Dev Log #1: Initial Creation and Landscapes

Project Creation:

I wanted to start a new project that would push me to learn new things and brush up on old concepts. It has been quite some time since I worked with Unreal at this level, so naturally, I wanted to do something that would push me. 

The first thing I did was explore what type of game I wanted to create, I wanted to do something small yet full. I had found multiple free asset packs on the Unreal Marketplace so I decided to create my game around those assets. They gave off a sort of stylized fantasy vibe so I thought it would be best to create a fantasy game. Ultimately I fell on the idea of an island of dragons. The goal of the game is to defeat the four dragons that inhabit it. Of course, it's not going to be that simple, I want to integrate puzzles and a story with it. From my previous project, I learned that I need to keep it small-scale and shorten its scope. Thus I'll be taking this game in steps, adding new stuff as I go along. That's about it in regards to the project itself, but first I wanted to show off what I have done so far.

Landscapes:

In my first project, I decided against using landscapes and instead fell back on flat surfaces. In this project, I wanted to learn about landscapes and how I can use Unreal's tools to achieve the creation of my island. There was a slight learning curve with the landscape tool, but funny enough I found it as simple and fun to use, it reminded me a lot of Cities: Skylines and many other games that included landscape tools. 

The first thing I did was create the base layer of my island. I found a reference image and mapped my island around it.

The next thing I did was fill up the island with hills, curves, mountains, and plateaus.

The asset pack I was using came with its own landscape material. Because of this, I didn't need to make my own. However, I wanted to add some new textures. This required me to learn a bit more about texture painting and how I can add it to the existing landscape material. Speaking of texture painting, I went and painted the entire island. I made sure to define areas that acted as "biomes" and areas that would be used as points of interest later. 

Up next was foliage. Once again the asset pack came with pre-existing foliage that could be used to paint. Based on the defined areas I painted trees to represent lush forests. Also, I'll note that this asset pack includes wind materials for trees and grass to sway, it gives my otherwise empty island some life to it.  And what's an island without some water? 

And that's as far as I have gotten with my project. There isn't much substance to it now, but I am working on including more and more things as I go along. The next thing I want to do is implement the player character. I already have an idea of what I can use and I am currently working on importing it to Unreal. I also want to change and remix the models and textures, so the next thing to learn is modeling and texture painting!