Project Setup

Create the Unreal Engine project, the plugin, and the main map

This module covers everything you need to do before writing a single Blueprint node: create the UE project, create the plugin that will hold your visual’s content, add the xRLive SDK to the project, and save the main map in the right place.

The project name, the plugin name, and the map name must all be exactly the same. xRLive uses this name as a unique ID when mounting and loading your visual. Using different names will cause the visual to fail to load.

1. Create the Unreal Engine project

Open the Unreal Project Browser and create a new project with the following settings:

• Template: Blank
• Project Defaults: Blueprint (not C++)
• Target Platform: Desktop
• Quality Preset: Maximum
• Starter Content: off (unchecked)
• Project Name: the name you want for your visual — for this tutorial, MyFirstVisual

Unreal Project Browser — Blank template selected, project named MyFirstVisual

The project must be Blueprint-only. A C++ project cannot produce a valid .xrlive pak — C++ modules and compiled libraries are not included in the package and will cause the visual to fail at runtime.

Click Create. Unreal Engine creates the project and opens the editor with an untitled level and an empty Content folder.

2. Save a map to the root Content folder

The .xrlive packaging pipeline requires at least one map to exist in the project’s root Content folder (not inside the plugin). This map does not need any content — it just needs to be saved there before packaging.

This map is not created automatically by Unreal Engine. You must save it manually. If it is missing when you package the visual, the generated .xrlive file may be empty and fail to load.

Go to File → Save Level As. In the dialog:

1. Make sure the folder tree on the left is set to Content — the path at the bottom should read /All/Game
2. Set the Name field to any name you like — the xRLive team uses DefaultMap by convention, but you can also leave the name that Unreal suggests by default

Save Level As — root Content folder selected, ready to save the build map

Click Save. The map will appear in the Content Browser under Content.

This map has no relation to your visual’s logic. It is only required by the packaging pipeline. You will not edit it at any point in the tutorial.

3. Create the plugin

Your visual’s content (Blueprints, maps, assets) lives inside a plugin, not in the project’s main Content folder. This is required by the xRLive pak packaging system.

Open Edit → Plugins in the menu bar, then click + Add (or New Plugin). In the plugin creation dialog:

• Template: Content Only
• Plugin Name: use the exact same name as your project — MyFirstVisual
• Leave all other fields at their defaults

New Plugin dialog — Content Only template, plugin named MyFirstVisual

Click Create Plugin. Unreal adds the plugin and creates three folders inside it: Blueprints, Map, and UI.

The only folder that must exist is Map — xRLive requires it to locate the main map. All other folders are optional. That said, organizing your content into folders by asset type is strongly recommended as your visual grows:

Folder	Contents
Map	Main level (required)
Blueprints	Actor Blueprints, components, logic
UI	Widget Blueprints (UMG)
Materials	Materials and Material Functions
Textures	Images, icons, and texture assets
Data	Data Tables and Data Assets
Structs	Structures and Enumerations

4. Save the main map

The editor opens with an untitled default map. You need to save it with the correct name and inside the plugin’s Map folder.

Go to File → Save Level As. In the dialog:

1. In the folder tree on the left, navigate to Plugins → MyFirstVisual Content → Map
2. Confirm the Path field reads /All/Plugins/MyFirstVisual/Map
3. Set the Name field to MyFirstVisual (same name as the project and plugin)

Save Level As — navigated to the Map folder inside the plugin, name set to MyFirstVisual

Click Save.

The Map folder must exist inside your plugin — Unreal creates it automatically when you use the Content Only plugin template. The main map (with the same name as the project) must be inside this folder. Everything else in the plugin folder structure is optional, but keeping Blueprints, Map, and UI as separate folders is recommended.

After saving, the Content Browser confirms the map is in the right place: Plugins > MyFirstVisual Content > Map.

Content Browser after saving — MyFirstVisual map inside the Map folder

5. Add the xRLive SDK to the project

Close Unreal Engine. In Windows Explorer, navigate to your project folder (for example, C:\Users\YourName\Desktop\MyFirstVisual). Open the Plugins folder — it currently contains only the MyFirstVisual plugin folder you just created.

Plugins folder before adding the SDK — only the MyFirstVisual plugin folder

Copy the xrliveSDK folder into this Plugins directory. After the copy completes, the folder should contain exactly two entries: MyFirstVisual and xrliveSDK.

If you need the full plugin installation reference — including module details and how to verify the SDK is active — see Installation.

Plugins folder after adding the SDK — MyFirstVisual and xrliveSDK side by side

Reopen the project by double-clicking the .uproject file. Unreal Engine will detect the new plugin and load it alongside your visual’s plugin.

What you have now

At the end of this step your project has:

• A Blank UE project named MyFirstVisual
• A map saved in the root Content folder (required by the packaging pipeline)
• A Content Only plugin named MyFirstVisual with Blueprints, Map, and UI folders
• The main map MyFirstVisual saved inside the plugin’s Map folder
• The xrliveSDK plugin present in the project’s Plugins folder

The project is ready. In the next module you will create the BP_Settings actor, add a mesh component, and configure the xRLive UI panel.

Plugin & Scene Setup →

Create BP_Settings, add the Cube component, and configure the xrlive_UIpanel.