Looking For An Easy To Use Game Engine

I currently have Half-Life 2 and all the tools, but I'm having a hard time finding tutorials that are simple to use to get the ball rolling. I have heard that the Unreal Engine has a smaller learning curve in some areas.

My goal is to build a working map that can showcase my models, texture, map layout and scripted events. I will not be creating any characters, it's not one of my strengths.