My first assignment in Unreal Engine 4 was to make a cube-based level, kind of like Minecraft. The point of the exercise was to learn about scale and keep it constant between programs, such as when importing something from Maya. The process itself was pretty simple:
First, an object from UE4 was imported into Maya to establish a scale.
A cube was resized to the mannequin's approximate height, and beveled to take the sharp edge off, which will make lighting and textures look better.
Then, the cube object was imported back to UE4, minus materials and with a pivot centered on the grid.
From this point on, the only thing left was to apply a material to the cube and go to town!
By following a process of duplicating and resizing these cubes and adding new materials wherever needed, a simple level can be generated. Here I have constructed a basic village made up of mud huts with terribly designed palm trees providing shade.
A temple sits in front of us, but the crenelated walls prevent entry to the second floor.
By climbing the stalls, buildings, and trees themselves, the temple can be accessed from the top, and the treasure it is guarding can be revealed!
A chicken!
