Questions

Is it possible in any way (using tricks as unless something changed, it’s not directly doable last I checked) to create large star systems in UE4? Was thinking more like every system being an instance like it is done in Aurora game…

Was thinking about trying my hands on a 4X prototype and while with the mechanics and everything, I’ll probably won’t have a problem, I was interested in visuals. I had in mind something based on Aurora 4X but with the game map similar to how they are visualised in Space Engine. Realistic sizes and distances that you can zoom out to see the whole system but also zoom in if you want to have a look at planet’s ground level. I would be really happy to be able to do it in a per-system scale like it is in Aurora but if it’s even possible to do it in large scale like Space Engine, I wouldn’t say no. If it is somehow possible how should I go about it? For the rest of it I have a pretty good idea on how to do it, but the visuals is a problem to me. The only exception is randomly generated planet surfaces down to the ground level on runtime like it is in Space Engine. I know it is now possible to generate heightmaps on runtime but I never tried it before. But my main problem is the distances and the realistic sizes for example Sun radius being 110 times the earth radius as well as 150m km away from earth.

I could probably make such size differences and distances visualised in a top down view of the system but how to avoid floating point imprecision in case I want to zoom in to let’s say a city level, or fly between the sun and the earth using known physics and formulas to calculate paths?

Another question totally unrelated to that, let’s say I make a heightmap in WM2. After turning it to 3d terrain in UE4 is there a way to use random noise to create cave systems that later on I apply meshes for the rock walls rtc? Or The only way is to sculpt them by hand on each terrain tile?

You would have to fake it–it’s not possible to actually create something that size in UE4. You would need to make things scaled down to whatever view you are using and then switch between scenes as you change view levels. I don’t think it’s possible to adjust terrain at runtime yet though.

I would like to recommend looking at the example of No Man’s Sky right now though–is it really worth all the trouble to make something big? Can you make something that’s fun under those limitations and do you have enough time to do what you want?