Unreal Engine 4: Level Geometry
When last we left off, we learned how to use the Unreal Engine editor. We learned about all of the different UI components, 3-D navigation in the viewport, and how to move and manipulate objects in our simulated environment.
Now it is time to learn how to make basic level geometry in Unreal Engine, so that you can be well on your way to making your own levels!
First, click on the place mode in the modes panel and select geometry. This contains all of the objects that we will be able to manipulate in the details panel, so that we can lay the foundation for our building. Click and drag a geometry box into the viewport. There should now be a box in the viewport. Make sure the box is selected and go to brush settings in the details panel, you’ll see X, Y, and Z values for the box. These values allow you to change the dimensions of the geometry box you just pulled into your 3-D environment. Set up the dimensions so that you have a square in the X and Y dimensions, and a minimal value for the Z dimension.
You now have a floor panel! You can play around with the dimensions in the brush settings to make a large section of floor, but that’s only going to give you a giant square or rectangle. We need some fancy tricks to really make a custom floor space. Well make sure you’re wearing a helmet for this, because I’m about to BLOW YOUR MIND OUT OF YOUR SKULL.
Select your floor panel and move your panel in any direction of your choice, but before doing so, hold your alt key and move it. That’s right, you’re making duplicate objects on the fly sucka!
This doesn’t need to be limited to just one duplicate either. You can select two different objects using the ctrl key, and duplicate both objects at the same time. This means that if you line up your floor panels together while making duplicates, you can multiply your floor to a huge size, fully customized, in no time flat!
Using the shortcuts we’ve learned, we can easily duplicate as much of the floor section as we want, rotate them 90 degrees and create walls to cover the perimeter of the floor we’ve created. Throw on some textures and we have ourselves a basic building!
We’ve made a floor and some walls, but without windows or doors, this is essentially just a virtual panic room. This is where the brush settings come to the rescue once again! Take one of the panels of wall that you have created, and duplicate it. adjust the dimensions so that the X and Y values are smaller, and the Z value is a little bit bigger. For example, my original X, Y, and Z values were 500, 500 and 20. I’ve adjusted them so they’re at 250, 350 and 40. Go over to the brush settings panel and click the drop down menu beside brush type. Select ‘subtractive’ in the menu and take note of the lack of filled geometry with a small wire frame in the viewport. This subtractive object allows you to create holes in your constructed level layout. When the subtractive object collides with some floor or a wall of our building, it will create a hole in that part of the building.
The same rules apply for this subtractive object, it can be duplicated to create bigger/more holes, it can be rotated and re-sized etc. It can still be selected, but it will be hard to find in the viewport, and the world outliner will automatically name it as whatever object was duplicated plus a number. Above, mine is named Box Brush 67. Just be sure to rename the subtractive object in the world outliner if you wish to alter it in some way.
And with that, plus what we learned about placing objects in the first lesson, we can create a building to our liking:
Experiment with less geometric floor plans and different types of buildings. You’ll get faster and have an even easier time using the viewport to its full potential. Remember that duplication and brush settings are your best friends when creating level geometry.