Setup Guide
This guide will walk you through installing Unreal Engine 5 and setting up Sonic Springworks.
This guide assumes you’ll use the Epic Games Launcher to manage installations of Unreal Engine.
For instructions on building the editor from source, please see the official Unreal Engine documentation
Download the Epic Games Launcher and sign-in to your account (or create one if you have not already).
Once you are signed-in on the Epic Games Launcher...
1. Click on the Unreal Engine tab on the left.
2. Click on the Library tab at the top.
3. Click on the yellow + button, to the right of “Engine Versions”.
A grey box will now appear. Click on the dropdown (next to the version number) and select “5.4.4”.
Note that these images will show 5.6.0 since 5.4.4 is already installed here. You should still use 5.4.4.
After agreeing to the User Terms, you will be prompted with options regarding where the engine will be installed and more.
You are fine to leave the file paths at their default.
You may also, in the Options button, install/uninstall different content from the engine.
You are also fine to leave these be if you wish.
I personally uninstall the Templates, etc. to save on disk space, as I don’t use those content packages.
When you are ready, click the Install button to install Unreal Engine 5.4.4 to your system.
Once UE5.4.4 is installed, you may move on to the next step.
There are a few ways to download the project files. This guide will cover three methods.
- Downloading from Releases
- Downloading from Main
- Forking and Cloning with GitHub Desktop
Only one method should be used to download the project files. You do not have to do multiple.
Navigate to the Releases tab (on the right of the main repository screen).
Then, go to the specific revision you wish to use and download the ZIP file attached to that revision.
Extract the contents of the downloaded ZIP file to the directory you wish to keep your project in.
EX: C:\Users\(your name)\Documents\Unreal Projects
- Go to the Code tab.
- Click the green "<> Code" button.
- Click on "Download ZIP".
Extract the contents of the downloaded ZIP file to the directory you wish to keep your project in.
EX: C:\Users\(your name)\Documents\Unreal Projects
GitHub Desktop is a useful tool for version control, letting you backtrack to previous edits in the event that something breaks.
To begin, though, we need to clone the Sonic Springworks repository.
This means we'll be making a "copy" of the repository onto our own account so we may do whatever with it.
First, make sure you are signed-in to GitHub on your web browser (or create an account if you have not already).
Then, go to the main page for the Sonic Springworks repository and click the Fork button.
You should now see this screen.
- Ensure you are selected as the Owner of this Fork.
- You may change the name and description of the Fork if you wish, such as to suit your own project.
- Leave "Copy the main branch only" checked.
Click the green "Create fork" button and you should now have a fork of the main repository.
With that done, you may now download GitHub Desktop.
Once downloaded, sign-in to your GitHub account.
Once signed-in, go to File>Clone Repository in the top left of GitHub Desktop.
You'll now be prompted to select a repository and the path to clone said repository to.
- Search for the name of your fork.
- Select your fork.
- Browse and select the directory you wish to keep your project in.
Once you've selected your fork and the place to clone to, click the blue "Clone" button to put your fork onto your device.
Now you'll be able to work on your project and push the files to your fork for safe keeping.
For more information about using GitHub Desktop, see the official website.
If you downloaded Sonic Springworks' project files from the main branch or release v1.1 or later, you may skip this section.
If you downloaded Sonic Springworks' via release v1.0 or v1.0.1, then you will need to set up the NinjaCharacter plugin in UE5.4.4's installation folder. This plugin is necessary for Sonic Springworks to function.
Download the plugin from this link.
Once downloaded, extract the contents of the ZIP to the following location.
C:\Program Files\Epic Games\UE_5.4\Engine\Plugins
Alternatively, you may extract the contents of the ZIP, then copy them to this path.
When copied, the Plugins folder should look something like this.
No further action is needed. Sonic Springworks should now correctly launch.