Build Your Own Mountain with Landscape Sculpt Mode

Welcome, future game designer! Today, we are going to shape the earth itself.

You will learn how to make mountains, hills, and valleys. You will use a special tool called Sculpt Mode. This is like being a digital sculptor with clay.

By the end, you will have a custom terrain for your Fortnite island. Let's get started!

What You'll Learn

• What Landscape Mode is.
• How to use the Sculpt Tool to raise and lower ground.
• How to change the Brush Size for big or small changes.
• How to flatten areas for building bases.

How It Works

Imagine you have a giant ball of play-dough. You can squish it, roll it, and poke it.

Landscape Mode in UEFN is just like that ball of dough. It is a special workspace for building your island's ground.

The Heightmap

Think of the ground as a grid of invisible points. Each point has a height.

• High points make mountains.
• Low points make valleys.

When you use the Sculpt Tool, you are moving these points up or down.

The Brush

You do not move points one by one. That would take forever! Instead, you use a Brush. Think of it like a paintbrush.

• A big brush moves a large area at once.
• A small brush lets you make tiny, detailed changes.

You can push the ground up to make hills. You can pull it down to make craters. You can smooth it out to make flat land. It is all about practice!

Let's Build It

We will create a simple mountain. This is the first step to making your own world.

Step 1: Enter Landscape Mode

1. Open your Fortnite Island in UEFN.
2. Look at the top toolbar. Find the button that says Landscape Mode.
3. Click it. Your view will change. You will see the ground as a grid.

Step 2: Create Your Landscape

If you do not have a landscape yet, click Create Landscape. Choose a size. A medium size is good for beginners. Now, you are ready to sculpt!

Step 3: Use the Sculpt Tool

The Sculpt Tool is usually selected by default. If not, click it. It looks like a hand pushing up.

The Code Concept: In programming, we often use Variables. A variable is a box that holds a value that can change. Here, your Brush Size is a variable.

• When you change the slider, you change the value.
• This changes how the tool works in real-time.

Step 4: Raise the Ground

1. Hold down the Left Mouse Button.
2. Move your mouse over the ground.
3. Watch the ground rise! You are creating a hill.

Try making a big hill in the center of your map.

Step 5: Change the Brush Size

Look at the tool settings panel on the right. Find Brush Size.

• Make the number smaller. Try 10.
• Paint again. See how the changes are smaller and more detailed?
• Make the number bigger. Try 100.
• Paint again. See how you shape the land faster?

This is like choosing between a fine-tip pen and a marker.

Step 6: Flatten the Top

Mountains are hard to build on. Let's make a flat top.

1. Find the Flatten Tool. It looks like a flat plane.
2. Click and drag over the top of your hill.
3. The ground will become perfectly flat.

Now you have a plateau! You can build a base here.

# This is a simple Verse example to show how variables and functions work.
# It uses a trigger device to print sculpt settings when the game starts.
# Landscape sculpting itself is done in the UEFN editor, not through Verse code.

using { /Fortnite.com/Devices }
using { /Verse.org/Simulation }
using { /UnrealEngine.com/Temporary/Diagnostics }

sculpt_logger := class(creative_device):

    # 1. Define the Brush Size — this is a Variable.
    # A variable is like a container for a number.
    var BrushSize : int = 50

    # 2. Define the Height Change — another Variable.
    # This controls how far up or down the terrain moves.
    var HeightChange : float = 10.0

    # 3. This function runs automatically when the game starts.
    OnBegin<override>()<suspends> : void =

        # 4. Print the current brush size so we can see the variable's value.
        Print("Brush Size is set to: {BrushSize}")

        # 5. Change the brush size variable — just like moving the slider in the editor.
        set BrushSize = 10
        Print("Brush Size changed to: {BrushSize}")

        # 6. Print the height change value — this represents raising the ground.
        Print("Height Change is: {HeightChange}")

        # 7. Update the height change to lower the ground (negative = dig down).
        set HeightChange = -5.0
        Print("Height Change updated to: {HeightChange}")

Walkthrough:

• var BrushSize is our variable. It stores the number 50.
• OnBegin is our function. It runs automatically when the game starts.
• When we call set BrushSize = 10, we update the variable — just like moving the Brush Size slider in the editor.

Try It Yourself

Can you make a volcano?

Challenge:

1. Create a tall, steep mountain.
2. Use the Flatten Tool to make a small crater at the top.
3. Use the Erosion Tool (if available) to make it look rocky.

Hint: Use a small brush for the crater edges. Use a large brush for the mountain slope. Take your time!

Recap

You did it! You shaped the earth.

• Landscape Mode is your workspace for terrain.
• The Sculpt Tool raises and lowers the ground.
• Brush Size controls how big your changes are.
• The Flatten Tool makes smooth, flat surfaces.

Keep practicing. Your islands will look amazing!

References

• https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/en-us/uefn/UE/building-virtual-worlds/landscape-outdoor-terrain/editing-landscapes/landscape-sculpt-mode
• https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/en-us/uefn/landscape-mode-in-unreal-editor-for-fortnite
• https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/en-us/uefn/UE/ue-reference-environments-and-landscapes-in-unreal-editor-for-fortnite
• https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/en-us/fortnite/landscape-mode-in-unreal-editor-for-fortnite
• https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/en-us/uefn/sculpting-the-terrain-in-unreal-editor-for-fortnite