I am working on a project where I aim to recreate the planet system similar to “Populous: The Beginning.”
In this game the world appears spherical but it’s essentially a flat torus manipulated to look spherical. I am planning to implement this in Unreal Engine and I’m looking for some advice and confirmation on whether this is feasible.
I’m considering for :
-
Mathematical Model: I intend to use principles similar to the real projective plane, which conceptualizes a plane that can be traveled infinitely and give the illusion of a sphere
-
Material: I thought to use custom material to deform the landscape to make it look spherical. I think there is a potential to do that in the vertex but I’m not sure how to implement this in Unreal
-
Rendering Techniques: I have no idea in how to handle the edges and ensure the wraparound is seamless. My first tests were with a multiple camera system to capture the other side of the plane but after some test its revealed that it wasn’t performance-efficient at all. If anyone knows more efficient methods to achieve the visual effect, you will make my day !
-
Navigation and Interaction: How can I ensure that Unreal’s existing navigation systems will work with this non-standard geometric shape? Is there a way to adapt it to a plane where edges connect oppositely? Any tips on integrating with Unreal’s AI and player movement systems would be very helpful !
- Compatibility: I am using Unreal Engine 5+ for this project. If there are specific features of UE5 (like Nanite, Lumen or Chaos) that could prevent me to do it and cause issues, please let me know
I appreciate any advice or direction you can provide to get me started or to point out potential pitfalls. Thank you in advance for your help !
