I’ve completed the first set of Level design tutorials on Unreals youtube page and am very happy with the intuitiveness of UDK. The last time I took a stab at level design it was GTK Radiant, which feels pretty primitive by comparison.
Ok, so my request is to enable snapping to objects as a means for easy object alignment. would be very similar to something you’d see in an Adobe product. It seems like great emphasis is given on aligning things to grid, but why should you continually have to realign if you can just snap to objects you’ve already aligned? I also love being able to hit the END key and drop my objects to the floor, or at least on top of the nearest object below. If snapping to objects isn’t a possibility, I’d like to be able to move objects on all axis until object collision much like dropping with the end key.
Finally, I was wondering if there was a way to tell an objects size or position based upon world coordinates? I know I can pull in an object and define it’s size, but if I scale that size I notice the numeric values don’t seem to change. I’d like to know what those values are relative to the world. I would like to know coordinates relative to the would, so I could pull in an object and drop it to the “worlds floor” numerically without having to eyeball it.
There is a built in way to snap to other objects by vertex which allows you to align two objects in many different ways. To use it you hold down the ‘V’ key while using the transform control, here is the documentation on it:
.unrealengine.com/latest/INT/Engine/Actors/Transform/index.html#vertexsnapping
For scaling an object you should see the values in the scale section change, 1.0 is 100% of the original size. You can also turn on absolute scale by clicking on the word “scale” in the details panel which will switch the coordinate system to world space, instead of local.
Awesome, thanks! I got a little overly excited and tried using the same technique in geometry edit mode which didn’t seem to work. Works fantastically in placement mode however.
Not having any luck with the scale section, I’m not even sure where that is. When I select an object in placement mode I see the details panel which has Brush, Geometry, Surface properties and a few others. The only scale details I see in panel is the 1.0 under surface properties.
Oh ok I see what you mean, what i had mentioned works for static meshes but not on BSP objects. For BSP’s I find it easier to use the size controls in the details panel rather than the scale tool in the viewport (the image below shows what I mean). The size you enter in here should be the actual size of the object, for some reason it does not update when you use the scale tool in the viewport, so when first creating the objects with BSP I find easier to use.
Once you have the size and shape you want, be sure to convert it into a static mesh, having many BSP objects can reduce your games performance as they are still in an editable state. Clicking the button in the details panel will allow you to save the object to a mesh that you can then use as many times as you want in the level. Hope that helps!
Holy **** I didn’t know about converting to mesh…or maybe I did but when I was promoted to save the meshI just canceled. :\
So on one of your projects at what point do you convert to static mesh? Would you convert a wall to a static mesh, an entire room? Or is it something you would do as a last step, like save a BSP version seperately.
I find that my biggest challenge here is going to be overcoming some previously unrealized OCD tendencies as finalizing a mesh sounds like frightening prospect with the hideous test projects I’ve been working on :P.
I do think you pinpointed what my current frustration is with BSP object manipulation: BSP stats aren’t updated after manipulation. If I scale an object or change it in geometry mode the figures don’t change. May not seem like a big deal but it’s been a source of confusion for me. For my recent practice builds I’ve certainly paid closer attention to the brush values and tried not to adjust via the other methods. can make resizing a bit annoying for a noob…In the UE4 Intro to level editing video tuts the instructor eluded to avoid the temptation of rotating to create a perpendicular wall. I assume now it’s for the same reasons I’ve run into. If there was a method to size BSP objects by value, but choose an anchor for the sizing that could be helpful. That way I could use numeric values to eyeball the length I’m going for but not have to reposition the object continually.
In any event, thanks much for the info, helps a lot.
I use Pivot tool plugin, select face or vertex, then use unreals translate and hold down v while moving on axis. You can snap anything to vertex way. is great for lightmass objects that surfaces should not intersect but align perfectly to avoid black edges etc.
Whats your point, I came across in a forum looking for similar answers and thought to reply for future inquiries. Based on your implied suggestion, we would have a million unanswered questions and nobody would look here anymore. I wasn’t actually answering for the OP.
IGnore, some people have nothing better to do, sorry you had to experience that.
As you say, old or not, information is learning, should never be made fun of.
