You are here

    World Creation

    Lesson 2 in Unreal Environments

    Lesson Information

    In this lesson, you will build a new level in Unreal Engine. Utilizing various sculpting, set dressing and lighting techniques, your level will progress from a completely flat plane to a beautifully laid out vista. 

    Homework
    Lay the Groundwork

    Create a new level, with its own skydome and lighting. This will be the basis of your level going forward.

    Moving Mountains

    Duplicate the basic level you created earlier, and create a few different versions. In each, try experimenting with the various sculpting tools to create land formations. Pay attention to your landmasses, and make sure they aren't becoming unrealistic. When in doubt, consult your references.

    The Joy of Painting

    Paint some of the various environment layers into your scene. You can also try adding roads or water for an extra challenge. Don't worry too much about polishing or adding props to your scene. Now is the time for experimenting. 

    Make It Pretty

    Choose your favorite of the landscapes you created in earlier exercises, save a backup copy, and then dress the scene with props so it looks good from a single camera angle. 

    Full Immersion

    Add set dressing to your scene in all directions. Make sure to enter first-person mode and walk around your scene. Seeing things from human scale might expose new problems.

    Share Your Work

    Upload an image of your environment using the 'Upload Homework' button above, so your instructor and fellow students can see your progress!

    237 Comments

    Join the discussion!

    Log in or register to post comments

    Shawn Serrano

    thank you joe that works!! (also, would there be a more procedural way to do that using the spline itself and blueprints? ideally i wanna move the spline around without having to re-paint the foliage)

    Joe Garth instructor

    Hey, yes.
    1. Go to Paint layers and find the 'RemoveProcedural' Layer.
    2. Click the + Symbol and add a Non Weight-Blended layer.
    3. You can now paint down that layer to remove procedural foliage.

    I'll record a video for that soon!
    Cheers,
    Joe

    Dean Deakyne

    Hello,
    I've been building my UE4 Project from scratch, so I haven't been using the downloaded project. I am working with the splines for a dirt road. I updated the Natural Roads Package before I added it to the project. When I go to edit the the Pebbles Material, there is no edge blend option for me to blend the road into the landscape. I am using Unreal 4.25.4 Has there been something changed in the Pebble Material to do the Edge Blend, since mine is not available?

    Thanks,
    Dean Deakyne

    Samuel Bell

    When doing my level creation exercise, I chose the Desert Mountain material for the landscape but for some reason it has a pixel - like ground for some reason .

    Is anyone else having this issue?

    ROBERT ORICH

    I think Joe is using UE4.22 or so... I am on 4.25 and the menu layout is a little different...anyone know where I find the "Edit Spline" ?
    Ok found it... it is under manage and splines... but there is no edit... just ctrl and click.

    Nathan Fisher

    ::EDIT:: Restarted UE and it seems to have fixed the issue.

    I'm in lesson 2 working with alpha brushes. The procedural foliage over the base landscape material doesn't seem to be rendering any more in the editor or play modes. Anyone run into the same issue?

    View 3 replies

    Veith Nurtsch

    I have copied them from C:\Users\Veith\Documents\Unreal Projects\LearnSquared\Content to C:\Users\Veith\Documents\Unreal Projects\LSProject/NewLevel :) or go more specific, if you need just one material and so on!

    Nathan Fisher

    Yeah, I wasn't able to migrate the files from lesson 3, but for the lesson 2 assets all I did was copy the 'Brushify' folder into the 'Content' folder within the UE project I created. It also probable helped that I had already purchased a different Brushify pack from the marketplace so the file structure was already created. Hope that helps!

    Vytas Rauckis

    After creating my own level, I am noticing that there is a shadow that seems to start where the camera is and as I get closer to the ground it grows to take up a large area around the camera. When I start the play, the shadow still is there and moves with the shooter. Any idea what I might have missed?

    View 3 replies

    Alex Underwood

    Yeah that's not really explained there, on your sun light increase
    "dynamic shadows distance movable light" to something like 60000000
    At least this value helped me.
    Also I set 10 to "Num Dynamic Shadow Cascades"
    Though it might tank your performance.

    Pages

    Lesson Plan

    Homework can be cool.

    Check out some of the amazing work World Creation students have created by doing their homework.

    View All Homework