Workflow Question Regarding Procedural & Modular Layered Rock Formations in Isometric / Top-Down Games

Development World Creation
,
1

Hello everyone,

This is my first community question.

I am working on a map (terrain) system for an RTS-style project with an isometric/top-down camera angle.

I am trying to understand how they created the layered, modular, and sometimes procedurally generated rocky/cliff system that we see in games like Command & Conquer and Tempest Rising, which ensures the map’s readability.

I’ve added two visuals below for reference. The areas I’ve marked with colors in the visuals represent the structures I want to ask about:

Cliff transitions at different height levels that are sharp but controlled

Rock formations that don’t look like a single sculpted piece, but rather have a layered and modular feel

Structures that appear clean and crisp from an isometric angle, but have minimal repetition when viewed up close

A system that feels like it’s composed of multiple layers, such as terrain + mesh + decal

The Main Issue I’m Trying to Understand

In maps like this:

Are these cliffs made entirely with Landscape sculpt + material?

Or is a hybrid system used, such as Landscape + modular cliff meshes + decal + foliage?

Are the elevation layers (plateaus) created manually, or are they semi-procedural based on specific rules?

How is the sense of repetition broken when the same cliff structures are used in different locations?

How critical are systems like World Partition / Landscape Layers / Runtime Virtual Texture in projects like this?

My Current Level / Experience

Unreal Engine: Beginner level (I know materials, basic landscapes, and static mesh placement)

Blender: I’m comfortable creating modular assets

Substance Painter: I know the PBR workflow

I haven’t yet set up advanced landscape materials, procedural tools, or a blueprint-based terrain system

My goal

For my own isometric map project:

  • Highly readable
  • Modular
  • Performance-friendly
  • Allowing for quick layout changes when needed
  • is to create a rock/terrain workflow.

What I’d Like to Learn Specifically from the Community

  • What is the recommended general workflow for this type of game?
  • For someone new to this workflow:
  • Is there a tutorial video similar to this project?
  • What are the fundamental principles to keep in mind when creating cliffs/plateaus in Blender → UE?

I previously worked on a very simple and similar project, but I manually added each pre-existing cliff asset one by one (ArtStation). If I could learn how this system was created, it would be very valuable to me.

If anyone knows about:

Documentation

Training

GDC presentation

Breakdown / case study

could you point me in the right direction?

My goal is not to copy the exact same system; it’s to understand the logic correctly and come up with an applicable solution for my own project.

Thanks in advance to everyone who takes the time :folded_hands:

phelicia-ramlogan-cnc4-02
phelicia-ramlogan-cnc4-021615×929 699 KB

sukuk-ahn-babbababi-sukuk-ahn-tr-temperate-gdf-m11-01
sukuk-ahn-babbababi-sukuk-ahn-tr-temperate-gdf-m11-011920×1080 593 KB

1 Like
2

These are procedurally placed meshes. If you look closely, you can see duplicates

image
image467×200 33.5 KB

With the other pic, you can see where the edge meshes are placed around the ‘top’ mesh

image
image1325×760 551 KB

You could do it with blueprint, or PCG

1 Like
3

Thank you so much for your response and help :slight_smile:

1 Like
4

More broadly, look at something called the wave-collapse-function and how it’s used to build procedural worlds.

Otherwise I could suggest you have a base-set of bases to choose from, and scatter meshes around.outside.on-top of it using PCG, w/material tricks to blend them together. Literally just-build them in the game from a few smaller parts.

1 Like
5

Thank you very much for your response. Actually, I’m not really sure how to proceed with this project. I understand how some of these things work in theory, but I don’t know how to implement them in the Blender - UE workflow. For example, I’m not sure how to create cliffs and build a map in UE for this project. I tried a few things with the Spline Tool, but I didn’t get the result I wanted. It’s a very specific topic, and since I couldn’t find any educational content that explains it exactly, I really have no idea how to do it. I really value this project. I want to learn how to create this type of map structure in UE, similar to what you see in C&C and other games. I really admire the recently released “Tempest Rising” game in this regard.

6

There is a mesh editing mode in Unreal. You can do a decent amount therein if you are looking to create content locally within the engine. As well the shaders/materials you will create inside Unreal as well.

You don’t necessarily need landscapes if you don’t want. You could always use a regular mesh, or generate something with the geometry-scripting tool. Much of what you might do there is at the Blueprint level, but if you want to do really detailed things with those (or other parts of the engine), you might need to get dirty with C.

Overall, you are looking to take some kind of surface, be it a landscape or another mesh, create some points across it to put landscape/surface features on. In this case you want rocks, rock-formations, etc. PCG (procedural content generation) is the goto tool for this. It’s a scriptable tool, very flexible and could even randomize the creation of the formations, where they are, etc. You could do a LOT to tailor the parametrics of it all and get the exact kinds of results you wanted.

Besides the docs, I’d recommend:

Additionally though, with regards to blending meshes, maybe material tricks, that’s a different thing. Unsure if you know HLSL to write your own shaders of if you will be using the material UI.

1 Like
7

Thank you. I’ll take a look at these. I don’t know HLSL for shaders, so I’ll use Material UI. I’m thinking of trying to capture a workflow with Substance Painter.