In this video, I dive into the world of Procedural Content Generation (PCG) in Unreal Engine 5. This experimental feature, currently being fine-tuned for UE5.2, was initially intended to upgrade the existing Procedural Foliage Tools (PFT). However, the results have exceeded expectations – its potential extends far beyond simple tree planting.
With a sense of curiosity, I've combined PCG with CityEngine to create a massive sci-fi city. The outcome is mind-blowing. Essentially, PCG is an environmental querying system and a rule-based instance spawner. It can access terrain, volumes, static meshes, splines, and more from the scene, and generate models or other assets according to your specifications. The workflow is simpler and more efficient than a pure Blueprint approach, and the generation speed is remarkable. Though occasional issues like memory overflows can occur, it's likely to be perfected in the next 1-2 updates.
Our scene boasts an impressive array: 250,000 high-poly Nanite trees (averaging 1 million polygons each), around 2,000 buildings (19 distinct types, KitBash high-poly), with a complete generation time of approximately 3-5 seconds.
The same work done manually would have taken roughly a week, not to mention additional time for adjusting densities, varieties, and sizes. Now, just a few adjustments and parameters, and we have our final result within 5 seconds. Truly a game-changer in the realm of creativity!
Originally intended as a performance test and a diversion from work, I ended up creating an entire cinematic piece. The results might not be cinematic masterpiece level, but it sure was an enjoyable journey.
