For our FMP we were allowed to work on anything we wanted. I chose to do a project that related to modelling and concept art as I believe I could improve on those fields. Because of this I decided to create a 3D Environment as it would be a great combination of modelling and concept art skills. When I decided I’d do a 3D environment I wanted to use Unreal Engine 4 from the beginning as it recently got a free release, no longer requiring a monthly subscription. This, as well as a history with level design in multiple engines, made me want to do this as soon as the project began.
We began the project with some research. For my project I researched into the various programs, file formats I’d use as well as examples of 3D Environments (contextual sources). One thing I took note of during this research is the availability of these programs to me. Some programs I could only use on specific computers, such as Unreal Engine 4 as I need to manually install it, whereas some where installed on each college computer and at home, such as Photoshop. Thanks to my research I was able to plan how I’d work on this project and what I wanted to achieve, in this case I decided a Sci-Fi or cyberpunk environment is what I wanted.
After doing research I began working on my proposal and outlining what I wanted to achieve. By detailing what I planned to achieve each week I gave myself a guideline to make sure I was on track during the project. However, I feel as though I did not follow this well enough and I will explain further down. I already knew I wanted to create a 3D Environment, although I wasn’t exactly sure what I wanted the environment to be. I began by drawing concept art for one idea I had, a Sci-Fi firing range. I wanted to do a firing range so I could include first person shooter elements into the environment.
Next week production began and the first thing I did was create some concept art for some objects in my scene. I wanted to get a feel for drawing concept art and translating that into 3D so I began with a simple storage box. I managed to learn some techniques that I would later use throughout my project, namely the bevel tool. For all my models I would use the bevel tool to achieve a clean, Sci-Fi look, keeping my models detailed but not too smooth.
After modelling that storage box and a test door, I decided to experiment with some ideas in Unreal Engine 4 itself. At first I began mapping out the initial idea for the firing range I had, a raised platform with a set of stairs behind it. I then placed some placeholder computers.
After I was done with this, I looked at it and noticed when I positioned the computers in a certain way it resembled some sort of futuristic war room. When I did this I decided to completely change my idea to that and started drawing up concept art for my new idea.
This is when my idea first started coming together. With the following weeks being modelling and creating concept art for various objects in the environment I slowly began to get closer to what I wanted to make. As I kept working on the environment I started adding new ideas, such as the ability to turn computers on and off, being able to raise a platform and play a cutscene of graphics on the screen moving.
Throughout the project I had some few problems related to Unreal Engine that delayed me as I wasn’t sure how to overcome them. The first problem I encountered were huge lighting errors caused by not UV mapping my models and another unknown cause, this delayed me for a few days as I tried to figure out ways to fix the bad lighting caused by this. The other problem I had was a bug in the version of Unreal Engine 4 I was using that caused the level to become impossible to save. This set me back quite a bit but I fixed it but updating my project to the latest version.
I also didn’t get to do everything I wanted, I would have created more models to make the environment look better and I would have worked on the lighting more but due to the setbacks I didn’t have enough time.
Overall I believe this project was a success. Not only did I create an environment close to what I set out to create, I also managed to learn quite a lot about level design in Unreal Engine 4. I made use of a huge amount of elements of Unreal Engine 4 as I used almost all the elements that go into a professional video game environment including scripting, UE4′s Matinee animation system, working with materials and models in-engine and various other things.
If I were to do this project again I’d make sure to manage my time better and make sure I prepare for any problems I encounter so I’m not delayed as much. Thanks to the things I learned from this project, I’d also be able to create an environment like this even faster than I did this time, as I am now incredibly familiar with the engine and it’s systems. Given the chance I think I could make this environment far better but overall I am glad with how the environment came out.
Some of the concept art I’ve done over this project, detailing different ideas I had for various models I’d be modelling. The concept art I drew was just a basic idea for what I wanted in the end, I did not focus too much on small details as I believe I work best through experimentation when modelling and I believe my experimentation has worked well in this project.
As I planned in my proposal, I have added certain intractable elements into my environment that the player can use to perform certain actions. For this post I will be explaining how I’ve implemented this into my environment’s computers.
Please note that this walkthrough is for people who have some extremely basic experience with blueprint. If you want to see a full tutorial on learning Blueprint in general you can watch this video playlist by Epic Games themselves: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZlv_N0_O1gbYMYfhhdzfW1tUV4jU0YxH
To begin, I will explain what a “Blueprint” is in Unreal Engine 4. Unreal Engine 4 has a Blueprint system that allows you to make small, self-contained “presets”. These blueprints can be put anywhere, re-used freely and work independently.
