Unreal Engine 4 Game Level 2017

Personal Project

Final Render

Final Render

Initial Level Design and Concept Sketches

Initial Level Design and Concept Sketches

Blocking level geometry in Unreal Engine 4. Testing custom animation, climbing and sliding mechanics I scripted using UE4 Blueprints.

Photo Reference

Photo Reference

Final Concept Piece, Painted in Photoshop

Final Concept Piece, Painted in Photoshop

Technical render modes in Unreal Engine 4

Final Game Play

Project Summary

This 2015 - 2018 project in Unreal Engine 4 kickstarted my game art portfolio. I taught myself Unreal Engine 4 and other programs to create everything in this level. Here is an exhaustive list of everything I did to make this overly ambitious level.

In Unreal Engine 4:

I started this project with the 3rd Person Shooter template that comes standard with UE4

Level Building

  1. Used BSP brushes to create initial level block-out

  2. Imported static meshes with collision and a second UV set specifically for lightmaps

  3. Optimized performance by storing different texture maps in the RGBA image channels

  4. Used the Material Editor to create opaque, reflective, foliage, transparent, and emissive materials

  5. Used Unreal Terrain to create the ground and a sweeping vista

  6. Used decals to add details to the environment

  7. Created smoke and steam particle effects

  8. Lit the level and baked detailed lightmaps

Character and Mechanics

  1. I imported my own Skeletal Mesh Character, complete with custom animations

  2. Created an animation state network to define how the character transitions between animation states

  3. Used blueprint scripting to create the controls to allow the player to control my character

  4. Used blueprint scripting to create climbing mechanics, with the ability to define climbable and non-climbable ledges.

  5. Used blueprint scripting to create sliding mechanics

In Maya:

  1. Sculpted, Rigged, and Animated Character

  2. Modeled, Layed out UV’s, Created Collision for all Static Meshes

In Zbrush:

  1. Sculpted terrain

In Mudbox:

  1. Sculpted detailed normal maps

In Substance Designer:

  1. Created detailed tiling materials

In Photoshop:

  1. Created Concept Art

  2. Matte Painted Skybox and Terrain Cards

  3. Photo-bashed Textures