Unreal Engine: Running the Build Process and Playing the Level

Now that you’ve spent a lot of time with the Unreal Engine and our newly created level, you should be able to notice that the light leaks under the wall. Plus there are “Preview” labels everywhere. This is because the lights in the scene are static and have not been calculated yet. The “Preview” labels remind you that what you’re seeing in the viewport will not be in the game. So today we’ll be going over the Build process so you can Play the level.

Go to the main toolbar
Click the drop down arrow next to the Build option
Under Lighting Quality, select the Production setting
Wait for the Build to complete (you may need to click on the Build option)

The Production quality is the highest quality lighting setting however, it has the slowest completion time. Since the level is small we shouldn’t be impacted much but for larger levels you’ll want to put it on a mid-low setting while working on the project. Then you’d switch to Production quality during the final stages of development.

You can see above that the process appears in the bottom right corner of the Unreal Engine UI. Once the Build process has completed, you’ll be able to see a lighting more like the final result.

Playing the Level

Return to the Main Toolbar and click the Play button. You will appear where you’ve placed your PlayerStart actor and will be able to walk around the small level to check it out. Use WASD to move and Mouse to turn the camera. It’s even possible to fly around the level.

Congratulations! You’ve now built a level, ran the Build process and got to Play it. Not bad for a few weeks work. We suggest playing with it further by adding new wings to the house to increase its size and add more props to it. Remember to check back through these articles if you get confused.

This week we’ll be starting more detailed tutorials to help you as you improve upon your new found skills.

This post was provided by Clare from Lunawolf Gaming