Procedural Content Generation Overview
- PCG Framework: toolset for procedural content and tools; from asset utilities (buildings, biomes) to entire worlds.
- Points: 3D locations with transform, bounds, color, density, steepness, seed + user attributes. Point Density = probability of point existing.
- Requires PCG plugin; Geometry Script Interop plugin to sample Static Meshes.
- Procedural Node Graph: like Material Editor; spatial data flows from PCG Component into graph, generates points, filtered/modified by nodes, updated in real time; points spawn assets.
- Graph templates; node categories (Blueprint, Control Flow, Debug, Density, Filter, Generic, Hierarchical Generation, IO, Metadata, Param, Point Ops, Sampler, Spatial, Spawner, Subgraph).
- Attributes: Static ($Position) vs Dynamic (metadata); domains @Data, @Points, @Elements; Attribute Selector, @Last.
- PCG_Overridable settings; override pins. Graph Parameters and Graph Instances (like Material Instances).
- PCG Component on Actor or PCG Volume; generates in Editor and at runtime. World Partition: generated actors assigned to same Data Layer and HLOD layer.
- Debug: D (debug render), E (enable), A (inspect).
- Forest example: Get Landscape Data → Surface Sampler (Points Per Square Meter, Extents, Looseness) → Transform Points → Static Mesh Spawner (weights).