I Forgot One Step and Nothing Worked

I added textures. I created layers. But nothing showed up when I tried to paint.

This post is part of my daily learning journey in game development.

I’m sharing what I learn each day — the basics, the confusion, and the real progress — from the perspective of a beginner.

On Day 54 of my game development journey, I learned how Landscape painting works in Unreal Engine — and why setup matters more than I thought.

What I tried / learned today

I created a new Material in the Content Browser and added three different texture layers inside it.

Using the Landscape Layer Blend node, I connected each texture to its own layer input. Everything looked correct inside the Material Editor. Then I switched to Landscape Paint mode… and nothing happened.

After troubleshooting, I realized something simple but critical:

The material must be assigned to the Landscape Actor first.

I went to:

Landscape Actor → Details Panel → Material

and assigned my newly created material. Immediately, the layers appeared in Paint mode.

Then I created Layer Info assets for each layer. These Layer Info assets store the weight data for painting.

After that, painting finally worked.

What confused me

I was confused because:

• The Paint tool wasn’t showing any layers
• Textures were not appearing on the landscape
• I forgot to assign the material to the Landscape Actor
• I didn’t understand why Layer Info assets were required

Everything felt broken, but it was just one missing setup step.

What worked or finally clicked

The big realization was:

Landscape painting depends completely on correct setup order.

The proper workflow is:

1. Create the material
2. Assign the material to the Landscape Actor
3. Create Layer Info assets
4. Then start painting

Without assigning the material first, the Paint tool has nothing to work with.

An interesting fact I learned:

Each Layer Info asset actually stores painting data separately, which means you can swap materials later and still keep your painted information — if the layer names match.

That made the system feel more powerful and less confusing.

One lesson for beginners

• Always assign the material to the Landscape Actor first
• Create Layer Info after assigning the material
• Use Landscape Layer Blend correctly
• Keep layer names consistent
• Practice regularly to remember the workflow

Small setup mistakes can stop everything — but fixing them builds confidence.

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

If you’re also learning game development,

what was the first thing that confused you when you started?

See you in the next post 🎮🚀