Environment Creation

[thegr8one123]

Hi I'm currently wanting to create some sort of environment in UDK, my plan was to create a beach like setting, with big cliffs my inspiration came from a beach while i was in Devon(England), where I have taken some photos for textures and reference to layout.

My problem is I'm not sure where to start, I have some Intermediate knowledge of UDK and applications like 3DS MAX, but I don't have the knowledge to start creating my own assets to import into UDK, I have tried before but the lighting, textures, and normal/spec maps never look right. I have also looked around for tutorials that are free or that i can buy to expand my knowledge of asset creation for Environment design, but I'm finding it hard.

so my question is where do I start and where can i find decent tutorials of asset creation and UDK environment design.
would really appreciate some help thanks

[pixxie_payne]

try looking in to the Terrain editor. it will give you a very realistic and effective platform to start on. u will want to use it only for the beach.
u will want to use custom static meshes for the Cliffs, i suggest exporting in FBX or ASE format. Make sure the models are already pre textured.
when you create the textures make sure to keep them in a multiple of 4 or in a similar multiple of
1024 * 1024

this makes it easier to the unreal engine to read.

everything else is just trial, error and learning.

[thegr8one123]

Thanks for the reply and help I need to find some tutorials on asset creation and texture mapping etc, because I think I'm doing it wrong :P

[pixxie_payne]

i suggest trying out blender rather then 3DS Max.
its allot more easy to use. and is very easy to texture with.
there are also allot of tutorials online. some of the best are from BlenderGuru and blendercookie.

for texturing u will want to be using photoshop or Gimp

[tegleg]

to hear 'blender' and 'easy to use' without the word 'not' inbetween dont sound right to me lol
someone has to understand it i suppose.

the first few tutorials on this page will show you what to do in 3ds max
http://udkc.info/index.php?title=Category:Tutorials

[pixxie_payne]

to hear 'blender' and 'easy to use' without the word 'not' inbetween dont sound right to me lol
someone has to understand it i suppose.

the first few tutorials on this page will show you what to do in 3ds max
http://udkc.info/index.php?title=Category:Tutorials

i find 3ds and maya very temperamental compared for blender. i like the freedom blender gives you though, its allot more open then the autodesk programs. plus its open source aswell which is better cause of the $5k price tag on 3ds and maya

[Spoof]

Modern Blender is a joy to use. I'm currently adapting to the FBX pipeline after using ASE/PSK-PSA and it's working really fluidly so far.

The key to learning Blender is choosing LEFT MOUSE SELECT in preferences, from day one. The default is a ridiculous legacy feature. Just remember to mentally swap the mouse buttons in any tutorials you follow.

[pixxie_payne]

Modern Blender is a joy to use. I'm currently adapting to the FBX pipeline after using ASE/PSK-PSA and it's working really fluidly so far.

The key to learning Blender is choosing LEFT MOUSE SELECT in preferences, from day one. The default is a ridiculous legacy feature. Just remember to mentally swap the mouse buttons in any tutorials you follow.

iv started to implement exporting in FBX rather then ASE cause of the outdated plugin's. it works really well and i agree with swapping out allot of the default preferences makes it allot easier. i use allot of macro keys to help speed the process along and stop rsi.
im still trying to get used to the PSK and PSA exporter though, but that is mostly down to my experience with Skeletal meshes. need to find some guides/ tutorials to help out with setting it all up in blender

[joshua.fontany]

Spoof, that seems like a very key insight. Thanks, that'll be handy when I go back and relearn Blender.

I have some screenshots of a location I'm working on. It's a test map to iterate the Landscape asset creation and import pipelines using L3DT and UDK:

https://plus.google.com/u/0/10484935...ts/Pd7CGLhDqsP
https://plus.google.com/u/0/10484935...ts/bgtxmfTScXS
https://plus.google.com/u/0/10484935...ts/UDmGj5aoCsv

[Spoof]

Two other tips that may be useful are to enable turntable in preferences (avoids the tumbling 3D madness), and to make use of the period key on the keypad to center/focus on a selection.

[Snufkin]

Block out the environment from Cliffs to sand to water. As someone already said create the cliffs from blender or maya or max. You could probably sculpt the sand plane in zbrush if you know how to use it.