Unreal Engine Character Select

Learn how to create AAA Character Select Menu like in Mortal Kombat and Tekken 8!

New

Created byVlatko Chankulovski

Last updated 6/2026

English

What you'll learn

Select a Character and Play the game with that Character
Build Professional AAA "Character Select" Menu UI with Playable Characters
On Hover Button: Play Character Animation and VFX (in 3D World)
On Hover Button: Display Character Stats
On Clicked Button: Play Character Animation and Voice Speech (in 3D World)
On Clicked Button: Start the Game With Selected Character
On Clicked Button: Transition From One Camera to Another (in 3D World)
Professional Main Menu UI Screen Navigation
Master Event Dispatchers, Timers, Custom Events, Enums, Blueprint Interface, Game Instance and more.
Professionally package your game and share with friends and family

Course content

8 sections • 37 lectures • 4h 44m total length

Course Summary and Introduction2:45
In this video you will:
Watch the full Course breakdown
Watch practical showcase of what you will create
Brief intro of what you will learn, how, and why
What You Will Create (Full Demo)1:52
In this Lesson:
Watch the full demo of the final "Character Select" Menu
Watch every Character's selection Animation and intro
Download the free Demo game to test it on your PC

Creating New Project2:55
In this Lesson we will:
Create a new Unreal Engine Project
Prepare the folder structure
Download Maps, Characters, Props, and more
Core Game Blueprints5:22
In this Lesson we will:
Create "Main Menu" Map/GameMode/Controller
Create "Level 1" Map/GameMode
Create new Game Instance
Learn how to use Filters in Content Drawer
Configure Project Settings
Fixing Character Input Errors6:09
In this Lesson we will:
Fix the errors when importing new Characters
Import "Third Person Template" to assist us in fixing errors
Add Character in the Level for debugging
Learn how to Possess the Player when game starts
How to Check and Fix Map Errors4:23
In this Lesson we will learn:
How to check the Map for errors
How to fix the errors found in the Map
Howe to fix "Texture Streaming Pool" warning

Course Disclaimer - Important Info!0:55
In this Article you will read about:
Course Disclaimer
Which programming methods we will use to improve our game performance
Which Blueprints to avoid, to prevent your game of crashing, low FPS and more
Never Use "Cast To" Node!16:20
Never Use "Event Tick" Node!6:23
In this lesson we will learn:
Why "Event Tick" is bad for performance
Which Blueprint should we use instead
Why You Should Never Use "Delay" Node2:41
In this lesson we will learn:
Why "Delay" node is bad for performance
Use "Timers" Instead of "Delay"!12:06
In this lesson we will learn:
Why "Delay" node is bad for performance
How to use Custom Event + Timers instead
Why "Binding" in Widgets is a Bad Idea6:11
In this lesson we will learn:
Avoid using "Bind Event" for Variables!
Why "Bind" event is bad for performance
Which method we should use instead
Never Use "Canvas Panel" in Widgets!3:22
In this lesson you will learn:
How "Canvas Panel" impacts your game performance
Why you should NEVER use Canvas Panel
What you should use instead of Canvas Panel
What is a "Draw call"?

"Main Menu" Screen18:45
In this lesson we will:
Create our first Widget Blueprint "Main Menu" (HUD)
Use optimized UI elements (Overlay, Widget Switcher, etc.)
Learn how "Widget Switcher" works (basics)
Learn how to use position elements inside Overlays
Design the "Main Menu" screen + Buttons
UI Optimization Tips and Tricks
Tips and Tricks for better and faster Design
Proper naming and structured UI hierarchy
"Widget Switcher" is Acting Weird3:39
In this lesson we will learn:
What actually is "Index" and how it works
How to avoid mistakes with Widget Switcher
Why Widget Switcher is acting weird when click outside of it
Tips and Tricks for Widget Switcher
"Character Select" Screen13:34
In this lesson we will:
Learn how to use "Uniform Grid Panel" element
Create "Character Select" screen
Create Character Buttons (Avatars)
Apply design from one button to another with different image
Create "Back" Button
Improving "Character Select" Design6:56
In this lesson we will:
Improve the Characters Avatar design
Add basic "COMING SOON" Buttons
UI Hierarchy (Fixing Duplicates)2:54
In this lesson we will:
Learn how to search UI elements through Hierarchy
How to find naming duplicates and fix it
ALWAYS name your UI elements accordingly!
Adding "COMING SOON" Characters11:42
In this lesson we will:
Add more Character Avatars
Design the Avatars for "COMING SOON"
Add Sounds On Hover
Creating "Character Stats"18:00
In this lesson we will:
Create the "Character Stats" for each Character
Nest Horizontal/Vertical boxes inside an Overlay
Understand how to create professional Widgets
Prepare the UI for easy programming later on
CHALLENGE0:10
CHALLENGE TASK!
QUIZ

Navigating Menu (Clicked Buttons)16:04
In this lesson we will:
Create "Clicked Events" for the Menu Buttons
Screen transition: Credits/Settings/Back Buttons
Quit game when "Quit" Button is pressed
Fix "Texture Streaming Pool Over Budget" warning
Professional programming using Enums and Custom Events
How to do smart and professional Blueprints code
Properly organize your Blueprints with comments and notes
Show "Character Stats" (Hover Buttons)6:24
In this lesson we will:
Create "Hovered Events" for the Avatars
Display "Character Stats" when Hover Avatars
Set "Default" Character Stats
How to find/reproduce/fix Bugs