As you can here, this blueprint is a combination of multiple meshes. The wire-frame box is a collision box which shall be explained later. Thanks to this system I can drag the blueprint on to the level at any time and another instance of this will be placed.
This is the original Maya model for multiple parts of this computer. The planes are one-sided and are used for the holographic displays. These parts are textured in Photoshop and masked in Unreal Engine to remove the backgrounds and preserve any transparency.
When creating this computer I wanted to make it seem more advanced and intriguing than some textured displays so I decided to use Blue print to enhance the effect. Each of the spinning symbols in the gif are actually textured planes that are placed in-front of each-other. Overall I am satisfied with the result.
To achieve the rotation effect I scripted the individual planes to rotate every tick. This is where we get into visual scripting with Blueprint. This is what the visual scripting interface looks like:
As you can see, visual scripting is performed by adding snippets of code and connecting them together. There are so many things a level designer can do with blueprint in a short amount of time and thanks to the accessibility of the system, almost anyone can use it with little knowledge of scripting/coding.
Blueprint script breakdown:
This part of the blueprint handles the rotation of the multiple graphics in the blueprint that I mentioned above. Essentially, every tick activates the rotation of each graphic by varying degrees. Since there are so many ticks in a second it gives the impression of natural and continuous rotation.
This part of the blueprint handles the player input. The ‘collision box’ I mentioned earlier is actually an area that enables the player’s input to affect the blueprint when he enters the collision box. Once input is enable or disabled, the visibility of the label I added to inform the player he can interact with it is toggled.
Lastly, this section of the the blueprint simply toggles the visibility of the components I want when the F key is pressed. Because of how I set up the enabling and disabling of input the components will not be made invisible or visible unless the player is in the collision box.
Final Result:
The player looking at the console, out of range of the collision box.
When the player enters the range of the collision box a label appears asking if they wish to interact with the console. Player input is enabled and the console is turned off once F is pressed.
The player can still approach the console and press F again to turn it back on.
Conclusion:
That’s the basics to making an interact-able element in your environment. You can apply the use of trigger volumes and enable input to allow the play to activate many different systems, such as an elevator, a light, or just about anything you’d want.
Today is the final day. I plan to write up a tutorial for some elements in my project, such as intractable consoles. After this I will record some footage of me playing in the level as well as some screenshots. Finally I will write an evaluation on my work in the project.
Today I plan to have my environment finished. With only a few things left to model and some blueprints to “code” I am confident I’ll be finished today.
Due to some problems with a bug in the current version of Unreal Engine 4 which I mentioned previously, there were multiple times where my work couldn't be saved and I had to redo certain elements on the environment from scratch. After I migrate my project to the newest version I will continue from where I left off.
Due to a bug in the current version of Unreal Engine 4, working with Blueprints can cause the level to become impossible to save until the blueprint is completely deleted. This has caused some setbacks and wasted quite a bit of my time as I had to completely remove the console blueprint I made yesterday and now I have to completely remake it.
I will attempt to install the newest version of UE4 and see if I can transfer my project to it.
While working on my environment I encountered a few lighting issues with certain meshes. Random meshes in the map would be lit far more than others despite being far away from any light source, While this isn’t a huge issue, I feel I should see if I can correct.
This week I have a lot to show due to being so close to finishing.
For modelling, I began by completely replacing the railings with fully modelled versions. I tried my best to keep the railings in style with the rest of the environment. I had numerous problems implementing the railing, mostly due to never working like this before. Luckily I managed to find a way to get them working.
I also began adding the rest of the floor. I may decide to change the material to differentiate it from the walkway but until then i’m happy as it is.
I also replaced the stairs with the possible final model.
Before:
After:
And here’s a shot of the walk-way.
Finally, here’s a screenshot of the new floor tiles I added. I am quite happy with keeping the floor tiles consistent so I will use this for each floor.
With all this done, I am confident I’ll have this environment finished on time. I have noticed some small lighting issues with some models that I’ll have fixed soon.
For today I’m going to continue modelling for my environment. Due to forgetting to upload my newest version of the level to dropbox I won’t be able to modify the environment till I get home.
Some screenshots I have taken throughout the project showing the different stages of progress. The last image is where I am at currently. The only things left to model are the extending platform, floors, railings and roof. From there on I’ll be 100% focused on texture work.
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