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landscape-auto-material

Creates production landscape materials in Unreal Engine using master materials, material functions, instances, and Runtime Virtual Textures.

648|142|Updated Sep 12, 2025
Search Tags:#Biome#unreal engine#landscape material#material instance#runtime virtual texture#auto layer#material function
One-click install
npx skills add https://github.com/kevinpbuckley/VibeUE --skill landscape-auto-material
Or copy as Structured Prompt for Agent▼
Please help me install this Agent Skill.
Skill: landscape-auto-material
Source: https://github.com/kevinpbuckley/VibeUE/tree/main/Content/Skills/landscape-auto-material
Command: npx skills add https://github.com/kevinpbuckley/VibeUE --skill landscape-auto-material

SYSTEM DOCUMENTATION & REQUIREMENTS

💡 This Skill includes references (resource) components.

What problem does it solve?

Building production-quality Unreal Engine landscape materials by hand means wiring dozens of expressions, duplicating logic across biomes, and manually configuring slope/altitude blending and Runtime Virtual Textures. This Skill codifies the master-material + material-function + material-instance paradigm so an AI agent can construct, inspect, and configure auto-layered landscape materials programmatically.

Core Features & Use Cases

  • Master Material Architecture: Builds a master material with reusable material functions (MF_AutoLayer, MF_Slope_Blend, MF_Altitude_Blend, per-layer samplers, MF_RVT) and 50+ exposed parameters.
  • Automatic Layer Blending: Generates slope, altitude, and distance masks combined multiplicatively so grass, rock, and snow layers blend without manual painting.
  • Biome Material Instances: Creates material instances that override only parameters (textures, thresholds, static switches) via bulk parameter setting, enabling tropical, alpine, and desert variants from one master.
  • Runtime Virtual Texture Setup: Creates RVT assets, volumes, and landscape assignments with correct material types and sizing guidelines.
  • Use Case: Ask the agent to scan a texture directory with FindLandscapeTextures, build an auto-material with grass/rock/snow layers, compile it, then spin up a tropical biome instance with snow disabled.

Quick Start

Ask the agent to create an auto-blending landscape material named M_Terrain_Auto in /Game/Materials with grass, rock, and snow layers discovered from your texture folder, then compile it and assign it to your landscape.

Frequently Asked Questions about landscape-auto-material

High-intent search queries and answers about installing and using this skill.

FAQPage Schema
How do I create an auto-blending landscape material in Unreal Engine?▼

Use LandscapeMaterialService.create_auto_material with layer configs specifying diffuse/normal textures, tiling scale, and roles (base, slope, height). Discover textures first with find_landscape_textures, then compile the material in a separate step since compilation is slow.

How do I blend landscape layers by slope and altitude?▼

Create MF_Slope_Blend and MF_Altitude_Blend material functions that output 0-1 masks from world normal and world position Z. Combine them multiplicatively so base, slope, and height layer weights sum to roughly 1.0 without explicit normalization.

When should I use material instances instead of editing the master material?▼

Use material instances for biome variants where only parameters change, such as textures, slope thresholds, or static switches. The master graph stays untouched, and set_instance_parameters_bulk applies all overrides at once with exact type strings like Scalar, Texture, and StaticSwitch.

Why does my Runtime Virtual Texture show black on the landscape?▼

Black RVT output usually means bUsedWithVirtualTexturing is not set to true on the material, the RVT output node is unconnected, or no RuntimeVirtualTextureVolume actor covers the landscape. Set the property before compiling and create a volume matching the landscape bounds.

Why does my material function call fail right after creating the function?▼

Material functions must be saved with EditorAssetLibrary.save_asset before being referenced by a MaterialExpressionMaterialFunctionCall node. Also set bExposeToLibrary to true if the function should appear in the material editor's function library.

When should I use simple painted layers instead of an auto-material?▼

For simple prototyping with two to five painted layers, use the landscape-materials skill instead. The auto-material approach is intended for production workflows needing master materials, function reuse, RVT, and biome instances.

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