Creating "Character Select" Blueprint13:26
In this lesson we will:
Create the Characters for our game
Adding "Idle" Animations to our Characters
Place the Characters in the Level
Call the "Main Menu HUD" from this Blueprint
Create a new Camera in the Level
Pilot and position the new Camera in the Level
Prepare for multiple Camera transitions
"Hero Select" Button15:13
In this lesson we will:
Smooth transition from one camera to another
How to Avoid "Get All Actors of Class" node
Pin/Unpin Cameras in the Level for better view
Communicate Widget UI with 3D World
Use Event Dispatchers step-by-step
Show/Hide Selection of Characters
Play "Choose Your Character" Sound
Code Summary
"Back to Main Menu" Button8:40
In this lesson we will:
Go back to Main Menu with Camera transition and UI
How to Avoid "Get All Actors of Class" node
How to add Main Menu Background Music
Clean and improve our code
On Hover: Show and Animate Character13:32
In this lesson we will:
Event Dispatcher (On Hover Buttons)
Show only selected Character
Animate Selected Character
Spawn VFX when Select Character
CHALLENGE!0:09
CHALLENGE TIME!
CHALLENGE 2!0:16
BIGGER CHALLENGE!
Unhover Buttons and Code Improvement9:52
In this lesson we will:
Event Dispatcher (Unhovered Buttons)
Bind 3 Events with 1 Function
Destroy VFX when Button is Unhovered
How to prevent your game from crashing
More smart ways of using Custom Events
Organize Dispatchers in UI Hierarchy
Making our Project 100% bug-free!

Character Chosen (Clicked BTN)9:18
In this lesson we will:
Create Event Dispatchers for CLICKED Buttons
Bind Event Dispatchers to our Characters
Animate Characters when CLICKED Buttons
Speed up your programming and maintain consistency
Start Game With Chosen Character14:42
In this lesson we will:
Play Character speech and Animation when chosen
Get/Set Character globally (Blueprint Interface)
Pass info from one Level to another (Game Instance)
Programming inside Level Blueprint (Level1_Map)
Spawn your selected Character anywhere in the World
Smashing more bugs!
CHALLENGE!0:26
CHALLENGE TASK!
Start Game With Random Character5:22
In this lesson we will:
Event Dispatcher: Call/Bind the "PLAY" Button
Press PLAY and start the game with Random Character
Press PLAY and start game with Character of your choice
Learn how "Integer Randomizer" works (Switch On Int)
Learn how to re-use Functions to avoid duplicate code
Polishing the Player Start (Camera Transition)7:57
In this lesson we will:
Polish the Character Intro when Game starts
Start the Game with smooth Camera transition towards Player
Learn how to get the Player's Camera without Casting
Learn how to avoid SPAGHETTI nodes
Game Packaging (Project Launcher)15:58
In this lesson you will:
Professionall packaging using Project Launcher
Learn the best options for packaging
Make changes and Re-Package with those changes
Export and Play your Game (.exe) file

Requirements

A basic understanding of Unreal Engine (you know your way around the editor).
Have Unreal Engine 5 installed (free to download)
A PC capable of running Unreal Engine 5

Description

Build a professional and production-ready AAA Character Select Menu in Unreal Engine, similar to Mortal Kombat and Tekken 8!

This is not a "CLICK HERE, CLICK THERE" type of Course!

Each and every lesson is designed for everyone to understand what you are actually doing, and HOW!

FROM THE UI BUTTONS PERFORM AN ACTION IN THE 3D WORLD:

You'll learn how to build everything from scratch!
You'll design interactive UI with Hover/Unhover/Click states
Trigger character animations, VFX, voice lines
Display character stats
Level Camera transitions
And the best part - start the game in New Level with the selected character!

There are many hands-on challenges to test and reinforce what you've learned, and you'll have full access to the finalized project files to reference and build on.

WHAT YOU'LL BUILD:
A complete Character Select screen with animated 3D character previews, stat displays, voice responses, and smooth camera transitions - packaged and ready to share with anyone.

WHAT YOU'LL MASTER:

Clean and optimized Blueprints programming - Event Dispatchers, Game Instance, Blueprint Interfaces, Enums, Functions, Custom Events, and Timers, instead of performance-heavy shortcuts like Casting, Get Actor of Class, Event Tick, and Delay. The kind of code that holds up in a real production environment.

Ship this project and have something unique in your Portfolio and increase the chances for your Gamedev job applications.

A basic understanding of Unreal Engine is all you need to get started - every system is broken down and explained from scratch, step by step

Who this course is for:

Suitable for all skill levels - from beginners to advanced Unreal Engine developers
Gamedev students and Indie developers looking to strengthen their portfolio with a job-ready project
Game developers looking to add a polished Character Select screen to their project
Anyone building a fighting game, RPG, or any project that needs a character selection system
Unreal Engine developers who want to build professional UI systems that interact with the 3D world
Developers who want to write clean, optimized Blueprints and break bad habits like Casting and Event Tick

Unreal Engine Character Select

What you'll learn

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Course content

Welcome to the Course2 lectures • 5min

Project Setup4 lectures • 19min

Blueprints Optimization (IMPORTANT)7 lectures • 48min

Main Menu HUD (Design)8 lectures • 1hr 16min

Main Menu HUD (Programming)2 lectures • 22min

Hero Selection and Menu Navigation7 lectures • 1hr 1min

Start New Game With Selected Character6 lectures • 54min

Bonus Lecture1 lecture • 1min

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: