Terrain selector, import, and initial layout

Representation selector

Requirement	Default representation
Broad continuous ground, hills, valleys	Landscape
Cave, arch, overhang, vertical cut	Static/Nanite mesh integrated with Landscape
Small isolated terrain prop	Static mesh
Road that raises/lowers and paints terrain	Landscape Spline on a Spline Edit Layer
Local procedural height/weight stamp	Landscape Patch on a Patch Edit Layer
Runtime deformable arbitrary surface	A dedicated runtime deformation/mesh solution; Landscape authoring is not the default

Prototype the transition between Landscape and meshes. Hide seams through placement, material/RVT blending, decals, rocks, or vegetation; do not rely on a single shading trick.

Before creation/import

Record:

• playable XY extent and non-playable vista extent;
• minimum and maximum elevation, including depth below datum;
• desired XY vertex spacing and smallest shape the heightfield must express;
• valid heightmap resolution and component topology;
• World Partition use and tiled-import convention;
• coordinate origin, tile naming/order, Y-axis orientation, units, and Z-scale formula;
• source heightmap version and checksum/path for reproducibility.

Supported heightmap paths

UE 5.8 supports 16-bit grayscale PNG, 8-bit .r8, 16-bit .r16, and RAW with a JSON sidecar. Prefer 16-bit source data for smooth elevation precision. Target-layer weightmaps are normally single-channel 8-bit data.

For a new Landscape:

1. Enter Landscape mode (Shift+2).
2. Choose Import from File or Create New.
3. Enable Edit Layers.
4. Select the material only if its Target Layer contract is already known.
5. For World Partition tiled import, set and record partition grid/region settings and accept the tiled path prompt.
6. Confirm heightmap resolution, component topology, XY scale, Z scale, and Flip Y Axis before import.
7. Import, then immediately verify seams, orientation, elevation extrema, and world size.

Z-scale calculation

Epic documents:

Z scale = elevation range in meters × 100 × 0.001953125

The source range must include the full desired vertical span, not merely the height above sea level. Document where the source zero/datum maps into the UE height range.

Existing Landscape import modes

• Original: original resolution at gizmo location.
• Expand: expand data to fit.
• Resample: resample to the existing Landscape.
• Subregion: import without resolution checks; used for World Partition subregions.

Resampling changes data. Keep the source and export a verification copy after the operation.

Acceptance

• no tile rotation/flip/seam mismatch;
• known world points match source coordinates and elevations;
• slopes and plateaus support intended movement/camera;
• a round-trip export records the blended result or selected Edit Layer intentionally;
• the import can be repeated from a clean checkout with the same result.