What this book covers
Chapter 1, Introducing Procedural Content Generation, explores the theory and practical applications of procedural generation. Before diving into the workflow, we will explain what procedural content generation is, its origins, and best practices for real-world game development and application projects.
Chapter 2, Let’s Create Our First Forest!, shows how to create a procedurally generated forest for gaming or animation. You’ll design a forest with realistic trees and vegetation, allowing flexibility to modify foliage meshes. We’ll cover integrating and merging node structures in a single PCG graph, combining trees, and adding varied grass, bushes, and stones to the landscape.
Chapter 3, Building Blueprints with PCG Component, looks at creating and integrating a custom PCG blueprint with the PCG component. You’ll use the Point loop to spawn static meshes, combining patterns for unique arrangements. The tutorial covers crafting independent blueprints for unique PCG components in Unreal Editor and developing your own algorithms within the PCG blueprint for hands-on experimentation.
Chapter 4, Developing and Optimizing the Procedural Content Generation Tool, focuses on refining your PCG Actor blueprint by enhancing the PCG graph with additional nodes. You’ll introduce new variables within the Actor blueprint, expanding its functionality and versatility. You’ll also learn how to select variables that enable direct communication with blueprints, allowing for more interactive modifications within Unreal Engine.
Chapter 5, Building Spline Controllers with PCG Graph, shows how to create a forest with a river using the Unreal Engine water plugin, manipulate rivers, and combine various PCG graphs into a single one. You’ll integrate this into an Actor Blueprint, enhancing your worldbuilding skills in Unreal Engine. Topics include creating foliage, the Forest Actor Blueprint, PCG graphs, and making adjustments for better outcomes.
Chapter 6, Building a PCG Graph with Landscape Materials, explores creating a tool for randomly placing vegetation and generating foliage around structures and rivers. It introduces using landscape materials to guide static mesh placement and integrate spline integrate spline component for a dynamic PCG system that adapts to the landscape.
Chapter 7, Let’s Build a Building Using the PCG Spline Controller, shows how to create buildings using PCG, including walls with window gaps and multi-floor structures. We’ll explore procedural methods for urban building creation and develop algorithms in a PCG graph to control building features. Tasks will focus on using simple cubes to build walls, with all work integrated within the PCG graph and Actor Blueprint.
Chapter 8, Building Biomes: Mastering PCG for Rich Environments, covers using the PCG Biome plugin to create diverse and dynamic biomes and design varied landscapes with procedural techniques. You’ll learn how to generate terrain and foliage using datasets and texture information, customizing elements beyond the PCG graph. Sections will focus on foliage placement and new PCG techniques to build realistic, immersive biomes.
Chapter 9, Creating Dynamic Animated Crowds with PCG, shows how to spawn and animate crowds using the PCG plugin. You’ll set up Actor Blueprints, integrate the PCG component, and create a PCG graph for character setup. Using Mixamo models, you’ll spawn characters in a spline loop and enable them to walk independently with basic AI. This chapter provides hands-on experience with advanced PCG features for realistic crowd simulation.
Chapter 10, Exploring Optimization, Debugging, and Performance Tools, will guide you in optimizing the PCG tool for your project, focusing on enhancing fluidity and performance. You’ll learn how to launch your project using PCG and create impressive environments without performance issues. We’ll cover examples and methods to boost project efficiency and manage assets for procedural generation.
Chapter 11, Cheat Sheets, Extra Tips, and Shortcuts, provides tips on understanding PCG nodes and their functions using visual examples. We’ll explore node formations, use sample meshes, and enable debug mode to illustrate concepts. You’ll gain insights into building various PCG structures and compare the applications of PCG volumes and splines. These elements are crucial for precise control over asset placement and behavior in procedural generation.
