World Building
HELIX gives you powerful tools to craft immersive open worlds. Between HELIX Studio (a customized Unreal Editor), the in-game Build Mode, UE5's rendering tech, and the dynamic weather system, you can create environments that look stunning and feel alive.
HELIX Studio
HELIX Studio is a customized version of Unreal Editor purpose-built for creating HELIX Worlds and Packages. It is the primary tool for world creation, giving you full access to UE5's level editing, Blueprint scripting, and asset pipelines.
Key capabilities of HELIX Studio:
- Full Unreal Editor -- sculpt terrain, place actors, build levels, and design gameplay using the complete UE5 toolset.
- Package management -- create and manage Map, Vehicle, Wearable, and Addon packages directly in the editor.
- Vault integration -- add dependencies from the Vault and reference assets from other packages.
- Play in Editor (PIE) -- test your world locally, including client-server net modes with emulated latency.
- One-click publishing -- publish Worlds and Packages to the Vault or export PAK files for local testing.
You get HELIX Studio through the HELIX Launcher, and every project represents a HELIX World that can reference packages as dependencies.
Build Mode
Build Mode is HELIX's in-game runtime editor for placing and arranging objects in real time. It is available in single-player worlds and is useful for creating Dynamic Maps by dragging and dropping assets from packages.
Key features of Build Mode:
- Drag-and-drop placement from mounted package assets
- Dynamic Maps built from primitives and assets at runtime
- Level instances for embedding native UE levels into dynamic maps
- Player Start placement for defining spawn points
Build Mode is complementary to HELIX Studio. Use HELIX Studio for full-featured level design and Build Mode for rapid in-game iteration on dynamic maps.
Nanite & Lumen
HELIX runs on UE5, which means you get access to Nanite and Lumen out of the box.
Nanite is UE5's virtualized geometry system. It lets you use film-quality meshes with millions of polygons without worrying about manual LOD (level of detail) setup. Import detailed props and terrain — Nanite handles the performance optimization automatically.
Lumen is the global illumination and reflection system. It provides fully dynamic lighting with realistic bounce light, soft shadows, and accurate reflections. Change the time of day or move a light source, and the entire scene updates in real time. No baking required.
Terrain
The terrain system supports large-scale landscapes with multiple material layers (grass, dirt, rock, snow). You can sculpt elevation, paint surfaces, and place foliage directly in Build Mode or through the editor.
Weather System
HELIX includes a dynamic weather system controlled through the WeatherType enum. You can switch between weather states or blend them over time for smooth transitions.
Available weather types include:
| WeatherType | Description |
|---|---|
WeatherType.ClearSkies | No clouds or weather effects |
WeatherType.PartlyCloudy | Scattered clouds with sunlight |
WeatherType.Cloudy | Overcast sky, no rain |
WeatherType.Overcast | Dense cloud cover, darker lighting |
WeatherType.Foggy | Low visibility due to fog |
WeatherType.RainLight | Light rain effect |
WeatherType.Rain | Steady moderate rainfall |
WeatherType.RainThunderstorm | Heavy rain with thunder and lightning |
WeatherType.SnowLight | Light snowfall |
WeatherType.Snow | Normal snow accumulation |
WeatherType.SnowBlizzard | Strong snowstorm with wind |
WeatherType.SandDustCalm | Light sand/dust in the air |
WeatherType.SandDustStorm | Heavy dust storm conditions |
Weather is controlled through the Sky class, which wraps UE5's Ultra Dynamic Sky and Ultra Dynamic Weather systems. You can change weather with transitions and combine it with the audio system for matching ambient sounds.
Use Lumen's dynamic lighting alongside the weather system for dramatic effect. A thunderstorm with lightning flashes casting real-time shadows looks incredible with zero extra setup.