Dynamically generate and deform a Mesh with Blueprints

[Kosren]

Hello everyone

I am using Unreal Engine 5.3.2; I want to build a procedural generator for a planet and, afterward, for a solar system. The clue is that I want planets with actual collisions so I could build something on them. I already took a look at the geometry scripting plugin, but it does not seem to be the correct tool.
So, my idea was to have a Blueprint that generates a Sphere and performs some deformation to create a planet’s surface. What would be the common Unreal Engine way to solve this issue? Is it even possible with Blueprints, or should I switch to C++?

I am glad for any help on this or some links with further reading

[jwatte]

“solar system” can be done with some clever transitions, as long as you’re OK with cloud coverage or something like that while switching between “planet mode” and “space mode.”

“round planet” is a bit of a challenge, because physics really doesn’t like it when gravity is different for different objects. You’d have to build your own object controllers, or turn off gravity and apply force yourself on each simulated object.

Finally, large procedural meshes have performance problems when simulating collisions. You might be better off with the built-in landscape with dynamic deformation layers, EXCEPT the landscape doesn’t work at all in a round world. You might want to convincingly fake it instead with something like an infinitely tiling/wrapping landscape. This would require a fair bit of fancy object unloading/re-loading, perhaps using streaming level instances where you can re-load them at different locations.

That being said: It sounds from your questions like you haven’t really built a game at any scale before. There’s a lot of work needed to do round planets, and planet/space transitions, and even just “open world,” that require some understanding of assets and 3D math that is typically built up through starting smaller and shipping a smaller game. If you haven’t done that first, I’d recommend starting there!

[Kosren]

Dear Jwatte,

Thank you very much for your description!
I have built some simple games during my studies (computer science) with Unreal Engine 4. For that, I used landscapes and simple hand-crafted levels.
However, as you said, creating a round and walkable celestial body is really hard. I hoped that with the new features of Unreal Engine 5, this might “be easier”.
I will try landscapes and “smart” transitions between “land mode” and “space mode.”

Have a great day