Unreal Engine: Editing Placed Actors in the Level

Last time we placed a bunch of actors into the level. Today we’ll be covering how to edit these actors and apply Materials to them to change how they look. Right now the level is pretty bland but by the end of this tutorial, your level should look a lot better.

Adding Atmosphere Sun Light

This will change the sky colour in accordance to how you rotate the Directional Light Actor. So you can essentially make it night, sunrise, day and even sunset. This is done by rotating the Directional Light Actor (Press E to open the Rotation Mode).

1. Select the Directional Light Actor in the Viewport (if you don’t know how to do this then left click on the actor)
2. Go to the Details Panel
3. Open the Light Category and click the little arrow at the bottom
4. Enable Atmosphere Sun Light by ticking the box

Materials

Now we’re going to apply some materials to the Static Mesh Actors you placed last time.

1. Select the actor you want to apply the Material to (in this case, select a wall)
2. Go to the Details panel and find the Materials drop down option
3. Click the drop down menu under the Element 0 option and select the M_Brick_Cut_Stone Material
4. Repeat this process for the other walls in the level

All actors in the level have different properties you can adjust and apply Materials to. Next, we’ll be applying a Materials to the floor to add some more life to the level.

1. Click the floor
2. In the Details panel go to the Surface Materials drop down menu
3. Select the drop down menu next to Element 0 and browse through the options to find something you like

Feel free to explore by adding new actors to the level, changing their properties and applying Materials to them. Perhaps you should add some rocks or plants to the outside of the house? Do whatever you like!

This post was provided by Clare from Lunawolf Gaming