IOC 0.1 in action (Youtube).
Read the docs.
📖 Overview
Instant Organic Caves (IOC) is a small plugin designed to generate massive, seamless, and organic cave and/or rock systems procedurally at runtime. Unlike traditional marketplace assets that rely on static meshes or Blueprint construction scripts, IOC utilizes a "Metal C++" approach.
It builds geometry directly using Unreal's `FDynamicMesh3` core math libraries, bypassing overhead from the Blueprint VM and intermediate wrapper libraries. The result is a system that can generate infinite, seamless, Nanite-enabled environments suitable for high-fidelity production.
✨ Key Features
*Pure C++ Architecture:** No dependency on Blueprint logic, PCG Graphs, or external assets. The geometry is calculated mathematically from scratch.
*Direct Dynamic Mesh Manipulation:** Operates directly on `UE::Geometry::FDynamicMesh3` for maximum performance.
*Infinite World Generation:** Supports seamless chunk tiling using world-space Perlin Noise.
*Organic Smoothing:** Implements custom, stable Laplacian Smoothing to convert blocky voxel grids into smooth, eroded cavern walls.
*Welded Topology:** Custom meshing algorithm ensures watertight geometry with no internal faces, preventing shading artifacts and mesh tearing.
*Nanite & Lumen Ready:** programmatically enables Nanite support on generated meshes.
🚀 Quick Start
Single Chunk Generation
1. In a New Scene, open the Place Actors panel.
2. Search for `IOCProceduralActor` in Plugins.
3. Drag it into the viewport.
4. A cave chunk will generate immediately. Use the Details Panel to adjust settings like `Seed`, `Roughness`, and `Cave Size`.
Use LeftAlt+LMB to duplicate the generated chunk in any direction. Chunks can be seamlessly merged. More sophisticated options to extend the structures will come in the next version.
Infinite World Generation (WIP, coming soon)
1. Search for `IOCWorldGenerator` in the Class list.
2. Drag it into the level.
3. In the Details Panel:
Set *Chunk Class** to `IOCProceduralActor`.
Set *Render Distance** (e.g., `2` for a 5x5 grid).
Set *Update Interval** (e.g., `0.5` seconds).
4. Press Play. As the camera moves, new cave chunks will form ahead of you seamlessly.
Please note: the plugin needs the PCG and GeometryScripting modules enabled.
Hybrid PBR Pipeline: Upgraded the Master Material with a Use PBR Texture switch, instantly swapping between Pure Math and traditional Textures.
Seamless Biome Textures: Packaged three new 4K tileable rock textures directly into the plugin: Obsidian Flow, Limestone Crawl, and Alien Hive. (More to come later.)
Triplanar Projection: Implemented automatic Box Mapping to prevent texture stretching on generated vertical cave walls.
Vector Documentation: Overhauled the shipped Manual. Replaced static screenshots with clean, responsive SVG vector illustrations and added comprehensive guides for the new Hybrid Texture workflow.