City Builder Template

City Builder Template is a complete Blueprint game template for a grid-based city builder. Place roads and buildings, grow population, collect currency from commercial zones, level up your city, and run the simulation at normal or double speed with a day/night cycle.

The project ships as a standalone Unreal 5.8 project (template version 1.7, tested on UE 5.7+). All gameplay lives under Content/CityBuilderTemplate/.

Architecture

flowchart TB
  subgraph ui [UI]
    WBP_MainMenu
    WBP_PlayerHUD
    WBP_BuildingSelect
    WBP_RoadFrame
  end
  GI[BP_CBT_GameInstance]
  PC[BP_CBT_PlayerController]
  Pawn[BP_CBT_PlayerPawn]
  GS[BP_CBT_GameState]
  SG[BP_CBT_Singleton]
  TOD[BP_CBT_TimeOfDay]
  Grid[BP_CBT_Grid]
  Save[BP_CBT_SaveGame]
  GI --> WBP_MainMenu
  GI --> Save
  PC --> Pawn
  PC --> Grid
  PC --> Buildings[BP_CBT_BaseBuilding hierarchy]
  PC --> Roads[BP_Road / BP_RoadTile]
  SG --> WBP_PlayerHUD
  TOD --> SG
  GS --> TOD
  Buildings --> Save
  Roads --> Save

What is included

Area	Path	Purpose
Main menu map	Maps/MainMenu	Game default map — WBP_MainMenu
Demo map	Maps/DemoMap	Editor startup map and playable city level
Game mode	Blueprints/BP_CBT_GameMode	Spawns BP_CBT_PlayerPawn + BP_CBT_PlayerController
Game instance	Blueprints/BP_CBT_GameInstance	Save object creation, load-game flag, level travel
Player controller	Blueprints/BP_CBT_PlayerController	Placement, roads, bulldoze, building selection, save/load
Player pawn	Blueprints/BP_CBT_PlayerPawn	Top-down camera movement, zoom, building rotation
Game state	Blueprints/BP_CBT_GameState	ESimulationState (paused / normal / double speed)
Singleton	Blueprints/BP_CBT_Singleton	Currency, XP, level, population, premium cash, broadcast events
Time of day	Blueprints/BP_CBT_TimeOfDay	Day/night cycle, sun rotation, night checks
Grid	Blueprints/Misc/BP_CBT_Grid	Snap grid used for building and road placement
Buildings	Blueprints/Buildings/	BP_CBT_BaseBuilding, residential/commercial bases, four in-game types
Roads	Blueprints/Roads/	BP_Road (spline preview) and BP_RoadTile (placed segments)
Vehicles	Blueprints/Environment/BP_Vehicle	Ambient traffic on road tiles
Save game	Blueprints/BP_CBT_SaveGame	Buildings, roads, vehicles, currency, XP, level
Widgets	Blueprints/Widgets/	HUD, building/road frames, timers, level-up notifications
Globals	Blueprints/BFL_CBT_GlobalFunctions	Currency, grid snap, simulation state helpers
String table	Misc/ST_CityBuilderTemplate	Localized building names and level-up copy
Guided tutorials	1_BP_CBT_Tut_* … 5_BP_CBT_Tut_*	In-editor tutorial chain (GuidedTutorials plugin)

Shipped building types

Blueprint	Type	Role
BP_CBT_House	Residential	Small home — adds inhabitants after construction
BP_CBT_Apartment	Residential	Larger residential block
BP_CBT_Shop	Commercial	Generates income; manual or auto collect
BP_CBT_OfficeBuilding	Commercial	Higher-tier commercial income

Gameplay loop

sequenceDiagram
  participant Menu as WBP_MainMenu
  participant PC as BP_CBT_PlayerController
  participant Grid as BP_CBT_Grid
  participant Bld as BP_CBT_BaseBuilding
  participant SG as BP_CBT_Singleton
  participant HUD as WBP_PlayerHUD
  Menu->>PC: Play Game → DemoMap
  PC->>Grid: Snap placement to grid (GridSize / defaultGridSize)
  PC->>Bld: Preview → Start Construction
  Bld->>SG: AddPopulation / CollectIncome
  SG->>HUD: OnCurrencyUpdated / OnLevelUp
  HUD->>PC: Save / Load / Simulation speed

1. Main menu — Play Game opens DemoMap; Load Game restores slot CityBuilderSaveGame when a save exists.
2. Roads first — drag spline roads with BP_Road; placed segments become BP_RoadTile instances snapped to the grid.
3. Build — pick residential or commercial types from WBP_BuildingSelect / WBP_BuildingFrame; preview with the mouse, rotate with Z / C, place with primary click.
4. Construction — BP_CBT_BaseBuilding runs a timer (ConstructionTime); WBP_ConstructionTimer shows remaining time.
5. Operate — residential buildings add inhabitants up to Inhabitant Max Limit; commercial buildings hire workers and generate income from Revenue Per Worker (collect via WBP_CollectCurrency or bAutoCollectIncome).
6. Progress — BP_CBT_Singleton tracks XP and city level; WBP_LevelUpNotification announces unlocks (UnlockLevel on each building).
7. Simulate — WBP_PlayerHUD controls Paused, NormalSpeed, and DoubleSpeed via ESimulationState on BP_CBT_GameState.
8. Day/night — BP_CBT_TimeOfDay rotates the sun (Sun Speed); vehicles and building lights respond via OnDayStarted / OnNightStarted.

Shipped defaults (quick reference)

Values read from class defaults in the open FAB project (v1.7).

System	Key defaults
New game wallet	Starting Currency 100000, Starting Premium Cash 10 (BP_CBT_PlayerController)
Player level	Current Level 1, Max Player Level 50
Grid snap	Grid Size 200 on controller; Default Grid Size 100, Grid Divisions 4 on BP_CBT_Grid
Save slot	CityBuilderSaveGame (user index 0)
Camera (BP_CBT_PlayerPawn)	Min Zoom 500, Max Zoom 4500, Zoom Increment 600, Camera Rotation Speed 100
Day/night	Sun Speed 10, bEnable Day Night Cycle true
Simulation	ESimulationState default NormalSpeed on BP_CBT_GameState — None, Paused, NormalSpeed, DoubleSpeed

Building defaults

Building	Currency	Premium	Construction (s)	Unlock	XP	Residential / commercial
BP_CBT_House	10	0	5	1	70	Inhabitant Max Limit 4, delay 2 s
BP_CBT_Apartment	10	10	15	1	128	Inhabitant Max Limit 12, delay 2.2 s
BP_CBT_Shop	5	12	5	2	135	Worker Max Limit 10, hire delay 1.5 s, Revenue Per Worker 268, Profit Delay 60 s
BP_CBT_OfficeBuilding	10	24	10	1	200	Worker Max Limit 10, hire delay 2.3 s, Revenue Per Worker 1240, Profit Delay 120 s

Shops and offices ship with bAutoCollectIncome = false and bGetXpWhenCollectingCurrency = true (Currency Collect XP = 3).

Guides

Page	Description
Getting started	Open the project, controls, content layout
Overview	Step-by-step customization with example presets
Blueprint reference	Actors, enums, structs, functions, and widgets

In-editor tutorials

The template includes five GuidedTutorials assets (1_BP_CBT_Tut_Introduction through 5_BP_CBT_Tut_BaseBuilding) that walk through the controller, pawn, day/night actor, and building hierarchy inside the editor.