It doesn't have a linux version, so unless you're a gamer it's not worth the effort to get it running unless something has changed... Last time I found it easier to just download the UE5 source to mess around with it. Afterwards, it seems like I needed the Epic client for other reasons. I'm guessing there could be legitimate barriers although it's been a long time for me. Currently I'm downloading the new UE5 source again and take another stab at getting the Epic client running.
It is anything but lightweight. It's a full Chrome browser that struggles to show even the most basic "text with images" pages and hides useful functionality in corners while pestering you with multiple CTAs
It's actually an Unreal Engine 4 application, that only displays an Unreal Motion Graphics UI, that only contains a single Web Browser widget, that may or may not be chromium. Also its PresentInterval is locked to 2, so it'll never go over 30 FPS. Fun times!
If often amazes me how unresponsive the EGS application is.
Though my experiences modding various games with their unreal 4 dev kits were much worse. Especially coming from modding games with engines where you could edit scripts with the text editor of your choice.
I suppose it comes from their rocky launch when it was ... less than optimal. However, I can confirm that the Epic Games Launcher isn't causing any problems and it seems to be a good way to get UE.
As a side note, I would also recommend JetBrains Rider if you plan to do a lot of C++, it's miles ahead of Visual Studio when it comes to UE code completion.
I already have VS and the Windows SDK that includes MSVC and Clang. I just generally don't like to use it as an IDE (with few exceptions). I use it to build VS projects and that's about it.
No, I mean Rider. CLion seems to be built to work with CMake primarily which UE does not use. Rider specifically has an Unreal Engine plugin and does support C++ fairly well. It is the only IDE we could get UE code completion to work properly. Why this is the case I don't know, but if I had to guess I'd say something something msbuild.
"CLion seems to be built to work with CMake primarily" - you mean only? I mean, they recently implemented basic syntax highlighting for non-CMake projects, but you still can't use any of the actual analysis, refactoring, or debugging features without a CMakeLists.txt file.
Why are there so many people who are hating on installing this particular client?