Building the Virtual Scene in Unreal Engine

Our immersive experience, 1666: The Burning City, leverages Unreal Engine to bring the recreation of 17th-century London and modern-day scenes together into a compelling VR journey. This section highlights the workflow and development progress of building the virtual environments inside Unreal Engine.

The project starts with a carefully designed start screen, featuring an intuitive interface including a start button and controller mapping guide. This helps first-time users quickly understand navigation within the VR experience.

Next, the team worked extensively on the modern London 180° video section, shot on location to provide historical context alongside contemporary visuals. The video is seamlessly integrated into the Unreal Engine environment, allowing users to transition smoothly from present day to the immersive past.

The core of the experience lies in the virtual recreation of Pudding Lane, the historic site where the Great Fire began. This virtual environment is meticulously crafted from detailed 3D models, textures, and atmospheric lighting to evoke the gritty, crowded streets of 1666 London. The development involves:

• Layout and Geometry: Using blocking volumes and mesh placements, the narrow streets and buildings are modeled with historical accuracy.
• Texturing and Materials: Realistic wood, stone, and plaster textures add authenticity and depth to the scene.
• Lighting and Atmosphere: Dynamic lighting simulates time of day and fire glow, transitioning between the calm “before fire” and chaotic “during fire” scenarios.
• Interactive Pathways: Navigation paths guide the user through the scene, carefully balancing freedom with narrative flow.

The experience culminates with a final 180° video sequence showing the consequences of the great fire, providing a powerful and reflective end to the journey.

Throughout development, the Unreal Editor interface (as shown in the images) displays our progress — from initial scene layouts and blocking to final lighting and interactive elements. We carefully optimize performance while maintaining visual fidelity to ensure a smooth and immersive VR experience.

This layered approach, combining stereoscopic 180° video and fully interactive VR environments, offers users a unique cross-platform storytelling experience, blending education and immersion to bring history vividly to life.

The Video is available on YouTube