Unreal Engine Investigation (Level 2 Project Blog):
For my level 2 Digital Media project, I investigated level design in the Unreal Engine. In this project, I focused on gathering research and deeply looking into this subject area. I really enjoyed this as I explored some new skills and became more familiar with the software. This inspired me to go deeper into level design and even encouraged me to create my own assets. I have included the Project 2 Digital Media link to support my findings in this project, as I have reflected and used this blog throughout my project.
Level 2 Research Blog Link- (Gregory, 2019)
Brushify:
Free Brushify Environment Shaders Pack (80.lv) (Garth, 2019)
I previously used this pack when I was experimenting with the Unreal Engine and I want to use it in this project as I think it will help with my final artifact a lot as it enables me to easily build a landscape and paint on different materials and textures such as grass, mud, puddles, sand, rock, etc. It also comes with an alpha mask brush so I can create realistic mountains and hills while sculpting in Unreal.
Previous Experimentation:
Software/ Hardware Review: World Machine/ UE4 (Gregory, 2019)
This video showed me that using World Machine for the landscape heightmap was not the best solution for my project, regarding my timeframe, preferred result, and flexibility.
Brushify Experiment Link (Gregory, 2019)
In this video, you can see I used the Brushify pack to build the landscape. This was beneficial to my project as I can reference this when I come to build the landscape for my scene. The specifics I can use from this are:
- Adding the landscape material to the level
- Creating layer blend files
- Using the alpha texture brush to sculpt the terrain
- Painting different materials onto the terrain such as mud, grass, sand, etc
At the start of this video, I experimented with the foliage tool and importing assets into the scene. I learned how to add meshes to the foliage tool where you can alter the settings to make more realistic foliage and arrangement of trees, such as size, positioning, density, collision, etc. I also learned how to place singular assets such as rocks. I also wanted to add a river/ lake but hadn’t worked out how to make it look realistic yet.
In this experiment, I explored the achievability and realistic potential output I could create using free assets I have found through Quixel Bridge (Megascans) and what I have been given, such as the Brushify auto materials and alpha brush. I also used free music and sound effects online which I used for the output. I have attached the links below. I have recorded the process of creating this, similar to the tutorials by Maverick where I did not include a tutorial on how to recreate this, but visually shared how I achieved the final output. I thought this would help with my development because I could test how much I have learned through the tutorials and resources I had found. By trying it out, I am able to develop skills by practice, as well as research. It also made me feel more confident about my future projects, as I will be able to take what I have learned through this experiment and make it better. Also by experimenting, I can solve problems, which I may have not found from just watching a tutorial or reading about it.
I learned how to create a landscape, paint the landscape, and add foliage, import 3D assets, meshes, and animations. I also learned how to add lighting and fog effects, as well as playing around with the bloom/ post-processing settings which I learned in the Mountain House post, to make the scene stand out and look more aesthetically pleasing. I found the lens flare effect and added a slight flare to give it a little something extra.
Video Tutorials/ Resource Review:
(Unreal, 2020)
This tutorial is useful as it teaches all of the essential steps in creating a landscape-level design in Unreal.
(Unreal, 2018)
This video helped me learn how to use exponential height fog, lighting, and post-processing which positively impacts my work.
(Harle, 2016)
(Gamefromscratch, 2019)
This video explains how to use the Procedural Nature Pack. This would be beneficial if I used this pack for my scene.
(Cirillo, 2017)
I decided to learn a little guitar tune to add more depth and make my scene stand out. It would also contribute to my intentions of creating a digital meditation space.
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