#17 Steam Multiplayer Setup Part 1 - How to Make a Ghost Hunting Game in Unreal Engine 5

Patreon Poll Reminder: Our Patreon poll for the first investigation tool is still live. You can vote on what we should build first after the core fundamentals are done. Vote here:   / which-tool-we-160326564   Sources used in this video: Advanced Sessions Plugin: https://vreue4.com/advanced-sessions-... Engine.ini Steam Configuration: https://dev.epicgames.com/documentati... !!Information!! For the setup to work, remove the Owning Player connection from Create Widget in BP_PC_MENU. In BP_GI_Base, change the level in Open Level to Lvl_FirstPerson instead of Lobby. In this lesson, we start setting up Steam multiplayer for our Unreal Engine 5 ghost hunting game. This video is the first part of our multiplayer setup. Since a ghost hunting game becomes much more interesting when players can create and join sessions together, we begin preparing the project for Steam sessions, lobbies, and future co-op gameplay. First, we prepare the Unreal Engine project for plugin support by converting it from a Blueprint-only project into a C++ project. To do this, we add a new C++ class to the project. This step is important because some plugins and Steam-related systems require the project to have a C++ structure so Unreal can compile everything correctly. After that, we download the Advanced Sessions Plugin binaries and add them to our project. This plugin gives us easier Blueprint access to session functionality, which is very useful when creating multiplayer systems without writing the full session logic manually in C++. Next, we update the DefaultEngine.ini file with the required Steam Online Subsystem configuration. We use the official Unreal Engine documentation as reference for the Steam setup and add the necessary configuration code to prepare the project for Steam networking. We also add the steam_appid.txt file to the correct location and test if the project can connect to Steam. After launching the project, we show that the Steam connection is active, which means the basic Steam setup is working. Once the Steam foundation is ready, we begin creating the first multiplayer menu structure. We create two new levels: MainMenu and Lobby. These levels will later be used to let players start the game, create sessions, join sessions, and prepare before entering the investigation map. We also create a custom Main Menu Game Instance, a Player Controller, and a User Widget for the main menu. After that, we start styling the menu widget so we have a first visual foundation for our multiplayer menu. Inside the menu logic, we begin creating the Create Session and Join Session functionality. This is the first step toward allowing one player to host a session and another player to join it. At the end of the video, we run into a small issue while testing the session flow. Since the video already reached around 26 minutes, we stop at that point and decide to move the fix and final session connection logic into the next video. This keeps the explanation cleaner and gives the multiplayer setup enough time instead of rushing through the solution. By the end of this video, the project is prepared for Steam multiplayer, the Advanced Sessions Plugin is added, the Engine.ini configuration is updated, Steam connection is working, and the first Create Session and Join Session setup is started. What you will learn in this video: How to prepare a Blueprint-only Unreal project for C++ How to add a new C++ class to enable plugin compilation How to download the Advanced Sessions Plugin binaries How to add the Advanced Sessions Plugin to the project How to update DefaultEngine.ini for Steam How to use the Steam Online Subsystem configuration How to add the steam_appid.txt file How to check if Steam connection is working How to create a MainMenu level How to create a Lobby level How to create a custom Game Instance How to create a Player Controller for the menu How to create and style a Main Menu Widget How to start building Create Session logic How to start building Join Session logic Coming up in Part 2: Fixing the session issue from the end of this video Finishing the Create Session logic Finishing the Join Session logic Testing multiplayer session flow Preparing the lobby for future gameplay Building the foundation for co-op ghost hunting Course Goal: We are building a first-person ghost hunting horror game in Unreal Engine 5 step by step. Throughout this course, we will create a paranormal horror game prototype with player movement, sprinting, crouching... #UnrealEngine5 #UE5 #UnrealEngine #GhostHuntingGame #HorrorGame #SteamMultiplayer #AdvancedSessions #OnlineSubsystemSteam #MultiplayerSetup #CreateSession #JoinSession #UE5Blueprints #BlueprintTutorial #HorrorGameDevelopment #GameDevelopment #IndieGameDev #FirstPersonHorror #PhasmophobiaInspired