The first and second week we focused on installing and getting used to the interface of Unreal engine 5.4.
Unreal has an intuitive interface where basic navigation is done through LMB+WASD and QE. A project Outliner on the right and a Content Drawer at bottom to organize assets. And the properties panel of left bottom to edit those assets. The toolbar on top has different selection modes and options to add objects or levels into the project. Under that are the shading and viewing options, along with tools for translation and modification with options for snapping.
Having worked for films and in Blender, this is a good analogy for me to understand the workflow in Unreal.
Within the project there are Levels with Sub Levels within them which are like sets for a film. And
For my project, I started by creating folders for Environment Assets, Levels and Extras for Lights and cameras. I added a new Level to create a terrain for the scene. Then I added basic light setup using Env. Light Mixer.
Environment Lighting
My scene is set in a desert landscape, so I edited the env. light colors and added a custom stylized Cloud texture, to get the desired aesthetic for the environment.
Landscape Sculpt
Using the Landscape tool, I created a rough terrain to place my built mass and applied a sand material to the landscape mesh.
Blocking
Using the Modelling tool within Unreal, I created a blocking of the fort for the scene.