Ground cover for Unreal Engine: ferns, grass, reeds

Ground cover for Unreal Engine

Ground cover decides how convincing a forest floor or shoreline looks, and ferns, grass tufts and reeds are usually the first thing a player walks through. These arrive as FBX with LOD0–LOD3 already inside, so Import Mesh LODs brings the whole chain into Unreal Engine 5 in one step; LOD1–LOD3 can also be added later through LOD Import in the Static Mesh Editor. Meshes named UCX_<MeshName> import as convex collision, and every pivot sits at the base, so scattering with Foliage Mode or PCG needs no offset work.

Leaf cards want Blend Mode Masked, Two Sided and the Two Sided Foliage shading model for light through thin blades. Nanite handles masked materials from UE 5.1 on, while classic LODs still cover mobile. Export GLB, OBJ or FBX; each new seed gives a fresh variation.

Using it in Unreal Engine

Unreal Engine 5 imports FBX, OBJ and glTF/GLB (through the Interchange framework).

LODs: enable Import Mesh LODs for an FBX that contains LOD meshes, or add LOD1–LOD3 later in the Static Mesh Editor via LOD Import.
Custom collision: FBX meshes named UCX_<MeshName> are imported as convex collision.
Leaf materials: Blend Mode Masked, Two Sided, and the Two Sided Foliage shading model for light passing through leaves.
Place trees with Foliage Mode or the PCG framework; foliage is rendered as instanced static meshes.
Nanite supports masked materials since UE 5.1. Keep the classic LODs for mobile and other non-Nanite targets.

Ground cover for Unreal Engine

Using it in Unreal Engine

Models

Fern

Grass Tuft

Reed

Other categories

Same in other styles

Same for other engines