The process is still the same if you want something simple. What you have when you start UE4 is a blueprint. You need to delete that, place the skydome mesh into the level. Then setup your material just like you would in UDK.
I’m coming from UDK3 where I could easily dump in a dome or sphere static mesh and map a material to it. 30 seconds, done. It didn’t have a lot of detail but it was enough to get started on theming a design.
I’m now trying to do the same in UE4 and getting incredibly frustrated. I don’t need dynamic time of day, I don’t need clouds and I don’t need the sun - all which are attached to seemingly every skysphere object in /Engine. I just want a sphere with the face on the inside that I can map a material to. Something I can quickly throw in to help flesh out my greybox, not spend hours intricately designing channel by channel.
Why are all of the included sky materials so complicated and obtuse to use? I realise I need to spend some time understanding material mapping to get it, but I can’t a) change the colour of the background of editor (which is crazy in and of itself) and b) can’t make a simple sphere with a single material within UE4. I’ve tried following a number of tutorials but it seems the crucial step of turning off ‘cast shadows’ is not an editable option when I try to use /engine/skysphere static mesh, which stops me in my tracks.
What was once a 30 second exercise in UDK has taken the better part of an hour of research here and I’m no closer. I’m going to make the sphere in 3DSMax and import it because I don’t see any other way. Yes, I’m very impressed in the depth and showiness of the included skyspheres but can you please look to include a simple and quicker to iterate option in the future?