Procedural Generation of 3D Maps with Snappable Meshes
This is an incremental improvement for game designers and developers, enabling efficient 3D level design and prototyping.
The paper tackles the problem of procedurally generating 3D maps by using premade meshes that snap together based on visual constraints, resulting in a method that allows for designer control and faster map creation compared to fully human-based approaches.
In this paper we present a technique for procedurally generating 3D maps using a set of premade meshes which snap together based on designer-specified visual constraints. The proposed approach avoids size and layout limitations, offering the designer control over the look and feel of the generated maps, as well as immediate feedback on a given map's navigability. A prototype implementation of the method, developed in the Unity game engine, is discussed, and a number of case studies are analyzed. These include a multiplayer game where the method was used, together with a number of illustrative examples which highlight various parameterizations and piece selection methods. The technique can be used as a designer-centric map composition method and/or as a prototyping system in 3D level design, opening the door for quality map and level creation in a fraction of the time of a fully human-based approach.