I thought materials in Unreal Engine were just about colors. I was wrong. They’re more about logic than visuals.

🎮 Learning Game Development – Day 6

This post is part of my daily learning journey in game design and game development.
I’m sharing what I learn each day — the basics, the confusion, and the real progress.

On Day 6, I learned how to create materials in Unreal Engine 5, including a basic Glass Material.

Instead of blindly copying tutorials, I did something different today. I wrote everything down in my diary — step by step — to understand what each node actually does.

That mindset alone changed how I look at materials.

🧱 Creating a Basic Material in UE5

First, I learned the basic material workflow.

What I did:

1. Downloaded textures or created a new material in the Content Browser.
2. Opened the material by double-clicking it.
3. Explored the Details panel to understand material settings.

Then I started working with nodes:

1. Texture Coordinate
2. Scalar Parameter
3. Multiply

By connecting the Texture Coordinate and Scalar Parameter into Multiply,
I learned how to control texture tiling and scale instead of hard-coding values.

After that, I connected textures to:

1. Base Color
2. Normal
3. Roughness
4. Ambient Occlusion

Depending on what the material needed.Later, I used Material Attributes and created a Material Instance, which allowed me to tweak values easily without touching the main material again. That felt powerful.

🪟 Creating a Glass Material

Next, I tried creating a glass material — and this was honestly fun.

Steps I followed:

• Created a new material.
• Changed Blend Mode to Translucent.
• Turned Two-Sided ON.
• Kept Shading Model as Default Lit.

Then:

• Added a Vector Parameter for glass color → connected to Base Color.
• Added a Scalar Parameter → connected to Opacity to control transparency.

By slowly adjusting these values,the material started to look like actual glass — not just a transparent object.

That moment felt really rewarding.

🧠 What I Realized Today

• Materials are not just colors — they’re node-based logic.
• Small parameter changes can make huge visual differences.
• Writing things down while learning improves understanding a lot.

Today wasn’t about perfection. It was about understanding how materials really work.

This is what I learned today.

Slow progress — but I’m building a strong foundation.

If you’re also learning game development, feel free to follow along.

See you on Day 7 🚀