Archiwa tagu: Material

Games

Epic MegaJam project – Here We Hose Again

This year’s Epic MegaJam came with the theme “Here We Go Again”, and it immediately sparked (pun intended) an idea for our two-person team. The goal was simple: Instead of going for something narrative-heavy or overly complex, we wanted a tight, replayable loop that captures the feeling of repetition – both exhausting and oddly satisfying. That’s how our little top-down firefighting strategy game was born.

In the game, you lead a small crew of firefighters responding to building fires. Each mission is a bit different, but lasts just a few minutes. You assess the situation, deploy your tools, and try to contain the flames before everything goes down in smoke. Then, as soon as you exhale… the alarm goes off again – “Here we go again”!

During the jam, I also built an interactive fire / burn effect in Unreal Engine specifically for this project. It became the visual heart of the game – a flexible, overlay material system that simulates spreading fire across tiles and dynamically blends between burned and intact materials. Here’s the effect in action:

Czytaj dalej Epic MegaJam project – Here We Hose Again →
Miscellaneous

Procedural Topographic Landscape Material for Unreal Engine 5

I’ve been working on something fun for Unreal Engine: a fully procedural landscape material that automatically updates as you sculpt. Raise a hill, carve a valley, and the shader instantly redraws the surface. It’s like having a 3D topographic map right inside Unreal.

I made a topographic landscape material
byu/m_orzelek inunrealengine

Get the shader: https://www.fab.com/listings/80103474-67d4-420f-86d6-654b90352915

Czytaj dalej Procedural Topographic Landscape Material for Unreal Engine 5 →
Miscellaneous

Stylized Material: Default Lit vs. Unlit

My latest update to the Advanced Stylized Material Pack is finally out. Introducing the new Default Lit version of the shader.

What’s the difference between the Default Lit and the Unlit version?

The key difference between the Default Lit and Unlit versions of the shader comes down to how they handle lighting. The Unlit version ignores all scene lighting, including point and spotlights, and doesn’t react to shadows or reflections—everything is controlled through emissive values, making it ideal for flat-shaded or stylized looks. In contrast, the Default Lit version fully supports dynamic lighting, meaning it interacts with light sources, receives shadows, and allows for normal maps, roughness, and metallic effects, giving it more of a PBR-style shading while still maintaining stylized control. This version provides more flexibility for blending stylized visuals with realistic lighting effects.

Miscellaneous

Distance Fields Ambient Occlusion in Stylized Materials

I’m excited to share a new video showcasing how to utilize Distance Fields AO with my Advanced Stylized Material in Unreal Engine 5. In this video, I explain how the 'fake shadow effect’ is controlled using Primitive Data through an easy-to-use BP widget. This effect is perfect for blending meshes seamlessly or adding extra detail and creative control to your stylized materials!

Miscellaneous

Cel-Shaded / Stylized Material in Unreal Engine

If you follow this blog or my YouTube channel, you probably know that I’m an advocate for all things procedural in Unreal Engine. Whether it’s 3D workflows, in-editor tools, or my favorite—procedural and easily customizable shaders—this approach brings me a lot of joy. Creating content this way allows for greater flexibility and easier testing of new ideas. As a tech artist, I want to explore new techniques and continually grow. The topic of stylized graphics is perfect for this.

Czytaj dalej Cel-Shaded / Stylized Material in Unreal Engine →
Miscellaneous

Background Creator for Unreal Engine

As a 3D Generalist and Technical Artist, I often need to showcase scenes or assets like static meshes, skeletal meshes, and materials in Unreal Engine. My usual workflow involved rendering an object with an alpha mask and then adding a background or other elements to enhance the image. While it might not sound complicated, this process can be quite time-consuming, especially when preparing consistent images for a portfolio. I needed a more efficient, customizable, in-editor solution. So, I created an easy-to-use Blueprint that lets you create fully procedural, layered backgrounds in Unreal Engine using just post-process materials.

Czytaj dalej Background Creator for Unreal Engine →