At the Game Developers Conference (GDC) presentation in San Francisco, Epic Games provided a preview of the new updates for its Unreal Engine. A stand-out feature of this is the procedural content generation (PCG) framework, which translates the tools used for generating procedurally generated content. Developers can specify framework conditions for how a game world should look, and the game engine automatically creates it in Unreal Engine 5.2.
In this version, jungle landscapes come with pre-selected trees and plants, as well as paths and rock formations. Individual elements of the environment can be moved manually with customisation and scalability options. The plant density can be adjusted if desired, and all changes are displayed in real time. All previous Unreal Engine 5 features are included, and usable in combination with the PCG framework.
This feature works together with the completed Quixel, which is a company acquired by Epic Games, which provides realistic-looking models and textures of various objects and surfaces that have been scanned with cameras. Through these collections, 3D levels can be generated quickly and altered to suit individual preferences with just a few clicks. In the presentation, Epic Games displayed a 3D environment that was initially designed by hand but was later generated procedurally. Both manual and automatic processes may be used concurrently.
A preview of Unreal Engine 5.2 with the PCG framework is currently available for interested parties to try. However, Epic Games recommends not using it for productive work.
