Engine Docs |publisher=}}</ref> UnrealScript was programmed by Tim Sweeney,<ref name="informitUnreal">{{cite book|url=https://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=1377834 |title=Introduction to Unreal Technology |date=July 21, 2009 |publisher=[[InformIT (publisher)|InformIT]] |access-date=February 22, 2022 |last1=Busby |first1=Jason |last2=Parrish |first2=Zak |last3=Wilson |first3=Jeff |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120930102826/http://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=1377834 |archive-date=September 30, 2012 }}</ref> who also created an earlier game scripting language, [[ZZT|ZZT-OOP]].<ref name="uhistory">{{Cite web |url=http://www.ign.com/articles/2010/02/23/history-of-the-unreal-engine |title=History of the Unreal Engine |last=Thomsen |first=Mike |date=February 23, 2010 |website=[[IGN]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170712132329/http://www.ign.com/articles/2010/02/23/history-of-the-unreal-engine |archive-date=July 12, 2017 |url-status=dead |access-date=August 13, 2017}}</ref> ''[[Deus Ex (video game)|Deus Ex]]'' lead programmer Chris Norden described it as "super flexible" but noted its low execution speed.<ref name="deusex">{{Cite web |last=Lightbown |first=David |date=October 23, 2018 |title=Classic Tools Retrospective: The tools that built Deus Ex, with Chris Norden |url=https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/classic-tools-retrospective-the-tools-that-built-deus-ex-with-chris-norden |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190629134018/https://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/DavidLightbown/20181023/328687/Classic_Tools_Retrospective_The_tools_that_built_Deus_Ex_with_Chris_Norden.php |archive-date=June 29, 2019 |access-date=February 22, 2022 |website=Game Developer}}</ref>

Similar to [[Java (programming language)|Java]], UnrealScript was [[object-oriented]] without [[multiple inheritance]] (classes all inherit from a common Object class), and classes were defined in individual files named for the class they define. Unlike Java, UnrealScript did not have object wrappers for primitive types. Interfaces were only supported in Unreal Engine generation 3 and a few Unreal Engine 2 games. UnrealScript supported [[operator overloading]], but not [[method overloading]], except for optional parameters.

At the 2012 Game Developers Conference, Epic announced that UnrealScript was being removed from Unreal Engine 4 in favor of [[C++]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Schultz |first=Warren |title=Unreal Engine 4 - First Look |url=http://gameindustry.com/od/trends/a/Unreal-Engine-4-First-Look.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120524062935/http://gameindustry.about.com/od/trends/a/Unreal-Engine-4-First-Look.htm |archive-date=May 24, 2012 |access-date=December 29, 2017 |website=[[About.com]]}}</ref> [[Visual programming language|Visual scripting]] would be supported by the Blueprints Visual Scripting system, a replacement for the earlier Kismet visual scripting system.<ref name="gamasutra">{{Cite web |url=https://www.gamedeveloper.com/programming/epic-s-tim-sweeney-lays-out-the-case-for-unreal-engine-4 |title=Epic's Tim Sweeney lays out the case for Unreal Engine 4 |last=Nutt |first=Christian |date=March 21, 2014 |website=Game Developer |access-date=February 22, 2022 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171003225230/https://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/213647/Epics_Tim_Sweeney_lays_out_the_case_for_Unreal_Engine_4.php |archive-date=October 3, 2017 |df=mdy-all }}</ref><ref name="rps">{{Cite news |last=Grayson |first=Nathan |date=July 20, 2012 |title=Fortnite's Jessen Talks Minecraft, PC Gaming, UE4 |website=[[Rock, Paper, Shotgun]] |url=https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/07/20/fortnites-jessen-talks-minecraft-pc-gaming-ue4/ |url-status=live |access-date=May 1, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180501161305/https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/07/20/fortnites-jessen-talks-minecraft-pc-gaming-ue4/ |archive-date=May 1, 2018}}</ref>
{{blockquote|One of the key moments in Unreal Engine 4's development was, we had a series of debates about UnrealScript – the scripting language I'd built that we'd carried through three generations. And what we needed to do to make it competitive in the future. And we kept going through bigger and bigger feature lists of what we needed to do to upgrade it, and who could possibly do the work, and it was getting really, really unwieldy. And there was this massive meeting to try and sort it out, and try to cut things and decide what to keep, and plan and...there was this point where I looked at that and said 'you know, everything you're proposing to add to UnrealScript is already in C++. Why don't we just kill UnrealScript and move to pure C++? You know, maximum performance and maximum debuggability. It gives us all these advantages.'|Sweeney, ''[[Gamasutra]]'', 2017<ref name="gamasutra2">{{Cite web |url=https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/for-tim-sweeney-advancing-epic-means-racing-into-ar-and-vr |title=For Tim Sweeney, advancing Epic means racing into AR and VR |last=Wawro |first=Alex |date=March 1, 2017 |website=Game Developer |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170720205027/http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/292573/For_Tim_Sweeney_advancing_Epic_means_racing_into_AR_and_VR.php |archive-date=July 20, 2017 |url-status=live |access-date=February 22, 2022}}</ref>}}