Building Level 1
This level consists of a night time scene in a dark alleyway.
When Unreal opens, it defaults to the FirstPersonMap. I went to create a new level on the menu by clicking on File -> New Level… then clicked on Basic as below.
I saved it in the level 1 maps folder and called it “Level1_Alley”:
Once you save your level, you can play it. The basic level has your character in it, the sky and floor, but that’s about it. You can use the WASD and mouse to move the character around. Using the spacebar will make your character jump.
Moving around in the Unreal Editor
In the Unreal editor (not play mode), you can hold the left mouse button and rotate around with the mouse. If you keep holding down the left mouse button, you can use the W,A,S,D keys to move as well.
The middle mouse button or pressing the left and right buttons together will move you up, down, left right (panning). Holding the right mouse button rotates you.
If you are used to using Maya, the same keyboard shortcuts work for Unreal as well.
 | W – Move object |
 | E – Rotate object |
 | R – Scale or resize object |
Also pressing F will bring you closer to the object that you select withe the mouse.
Importing the 3D Assets
The assets that I created for level 1 are here
I used Maya, so I exported my wall as a .FBX file. You can also export a .FBX file from Blender. Then I imported it in Unreal:
Note that I put it in the folder called L1_Alley for Level1. My asset is called geo_wall.
I can now use my wall and put it in Unreal, but I first wish to create a blueprint from the wall. I do this by right-clicking on my geo_wall and go to Asset Actions -> Create Blueprint Using This… then called it b_geo_wall
On the Viewport, it will show the wall. You press the Compile button to compile the blueprint.
You can close the blueprint window and you will see b_geo_wall.
Blueprints
The main reason for turning the wall into a blueprint is that once it is placed into the Unreal Engine level, I can then alter the blueprint if I need to change or add something to the wall. I can also create several wall blueprints and change the texture so that some of the walls look different.
Hence blueprints make things easier to change whilst they are in place in the level.
Building the Alley
I dragged the b_geo_wall into the Unreal level and moved it to the left side. I then duplicated the wall by copying and pasting until I had 6 walls on either side.
Making it Night
My opening scene is set at night. The current level shows the sun shining, so I need to make it look like it is night time.
To do this, I will use the plugin Day Sequence Time of Day Plugin for Unreal Engine