Salvations Bastion, the stronghold and main base of the hostile faction in my DnD game, a group hell bent on killing all Dragons. This project was started to learn the new Mesh Terrain system in Unreal Engine 5.8, and further my hard surface/structural abilities, and PCG knowledge.
I wanted to use the Bastion for this project because it will be a pivotal location in my campaign. I could talk forever about this faction, but I don’t want to accidentally spoil anything for my players. But once this arc is finished, I’ll be updating this page to talk about the Cult of Salvation.
I intend to extend this project to include the whole Bastion, not just the fortress here. The whole complex sits in a huge ravine 10 miles long.
This area is the final confrontation, the fortress of the Cult of Salvation, and so I wanted it to be imposing at a distance, massive and foreboding.
The fortress is at the end of a 10 mile long ravine, with sheer cliff on either side, and mountains beyond them, a repurposed stronghold, claimed by the Cult and hidden away with magic.
The intention here is once my player’s get close enough, there are multiple possible ways in, whether that means scaling the cliffs and approaching from above, entering through the many winding tunnels in the cliffs, or a full frontal assault. I want to give them as many options, and let them decide what works best for them.
I faced a few set backs, learning the Mesh Terrain system, breaking it, and understanding the materials meaning I had to redo the whole terrain after breaking the original version completely - a huge reminder to use source control even for personal project stuff.
I wanted to make sure I was focusing my attention on areas I’ve not done much of before, so I have used Quixel Megascan assets for the foliage and cliff textures. I have now started replacing those assets with my own, starting with the trees. Using the procedural vegetation workflow inside of Unreal.
I wanted to practice my Substance Painter and Designer knowledge and skills as well with this project, it’s not something I was able to use much in my previous role, so refamiliarising myself with the software and skills
During Brighton Develop I received some great critiques, something I’ve really been missing recently, I’ve began putting into action the advise I got about the project, starting with the composition, moving the left building to be sat at an angle, break up the repeated horizontal lines a bit more.
The main overhaul has been how the pieces are made. I wasn't happy with how I had it before, multiple BPs for really simple changes like, a wall being 1 mid section taller. So I rebuilt it all from the ground up. Now all the walls for the Stronghold are using one BP, with a Enum switch for each type, with full customisation for how tall I need a certain wall to be.
I've done the same with the roofs, now all the roofs are built off the same Master BP, with customisation for how tall the roof is and how wide it is.
Here is my overhead concept for the whole bastion, the focus of the project to start with is the fortress stronghold itself. However once the project’s modular kit is finished and ready to be used, I will expand it out; to start with up to the bone wall, and then further and further out.