My request is simple; add complex and natural alphas to be used for the landscape sculpting tool. Example:
https://scontent-atl1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/11053725_904619279599316_2891111458272039614_n.jpg?oh=286a06a5ed13b739de113199ad5181b7&oe=55FD3C27
Note- I am unsure on the source of these particular brushes but similar examples can be made in world machine at higher resolution.
Why? Initial reaction may be that these sorts of things should be in the store or made by the community to meet there needs of the particular game they are making. However, these brush alphas would empower the less specialized developer to create natural and gorgeous looking terrains without having to use 3rd party applications or advanced generation methods.
As someone who has been making terrains both in unreal 4 and other applications for a while I have my own brush set in the same way that people who own Photoshop do. But what sets apart applications like Zbrush and Mudbox is Zbrush comes with the needed features to create cool content right out of the box and Mubbox you need to mod to proficiently accomplish the required task.
A list of the Brushes that would help (10 in all is all you would need)
-Steep mountains
-Jagged rocks
-Steeped canyons
-Desert mesas
-Rock/boulder fields
Some proof of concept videos showing the technique (not my work)
Amir Abdaoui
Vicarious Serhey
Initially reading this I thought “just use a heightmap” but after seeing the first video you linked I can see how this feature could be extremely powerful! I’d love to see something like this integrated into the engine.
Hi Don’tCuss,
We actually already give you the ability to sculpt by alphas. If you go to the sculpt brush and click the drop-down on the “circle” sub-menu, you can choose alpha. This allows you to use any alpha texture that you have available to be able to sculpt. Or is it the specific textures you want us to add to the starter content?
Exactly right, the feature is awesome, but a lack of brushes is limiting. It would be like opening Photoshop but only having the circle brush. A base level of tools utilizing that feature would greatly improve the use ability and effectiveness of the terrain sculpting tool.
So you are actually asking for a number of masks not an improvement to the landscape editor.
Is there a tutorial to make alphas in Photoshop and import them?
If you want alphas for such purpose it’s best to sculpt a mountain (or whatever else) and extract a displacement map. From there you can import it in engine like any other texture and out it to use just like said.
Right, and I have some brushes that I use. My point is why not have a set of brushes in the engine by default? Again, going to the example of Photoshop, if it came with only a circle brush and I had to make/download every brush I wanted to use I would not use Photoshop for as many things; especially as someone not specializing in 2D art. With the new engine focusing one open worlds and usability (it going free and all) it just seemed like the perfect fit.
P.S. If you need I could even create a brush pack to include if no one is willing to support this. It is more for the developers who do not focus on terrain as their specialization or the people who are just learning Unreal.