Map Generator 3.0 - Please Critique!

[Zeustiak]

@Dracomada;307604

Your system is amazing, . I’m astounded that you have done all of this in blueprint. I’ve just started using the Unreal Engine these past two weeks and am working on a hex based game. The information in your threads is invaluable. Thank you for all your hard work.

Thanks.

@Dracomada;307604

I have a few questions. I’m sorry if they are silly or if I have missed things that should be obvious; I’m still really new and a little overwhelmed at times with all the information I’ve been cramming in my head.

I am curious about how you are handling changes to underlying terrain. You say that you have been deleting each other instance and then respawning them. Is there a reason for deleting all of the other instances, or has this changed with the updates to the engine? From what I understand the ability to delete individual instances didn’t exist in older versions. I’m trying to make a map with destructible terrain and I’ll need to be able to change meshes on portions of my (hopefully large)map almost every turn if my ideas work.

Yeah when I first implemented the instancing the easiest method at the time was to just clear each instance reference and respawn everything. It was basically instantaneous, so it was good enough at the time.

I haven’t actually moved to a single instance update system, but it is on the near term to-do list. I recently compiled key tile information into a struct that holds the tile transform, the reference mesh, and the instance # among other useful tidbits. So, when it comes time to update, I will be able to make a single array call, get all the needed info, and update as necessary.

@Dracomada;307604

I’m still thinking of ways to handle my data. I was thinking of creating a struct to handle all of the data for an individual hex then using a two dimensional array of said structs for axial coordinates. I’m not sure if that is going to be really inefficient compared to your method of using multiple arrays but I want my maps to have a variably sized hexagonal shape overall and don’t think I could implement your method of handling locations of hexes. I’ll post up a thread on my progress when I have something to show. Again, thank you for sharing what you’ve done, it has really helped me get a clearer direction on where I need to go.

Using a single struct array is the way to go. When I started you couldn’t create structs in blueprint, and then when they implemented them, I wasn’t at a point where I wanted to go back and rewire everything.

Lately I have been going back struct-ifying things, but I am still hesitant to compile things into a struct early in the process when it isn’t needed. For instance, I don’t necessarily need the struct containing precipitation when I am generating tectonics. So for right now, a lot of things are being left alone in the generation, but then they are being compiled into a big tile info struct at the end.

I still have a lot of work to go through everything and create structs in places where it would save time. For instance, there are areas where 2+ arrays are called, which could otherwise be turned into a single struct array call. In the end, it may end up being best to just compile the struct from the get go.