🎯 Today’s Struggle in Game Dev: 3D Modeling & Unreal Engine Complexity

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🎯 Today’s Struggle in Game Dev: 3D Modeling & Unreal Engine Complexity– by Suraj Kagda 


Hey, devs and dreamers,

Today’s blog is a bit different—it's not a success story but a real, raw update about the challenges I’m facing while learning Blender 3D modelling and Unreal Engine 5 together.

🧱 Blender: 3D Modelling Isn’t Easy

I thought creating 3D models would just be about dragging shapes and sculpting things into place. But wow, there’s a lot more to it:

  • Topology is confusing—how many vertices is too many?

  • UV unwrapping feels like solving a Rubik’s Cube

  • Texturing and shading don’t always look the same inside Unreal as they do in Blender

My biggest problem today was creating a basic low-poly building. It looked fine in Blender, but once I imported it into Unreal, the scale was off, the lighting looked weird, and the texture got stretched. Definitely frustrating!


🌀 Unreal Engine 5: So Powerful, So Overwhelming

UE5 is amazing—but it’s also a beast to learn. Here’s what’s been challenging me:

  • The material system is complex (especially connecting normal maps, roughness, and metallic nodes)

  • Lumen lighting is incredible, but it makes scenes heavy and harder to optimise

  • I’m still trying to understand the logic behind level organisation and blueprints

I tried importing an animated Blender object with a rig. Unreal recognised the skeleton—but the animation didn’t play correctly. That alone took over 2 hours to troubleshoot.

🤯 Learning Curve is Real

Combining Blender + Unreal sounds good in theory—but syncing both tools as a solo beginner is like juggling two languages at once:

  • Fixing an issue in one often causes problems in the other

  • Small errors (like not applying transforms in Blender) lead to big problems in Unreal

But here's the truth: I’m not giving up.

🔧 Tomorrow’s Plan

Instead of trying to do everything at once, I’ve decided to:

  1. Focus only on one object and perfect its workflow from Blender to Unreal

  2. Watch tutorials focused on exporting/importing correctly

  3. Practice just UV mapping and light baking

💬 Final Thoughts

Game development isn’t always fun and fireworks—sometimes it’s messy, confusing, and slow. But every struggle teaches me something. If you're facing the same hurdles, remember: it’s okay to get stuck—just don’t stay stuck.

We grow through what we go through.



🙏 Thank You for Reading!

If you’ve made it this far, thank you for taking the time to read my journey. Your support means a lot, and I’m excited to share every step as I grow as a game developer.

🗨️ Drop a comment below if you’re also learning Blender or Unreal, or if you’ve faced similar struggles. I’d love to hear your tips, tools, or even just your story.

Let’s learn and level up together! 🚀

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