In this first tutorial, you will create a simple level with a flat terrain in Lumberyard. At the beginning of each of the following tutorials, you will have the option to continue using the level you’ve been working on, or start fresh with a level that we created using the instructions up to that point. Each tutorial expects you to have successfully completed all the steps from the previous tutorials, so if you have any difficulty along the way, or wish to use one of our completed levels for any reason, you can locate them in the Levels directory of the WelcomeGuideTutorials project folder. The filename begins with a chapter number, and ends with the word final. And if you do have trouble completing any steps, we ask that you please leave us feedback using the Feedback link on this page, so we can continue to improve these tutorials.
TipIf you like, you can follow this chapter in video (4:53 minutes) form:
Levels
Before you proceed, you should already have completed the following steps:
• Downloaded and unzip the WelcomeGuideTutorials project into your Lumberyard dev folder.
• Set the WelcomeGuideTutorials project as your default project in Project Configurator.
• Configure the project using lmbr_waf configure from the command line in the lumberyard\dev directory.
• Build the project using a build command such as lmbr_waf build_win_x64_vs2019_profile -p game_and_engine from the command line in the lumberyard\dev directory. De-pending on your hardware, the build may take a while to complete.
NoteSee Building Lumberyard projects for information on command line configuration and build.
Alternatively, you can configure and build the project from Project Configurator. See the section called “Project Configurator” (p. 20) for details on using Project Configurator.
When the basic project has been built, you are ready to continue. On to your first level!
1. Open Lumberyard Editor by choosing the Lumberyard Editor icon from your desktop or Start Menu.
2. In the Welcome to Lumberyard dialog box, choose New level….
Levels
Levels
3. In the New Level dialog, give your new level a name. Ensure the base Levels/ directory is specified for the Folder option, and choose OK. This saves the new level in the existing Levels directory.
4. If the Generate Terrain Texture dialog appears, select 2048 x 2048 and choose OK. (If this dialog does not appear, skip to the next step.)
Lumberyard Editor displays your new level in the Perspective pane with a default sky, an infinite ocean, and a flat terrain plane with a default grid texture.
5. This tutorial is written for the default Lumberyard Editor layout, so make sure this is the layout that you’re using. To set the layout, access the menu bar and select View, Layouts, and choose Default Layout.
Levels
6. This tutorial uses NVIDIA PhysX to simulate physics interactions. To enable collision with the terrain, add a PhysX Terrain level component. Choose the Level Inspector tab in the upper right of the editor interface, choose Add Component, and select PhysX Terrain from the list of level components.
Levels
7. The terrain is quite large. You won’t need all this space. You can resize the terrain to make it a bit more manageable. From the Main Menu bar, select Game, Terrain and choose Resize Terrain.
8. Complete the fields in the Resize Terrain dialog. For Heightmap Resolution, select 128 x 128. For Meters Per Texel, select 1 and choose OK.
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9. Because the terrain has been resized, the terrain texture must be regenerated. The Generate Terrain Texture dialog automatically opens after the previous step. Select 2048 x 2048 and choose OK.
10.The resized terrain might have disappeared in the Perspective pane. You can use the camera controls to find the terrain and bring it back into view. You can hold the right mouse button and move the mouse to aim the camera, and use the W, A, S, and D keys to fly forward, left, back and right, respectively. You might want to set the camera speed to 10.0 for this part. You can change the camera speed in the lower right of Perspective, as shown in the following animated GIF. If you’re having trouble moving the camera with the W, A, S, and D keys, try clicking anywhere in the viewport, which will deselect any entity you have selected. For more information, see the the section called
“Lumberyard Editor tour” (p. 32).
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Another method to set your perspective is to focus on a selected entity. Because the
DefaultLevelSetup entity was set up before you resized the terrain, you must move the entity to center it in the new terrain size. Use the following steps to move the entity.
a. In the Entity Outliner on the left of the editor, click the DefaultLevelSetup entity to select it.
b. Choose the Entity Inspector tab on the right of the editor to view the components of the DefaultLevelSetup entity.
c. The DefaultLevelSetup entity contains two components, an Environment Probe, and a Transform.
Every entity has a Transform component that defines the position, rotation and scale of the entity in the level. You can use the Translate property of the Transform component to center the entity on the resized terrain.
The terrain is a 128 x 128 meter plane. The lower left corner of the terrain is positioned at 0.0 in the X and Y axes in world space, 32.0 meters above the infinite ocean surface (Z axis). In the the Transform component, set the Translate X and Y properties to 64.0 (half the size of the terrain), and set the Translate Z property to 32.0. This places the DefaultLevelSetup entity at the center of the terrain.
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Levels
d. With the DefaultLevelSetup entity still selected, press Z to focus the Perspective pane on the DefaultLevelSetup entity and the surrounding terrain. You can also use the camera controls that were explained previously to make fine adjustments to the camera position.
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Entities
11.When you have the perspective view set up to your liking, you can bookmark the location by pressing Control + any Function key. Press Control + F1 to bookmark the view. You can return to the view at any time by pressing Shift + F1.
12.Save the level. Press Control + S or select Save from the File menu.
When you’re ready, try the section called “Entities” (p. 71).