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Make a new module

A module is one room of a procedural level: a small level made with the kit, and one Data Asset. By the end of this page the generator can draw your room in L_Procedural. If you have not read How procedural levels work, start there.

  • The module levels: Content/MPFriendslop/Maps/Modules/
  • Their Data Assets: Content/MPFriendslop/Blueprints/DataAssets/Module/Childs/
  • The kit: Content/MPFriendslop/Meshes/Environments/Modular/

Pick which one to start from

Duplicate a shipped module of the same type. It already follows every rule on this page.

Start from Type What it brings
L_Module_Hall Normal An open hall with four pillars
L_Module_Alcoves Normal A cross of corridors and four small rooms
L_Module_Ring Normal A loop around a small room with windows and a door
L_Module_FigureEight Normal Two loops that cross in the middle
L_Module_Corridor Passage A long corridor between two side rooms
L_Module_Chicane Passage A zigzag with no line of sight between the exits
L_Module_Vault DeadEnd A vault behind a double door, opened by a lever on each side, full of loot
L_Module_Offices DeadEnd A dead-end corridor and four offices
L_Module_Spiral DeadEnd A spiral that ends on a room behind a door

Step 1, the room

  1. Duplicate the module closest to yours in Maps/Modules/ and name it L_Module_<Name>. Never name a level Module_<something>: the generator gives that name to each copy it loads.
  2. Build the room with its centre on the level origin. It covers X and Y from -600 to 600, floor at Z 0, ceiling at Z 300: nine floor slabs and nine ceiling slabs.
  3. Add your interior walls, pillars and props, as in How levels are built.

A module holds no NavMeshBoundsVolume, no fog, no post-process volume and no PlayerStart. L_Procedural has them once for the whole map.

Step 2, the rules at the edges

The generator builds the outer sides. Your room has to leave room for them.

Rule Why
Place no wall on the outer sides The generator puts walls, corners and doorways there
Keep everything inside -587.8 to 587.8 The outer wall is 24.4 cm thick, centred on the edge
On each exit side, keep the middle cell empty: 400 x 400 cm That is where the doorway and its door go. A ceiling lamp is fine, nothing on the floor
An interior wall may meet an outer side only at -200 or 200 along that side That spot is always solid wall. Anywhere else it could land in a doorway
Keep walkable, reachable floor within 50 cm of the centre of the room, (0, 0). A thin pillar on the exact centre is fine The run only starts once the nav mesh reaches it, and the Warden can spawn there

Keep the centre of every module walkable: the generator only starts the run once the navmesh reaches the centre of each placed module. A module whose centre is blocked or has no floor keeps the run from starting.

The exits depend on the type: Normal on all four sides, Passage on the east and west sides, DeadEnd on the east side only. Build it that way round: the generator turns the room itself.

Step 3, the lamps

The project has no bounce light, so a room without a lamp is black. Every closed room needs its own lamp.

  1. Put a BP_CeilingLight_02 bar in the middle cell of each exit side, along the axis of the exit. Keep it steady: it tells the crew where the way out is.
  2. Use BP_CeilingLight_01 in small rooms, BP_CeilingLight_03 over a big room such as the vault, and a floor neon to show the floor of a dead-end corner.
  3. Make a lamp blink only where steady lamps already light the area. With no bounce light, an area lit by a blinking lamp alone goes black half the time. The shipped rooms blink with Blinking Interval at 0.3 and Blink Randomness at 1.

The lamps and their fields are on Place, switch and make lamps.

Step 4, loot and patrol points

  1. Place BP_LootSpawnPoints and set Loot Table on each, as in Place loot spawn points and loot tables. A dead end is where most of the loot goes: the shipped dead ends have seven points each, the Normal and Passage modules two to four. Most points use DA_LootTable_Shelf. Each dead end also has points on DA_LootTable_Salvage, the table with the heavy pieces, the bat and the hammer.
  2. In a Normal or a Passage module, place one BP_WardenPatrolPoint on the floor. Put none in a DeadEnd.

You never fill the Warden's Patrol Points here. The generator collects the points of every module it drew and gives them to the Warden it spawns.

Step 5, the Data Asset

  1. In Blueprints/DataAssets/Module/Childs/, right click, then Miscellaneous, then Data Asset.
  2. Pick BP_ModuleDataAsset. Name it DA_Module_<Name>.
  3. Fill the three fields.
Field What it does Default
Level The module level, L_Module_<Name> empty
Module Type Normal, Passage or DeadEnd. Decides where the generator can draw it Normal
Weight How often it is picked among the modules of its type. 2 is twice as likely as 1 1

Step 6, add it to the generator

  1. Open L_Procedural and select BP_LevelGenerator.
  2. Under Settings|Generation, add an entry to Modules and pick DA_Module_<Name>.

Nothing goes in the packaging settings: the Data Asset brings the module level into a packaged build.

Step 7, test it with two players

  1. To see your module in most runs, give it a high Weight, for example 100. Keep the other modules in Modules: the generator needs every type to draw a full plan.
  2. In the Play menu, set Number of Players to 2 and Net Mode to Play As Listen Server.
  3. Press Play from L_Procedural. Walk your room in the client window: every exit, every loot point, every lamp.

Next: Tune the generator.

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