Personal Project: Role-playing Character and Environment.

Sumary

This project was part of my ongoing Unreal Engine learning process, inspired by classic RPG aesthetics and my long-time passion for video games dating back to the late '80s. In this particular case I chose the cover art of Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss by Denis R. Loubet, though not as a direct replica but as a thematic reference for a dark, moody fantasy scene.

The hero character was created using MetaHuman Creator as a base model and then Blender for the armor. A few things I experimented with were UDIMs and virtual textures, skeletal mesh workflows, skleteton sockets, etc. A Niagara beam system was used to simulate the cleric’s light spell.

Cameras were set up with 70mm film back and cinematic lenses (85mm prime, 70–200mm zoom), in one of the shots I tried a dolly-zoom camera movement to add dramatic tension. The scene was lit using a directional moonlight, spell beams light and finally red backlighting to add depth and guide the viewer's attention to the background.

This project helped expand my skills in real-time cinematic storytelling, character design, and lighting in Unreal Engine 5.

Technical Notes

Concept & Pre-production:

The scene depicts a cleric-like hero emerging from one of many tunnels deep within a vast subterranean cavern. The goal was to create a narrative-driven moment using strong lighting, camera composition, and silhouette design. I compiled references from real-world cave systems, ancient stone architecture, and atmospheric lighting scenarios (both natural and practical sources). For the hero character armor, I used as reference a mix of photos from my trip to Toledo, Spain (featuring medieval armor, leather belts, and textiles) along with online sources.

Environment and Lighting:

I started by blocking the cavern layout and setting up key camera angles to establish composition early. Using megascans assets from Epic’s FAB library, I built the primary cave environment in half day by using the Actors Palette tool to rapidly place and organize environment assets efficiently. The scene was lit using three main light sources. Moonlight shafts penetrating the cave roof for natural ambiance. A light emitted from the hero's spell (implemented via Niagara beam systems) as a key light source. And finally a red glow deep in the cavern to suggest danger and guide the viewer’s eye.

Character Workflow:

I used MetaHuman Creator to build the base Cleric character and exported the model and skeleton to Blender to build the armor components on top. I painted a few textures (UDIMs) and bound the armor to the MetaHuman skeleton to bring it back into UE where I did a basic look-dev setup using virtual textures and a mask to keep only the hands visible in the body mesh. Originally intended just as a posed model, I also experimented with adapting the MetaHuman rig to the Third Person mannequin skeleton, allowing for testing basic animations.

This project was an opportunity to combine level and character design with basic cinematography.