I kept copying the same logic into every widget. It worked… but it felt messy. Then I discovered something smarter.
This post is part of my daily learning journey in game development.
I’m sharing what I learn each day — the basics, the confusion, and the real progress — from the perspective of a beginner.
On Day 57 of my game development journey, I learned about creating a Master Widget in Unreal Engine and why it matters.
What I tried / learned today
I learned that a Master Widget is a base widget class that stores common UI logic.
Instead of repeating code in every widget, I:
- Created one main widget as a parent
- Added common functions inside it
- Made other widgets inherit from this Master Widget
Now, all child widgets automatically share the same core logic. This avoids duplication and keeps the UI system more organized.
The best part?
If I change something in the Master Widget, it updates across all child widgets.
An interesting fact I realized:
This concept is based on Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) principles. Even large AAA projects rely heavily on inheritance and modular systems to keep their UI manageable.
What confused me
At first, I didn’t understand:
- Why not just copy-paste logic
- How inheritance works inside widgets
- Why a child widget sometimes didn’t update
It took time to understand how parent-child relationships work.
What worked or finally clicked
The big realization was this:
Duplication creates problems later. Structure saves time later.
I understood that:
- Inheritance keeps UI clean
- Maintenance becomes easier
- Large projects benefit the most
Instead of managing 10 widgets separately, I now manage one base system.
One lesson for beginners
- Put common functions in a Master Widget
- Use inheritance to avoid repetition
- Keep the Master simple and clean
- Don’t overload it with too much logic
- Use Event Dispatchers when needed
Good systems aren’t about writing more code.
They’re about writing smarter code.
Slow progress — but I’m building a strong foundation.
If you’re also learning game development,
what was the first thing that confused you when you started?
See you in the next post 🎮🚀
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