🏝️ Build Your Own Seaside Resort: The Ultimate UEFN Guide

So, you’ve survived the drop, looted the bus, and now you’re ready to build something that doesn’t look like a concrete bunker with a door. Enter the Seaside Galleries. These aren’t just pretty pictures; they’re your ticket to creating coastal chaos, tropical traps, or that one island everyone screenshots for their profile.

In this tutorial, we’re going to move beyond basic walls and floors. We’re diving into Galleries—pre-made collections of props and structures designed to give your island a specific "vibe" (in this case, oceanfront luxury). By the end, you’ll have a fully themed seaside zone ready for players to explore, loot, or just stand in while you plot your next trap.

What You'll Learn

• What Galleries Are: Think of them as "Loot Piles" of architecture. You get a curated set of pieces that match a theme.
• How to Navigate the Asset Browser: Finding the right props without wasting hours clicking through menus.
• The "Seaside" Theme: Understanding what pieces are available (Coral Castles, beach props, etc.) and how they fit together.
• Scene Graph Basics: How these pieces exist in your world as individual objects you can move, rotate, and scale.

How It Works

Galleries vs. Prefabs: What’s the Difference?

Before we start building, let’s clear up a common point of confusion. In UEFN, you’ll see two main ways to use pre-made art: Prefabs and Galleries.

• Prefabs are like buying a fully assembled piece of furniture. You drag it in, and it’s one big chunk. You can’t easily change the color of just the cushion or move just the leg without breaking it apart.
• Galleries are like a box of LEGO bricks that all happen to be blue. You get a collection of individual pieces—walls, floors, props, decorations—that share a visual style. You have total control over where each piece goes.

For building a custom island, Galleries are usually better because they give you the flexibility to design your own layout using high-quality, themed assets.

The Seaside Theme

The Seaside category is your go-to for anything coastal. If you want to build:

• A tropical resort lobby
• A coral reef cave
• A beachside bar
• A nautical maze

...then you’re in the right place. The assets here focus on oceanic textures, coral structures, driftwood, and marine-inspired props.

The Scene Graph: Your Island’s Hierarchy

When you place a piece from a Gallery into your world, it becomes an Entity in the Scene Graph.

• Entity: Any object in your game world (a player, a wall, a prop, a trigger).
• Scene Graph: The list of every entity in your island, organized like a family tree.

When you drop a Seaside prop, it’s not just "there." It’s an object with properties (position, rotation, scale) that you can tweak. This is how we turn a pile of assets into a structured level.

Let's Build It

We’re going to build a small Seaside Observation Deck. It’s simple, but it uses the core workflow of finding, placing, and arranging Gallery assets.

Step 1: Open the Asset Browser

1. In UEFN, open the Asset Browser (usually on the left side).
2. Click on the Galleries tab.
3. In the search bar, type Seaside.
4. You’ll see categories like Coral Castle, Beach Props, etc. Click on Coral Castle Gallery to see the available pieces.

Step 2: Place Your Foundation

Let’s start with the base. We’ll use a Coral Castle Floor piece.

1. Find a Coral Castle Floor tile in the gallery.
2. Drag and drop it into your 3D viewport.
3. Rotate it if needed (use the Q key or the rotate tool) so it’s aligned with your island’s grid.

Step 3: Add Walls and Railing

Now, let’s make it a deck.

1. Find a Coral Castle Wall piece.
2. Place it next to your floor tile.
3. Find a Coral Castle Railing prop.
4. Place it along the edge of the wall.

Tip: Don’t worry about perfection yet. You can move things around later.

Step 5: Add Atmosphere

A deck isn’t a deck without some ambiance.

1. Find a Beach Chair or Umbrella prop from the Seaside Galleries.
2. Place it on the deck.
3. Add a Lamp Post or Torch for lighting.

Step 6: The Scene Graph Check

Open the Scene Graph panel (usually on the right). You should see a list of the objects you just placed:

• CoralCastle_Floor_01
• CoralCastle_Wall_01
• BeachChair_01

If you click on any of these in the Scene Graph, the corresponding piece in your viewport will highlight. This is how you select objects when they’re buried under others.

Step 7: Test It

Press Play. Walk onto your deck. Does it feel like a seaside spot? If the railing is too low, go back to Edit mode, select the railing, and adjust its height. If the chair is floating, lower it.

Try It Yourself

Challenge: Create a Seaside Trap Room.

1. Use the Coral Castle gallery to build a small enclosed room.
2. Place a Prop Mover or Trigger in the center.
3. Use a Seaside Prop (like a coral spike or a falling rock) to create a hazard.
4. Hint: Look for "Trigger" devices in the Devices menu, not the Galleries. Galleries are for art; Devices are for logic.

Recap

• Galleries are collections of themed assets (like Seaside/Coral Castle) that you place individually for maximum control.
• Seaside assets are perfect for coastal, tropical, or oceanic themes.
• Every piece you place becomes an Entity in the Scene Graph, which you can select, move, and modify.
• Start with a foundation, add walls/railings, then decorate with props to set the mood.

Now go build that beach house. The storm is coming, but at least you’ll have a nice view.

References

• https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/en-us/fortnite/seaside-galleries-in-fortnite-creative
• https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/en-us/fortnite-creative/using-seaside-galleries-in-fortnite-creative
• https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/en-us/fortnite-creative/using-prefabs-and-galleries-in-fortnite-creative
• https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/en-us/fortnite/using-prefabs-and-galleries-in-fortnite-creative
• https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/en-us/fortnite/seaside-prefabs-in-fortnite-creative