Just Started My First Unreal Engine Project – A Few Beginner Questions

Development Programming & Scripting C++
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Hey everyone!

I recently started learning Unreal Engine (currently on UE5.4) and I have to say—it’s been both super exciting and a little bit overwhelming :sweat_smile:. I’m coming from a Unity background, so a lot of concepts are familiar, but Unreal definitely has its own way of doing things.

Right now, I’m building a small third-person exploration game as a practice project. Nothing fancy, just trying to get a feel for the engine. I’ve been playing around with Blueprints, Lumen lighting, and some basic level design.

A few things I’m still wrapping my head around:

  • What’s the best way to manage level streaming for open areas?
  • Any tips for organizing assets and folders so the project doesn’t get messy fast?
  • Also… are World Partition and Level Streaming the same thing, or should I pick one?

I know these might be basic questions, but I’d really appreciate any advice or even just a “you’re on the right track.” :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

Thanks in advance – this community seems super helpful, and I’m looking forward to learning more with you all!

Cheers,

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Hi @BuscuHUb,
Great to see you getting started with Unreal Engine! Starting with a third-person exploration game is an excellent way to begin learning the engine. You’ll definitely learn a lot and get comfortable with it quickly. If you ever have questions, don’t hesitate to ask in the forum.

Answering your question, World Partition and Level Streaming are not exactly the same, although both are used to divide and manage large maps. The difference lies in how they work and the level of automation they offer.

World Partition is the recommended system for handling large worlds in UE5.4. It automates content streaming by dividing the level into a grid, supports Data Layers, HLODs, and allows for advanced control via Blueprints. It’s ideal for open-world or large-scale maps and eliminates the need to manually manage sub-levels.

Level Streaming, on the other hand, is better suited for smaller or more controlled environments. It uses a persistent level and sub-levels that are loaded and unloaded manually using Blueprints, C++, or streaming volumes.

In your case, since you want to manage large open areas, World Partition is the better choice. If you were building something more linear or with smaller, self-contained scenes, then Level Streaming would be a better fit.

Here’s the official documentation in case you want to dive deeper into how these level management systems work:

Then , To keep your UE project organized, make sure to create specific folders for each type of asset. Avoid leaving files loose in the root of the project. Instead, organize everything into folders like Blueprints, Materials, Textures, Meshes, Audio, UI, or Maps. Inside those, you can create subfolders as needed (for example, Blueprints/Characters or Meshes/Static). This will help your project scale without becoming messy.

It’s also important to use prefixes in your asset names. This lets you quickly identify the type of file without needing to open it. For example, you can use BP_Player for a character Blueprint, M_Wood for a material, and so on.

If you download assets from the Marketplace, keep them separate from the content you create yourself. You can place them in a folder named Marketplace or ThirdParty. That way, you don’t mix external content with your own systems or art, and it’ll be easier to remove or replace later if needed.

This should help you keep your folders better organized.

Hope it helps and good luck in your project!! :slight_smile: