UT3 Tutorial Index

This page is an outline-form guide with links to tutorials on external sites. The outline is arranged in an order best suited to helping beginning mappers grow to an advanced level. If you simply want an answer to a problem or a tutorial on a specific element, use the Sections area to find the appropriate topic or look at the Sources of Assistance section at the end of this page. If you have a comment or question, or if you spot a broken link, please contact me and I will respond ASAP.

Readme | Sections | Outline

Last Updated October 15 2008. Thanks to Latent Image for helping to keep this guide up-to-date.

Readme

Just because you don't see links next to every item doesn't mean this outline is fake. I wrote the outline independently, before I started looking for tutorials, and not every item has a tutorial that's been written for it. If it doesn't, check the item one level up on the outline; often topics will have a single tutorial associated with every sub-topic, and in that case the tutorial only shows up for the main topic. Also, links appear next to the topics and are labeled with their authors' names.

Sections

Introduction to Mapping: Theory, Technique, Time, Tips
The Basics
Lighting
Effects
Movement with Movers
Terrain
Item Placement and Advanced Bot Navigation
Kismet
Materials
Advanced Techniques
Beyond UnrealEd: External Content, UnrealScript, and Modding
Help and Resources

Outline

1.      Introduction to Mapping: Theory, Technique, Time, Tips
        a.    Workflow (Alex Galuzin - Level Design Workflow)
            i.      Planning your next map (Alex Galuzin)

2.      The Basics
        a.     The World
                i.       Navigation (Waylon)
                ii.      Interface and The Browser (Waylon)
                iii.     Subtractive vs. Additive, or the Cheese Theory of the Void
                iv.     Unreal World
                        1.      Unreal Unit Measurements
                        2.      Player speed, dodge distance, jump height, etc.
                        3.      Average door sizes, room heights, etc.
               v.      Grouping (Kantham)
        b.     The First Level (GasDuck)
                i.     Subtractive (Kantham - why not to use the subtractive method)
                        1.      Setup
                        2.      Brush (CSG/BSP) Theory + Brush Types
                        3.      Subtracting brushes
                        4.      Adding Brushes
                        5.      Moving and Rotating
                        6.      Add a light
                ii.     Additive (Waylon)
                        1.      Setup + Add a Platform/Room
                        2.      Actors
                        3.      Navigationpoint Basics + Add a Playerstart + In-game Test
                        4.      Complete NavigationPoints
                        5.      Texturing and Testing (Waylon)
        c.     Static Meshes (Static Mesh Catalog)
                i.     Basics
                ii.     Sky
                        1.      Sky considerations and theory (Waylon)
                        2.      Making Skydome Textures (output.co.uk)
                        2.      In Additive Maps (GasDuck)
                        3.      In Subtractive Maps
        d.     Saving, Rebuilding, Cooking
                i.     Naming Protocol
                ii.     Rebuilding
                iii.     Cooking

3.        Lighting (Waylon)
        a.     Simple Lighting
                i.     Colors and Saturation
                ii.     Other Properties
        b.     Area Lighting
        c.     Ambient Lighting
        d.     Other types of lighting
                i.     Lightfunctions (roughly replace UE2 projectors and dynamic lights) (Hourences)
                ii.    Lighting and Kismet (AVLD)
        e.     Technical: Lightmaps (Waylon)
        f.      Theory (Hourences)

4.      Effects
        a.     Particle Systems (Emitters) (Hourences - basics)
                i.     Uses + implementation (AVLD)
                ii.     Properties
                iii.    Chains (Example: Fireworks)
                iv.    Cookbook
                v.     Advanced Beam Emitters (Cyberiusx - PDF + Textures [.zip])
        b.     Volumes
                i.     Types + uses
                        1.     Water/liquid (Hourences)
                        2.     Fog (Waylon)
                        3.     Foliage (Hourences)
                        4.     Kismet (AVLD)
        c.     Fog (Hourences)
                ii.     Properties

5.      Movement with Movers (Hourences)
        a.     Basics
                i.       Intro to Movers (AVLD)
                ii.     Elevators/Lifts
                        1.     Touch (AVLD)
                        2.     Button (AVLD)
                iii.     Doors
                        1.     Proximity (AVLD)
                        2.     Button (AVLD)
                        3.     Damage (AVLD)
                        4.     Other (AVLD)
                iv.     Triggering (AVLD)
                v.      Attaching (AVLD)
        b.     Multi-step (AVLD)
        c.     Attaching
                i.      Elevators with Doors
                ii.     Moving Emitters and Volumes
                iii.    Advanced Attaching with Kismet
        d.     Other Properties

6.      Terrain (Hourences) (GasDuck)
        a.     Setup + Considerations + usage
        b.     Heightmaps and topography + theory
        c.     (Texture) Layers
        d.     Decolayers (Hourences)
        e.     Inversion

7.      Item Placement and Advanced Bot Navigation
        a.     Item Placement + Theory (IceCreamYou)
        b.     Doors
        c.     Complex Jumps
        d.     Teleporters (AVLD)

8.      Kismet - complex event sequences
        a.     Intro (AVLD)
        b.     Actions (AVLD) (GasDuck – toggling lights) - note: the individual AVLD tutorials below are just the most important ones
                (there are more of them accessible by clicking the link next to Actions)
                i.     Spawning Actors (AVLD)
                ii.    Toggling Lights (GasDuck)
                iii.   Delay (AVLD)
                iv.   Timer (AVLD)
                v.    PlaySound (AVLD)
        c.     Variables (AVLD)
        d.     Conditions (AVLD)
        e.     Events (AVLD)
        f.     Applying Kismet (AVLD)

9.      Materials
        a.      Basics (Hourences, Part 1) (GasDuck) (Waylon)
        b.     Advanced (Hourences, Part 2) (Hourences, Part 3) (Waylon) (Hourences, Photoshop tricks)
        c.      Terms/Expressions (Hourences)
        d.     Application (Hourences)
                i.     Outdoor water (Hourences)
                ii.     Indoor water (Hourences)

10.      Advanced Techniques
        a.     Rain and Weather
        b.     Optimization (BBurkart)(evilmrfrank)
        c.     Complex Geometry Editing (Hazel.H)
        d.     Other content types
                i.     Sounds (Hourences)
                ii.     Meshes
                iii.     Music (Zynthetic's Music Tutorial)
        e.     NPCs
        f.     Matinee
        g.     Other Properties: surface, level, actor
        h.     Simulating Video Feeds/Viewing another part of the map + reflections and mirrors (Hourences)
        i.     Coronas
        j.     More with Triggers
               i.     Multiple triggers for one event
               ii.    Triggering materials (Hourences)
               iii.    Advanced Trigger Systems
                        1.     Touch (AVLD)
                        2.     Used (AVLD)
                        3.     Destroyed (AVLD)
                        4.     Touch (AVLD)
        k.    Exploding/Breaking Objects (AVLD) (using Prefabs - AVLD)
        l.     Vehicles + gameplay theory
        m.   Physics (Hourences)
        n.    Streaming (Hourences) (AVLD: Part 1 | Part 2 - single level OR Part 2 - multi level | Part 3)
        o.    Randomization using Kismet (AVLD)
        p.    Adding turrets (Kantham)
        q.    Decals (Hourences)

11.     Beyond UnrealEd
        a.     Packages: Dealing with Assets (Waylon)
        b.     2D Content (Textures)
                i.     Program Analysis
                        1.     GIMP (IceCreamYou)
                        2.     Photoshop
                                - (Advanced) (Hard Surface Texture Painting)
                                - (Advanced) (From Photo to Seamless Texture)
                                - (Beginner) Texture Creation
                                - (Gun Specific) Skinning Tuts
                ii.     Importing (Waylon)
        c.     3D Content (Meshes)
                i.     Program Analysis
                        1.    Blender (IronMonkey, hosted by IceCreamYou) (Katsbits)
                ii.     Importing: Basics (Hourences) (Jesse Moody) (GasDuck) (SolidSnake – SkeletalMeshes) (Waylon)
                iii.     Importing/Preparing: Advanced (Hourences) (theabyss)
                iv.     Lightmapping (Hourences)
                v.      Custom Characters (Geodav Part 1) (2) (3) (4) (Shakeno's quick work around) (Carl Callewaert) (Camink)
                vi..    Custom Weapons (Geodav Part 1) (Part2) (Part 3) (Part 4)
                vii.    Custom Vehicles (Geodav Part 1) (Part2) (Part 3)
        d.     UnrealScript and Modding Resources
                i.     Getting Started/Planning (UDN)
                ii.     Mod Construction
                        1.     Overview (UDN)
                        2.     Guides (Ambershee)
                        3.     Compiling (Mysterial)
                iii.    UnrealScript (UDN) (CodeKisk)

