like, the toolbox feels more or less fleshed out now? i'm still not as fast as i want to be, but i can more or less figure out how to get from A to B
concepts/tools i have found very important:
- dynamic multicast delegates
- the object model / memory manager
- game instance subsystems, world subsystems, and game modes
- components, "component provider" interfaces, and
meta=(MustImplement=...) - UMG widgets and
meta=(BindWidget) - actors, pawns, characters, and character controllers
- modules and plugins (very similar but not the same)
this feels like the "core" of UE, like nodes and scenes in Godot or GameObject in Unity.
it's a lot more base level Stuff to keep track of, but i kind of like that there's purpose-built places to put, for example, "a bunch of functions and state i want to be callable from anywhere and reloads on each level load", as opposed to having to kludge that together from the GameObject system in Unity. i think the implementation in UE is messy, but i do appreciate concrete, heterogeneous APIs that have a more domain-focused design and nomenclature than just, "here's a Bucket where you can put State and Behavior"
i still think the UX could be a lot better, but i think i'm mostly over the "everything is a footgun" hump 

eggbug enjoyer