WEEK 2 – Creating the first environment

Diving into Unreal: Ocean Odyssey

As the second week approaches here’s the latest update on my Artefact project! This week, I took a deep dive into Unreal Engine to create the foundation of my last scene of the artefact: the ocean.

Water Experimental Plugin

I started by trying to understand the Water Experimental plugin. Now, this plugin has some serious potential for creating realistic water effects, but let’s just say it wasn’t exactly user-friendly. Setting it up was really challenging because I’m not an expert on Unreal Engine.
I aimed to craft a realistic environment that felt like a real Ocean beach. But those perfect ocean waves with their foamy crests? Yeah, that turned out to be a major hurdle. The plugin wouldn’t let me add the crucial foam detail (I’m not sure if it was just because I have a Mac or because the plugin was experimental), which is what really makes waves look alive.

Despite the foam fiasco, I did manage to conquer some waves. I got the hang of setting up realistic wave patterns, making the ocean feel dynamic and alive. I even tweaked the water colour to achieve a more believable ocean hue.
I also created a stunning sunset to bathe my scene in a warm glow. It’s starting to come together, piece by piece!

This week with Unreal Engine has been a mix of victories and challenges. While the experimental plugin threw me a few curveballs, I learned a ton about working with water effects in the engine.