12.      Help and Resources
        a.     Multiplayer Design Considerations (IceCreamYou) (Hourences) (Waylon)
                i.     Theme
                ii.     Flow
        b.     Mapping for a Gametype
                i.     Death Match/TDM/Duel
                ii.     Capture The Flag (Waylon)
                iii.    Vehicle Capture The Flag (Waylon)
                iv.    Warfare (Kantham)
                v.     Notes about Kismet and network considerations (AVLD)
        c.     Completing and Publishing a Map (Preparing to release - Epic Forums) (Preparing to release - Hourences) (
                Checklist - Waylon)
                i.      When Are You Done?
                ii.     Taking Screenshots
                iii.    Polishing: Console Commands to use in playtesting (Waylon)
                iv.    Publicization ({RA}SKYFURNACE) (Waylon)
        d.     What to do if you’re stuck or “it’s not working”
                i.     Theme Ideas (UnrealWiki)
                ii.     Getting an idea
                iii.     Photo inspiration (BeyondUnreal)
        e.     Sources of Assistance
                i.     Tutorials
                        1.      Unreal Developer Network - the best place to find complete guides on nearly all UEd topics
                        2.      Hourences' Tutorials - lots of UE3 tutorials, plus some for other engines
                        3.      ArcadiaVincennes (AVLD) Kismet Tutorials - intro, actions, conditions, variables, events
                        4.      SolidSnake's Kismet Tutorials - custom controllers, WOTGreal, skeletal meshes and animation,
                                 UIScenes, Pawns
                        5.      GasDuck's Tutorials - for GoW (similar to UT3); basics, materials, static meshes, sky, terrain, kismet,
                                 gameplay
                        6.      Ambershee's UT3 Modding Tutorials - making mutators
                        7.      Kantham's UT3 Tutorials - Warfare (WAR) tutorials and related tutorials
                        8.      UnrealWiki - recently redesigned; either useful but disorganized and technical or
                                 (as part of the redesign)
                                 in-progress
                        9.      UT3 CE Video Tutorials - the video tutorial content that comes with the CE version of the game,
                                 now available for
                                 free from the source (3DBuzz). Click "Unreal Tech" on the left to choose a category to view.
                       10.     Geodav UT3 Custom Content Tutorials
                       11.     {RA}SKYFURNACE Mapping for Dummies Part 1 | Part 2 - excellent FAQs
                       12.     Waylon: Learning UE3 Tutorials - Excellent resource for beginners.
                       13.     Game Trailers: Video Tutorials
                       14.     Virgo47: UT3 Level Design: Getting Started - an excellent UT3 mapping resource
                       15.     Mod Authoring for the PlayStation 3 Console
                       16. Gears of War and UT3 Editor Video Tutorials
                       17. Roboblitz Wiki
                       18.     UT3 Editor Video Tutorials: Advanced (Triggz)
                ii.     Forums
                        1.      BuF (BeyondUnreal Forums) (BeyondUnreal Mapping Forum)
                        2.      Epic’s UT3 Mapping Forum
                        3.      UnrealPlayground
                        4.      3DBuzz
                        5.      GameMode
                iii.     Map Uploads/Downloads/Reviews
                        1.      UTUnlimited (map reviews, downloads, user ratings)
                        2.      Insite (map reviews, downloads, user ratings - map Queue shut down as of the 11th Aug 08)
                        3.      NaliCity (shut down-awaiting complete rebuild)
                        4.      Mapraider (map downloads, user reviews)
                        5.      UnrealPlayground [uploads] [downloads] (map downloads, user ratings)
        f.     FAQ (Hourences) ({RA}SKYFURNACE [Part 2]) (Getting rid of the /MyDocuments setup) ((¯°·«èXó»·°¯))
        g.     Errors and Bugs (Waylon)
        h.     Searching for Answers Online (IRC Help: '#unrealed' on 'irc.enterthegame.com')
        i.      External Programs
                i. GIMP
                ii. Blender