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Tune the generator

Every setting of a procedural level is a field on the generator placed in L_Procedural, plus one field on the game mode for the quota. None of it needs a graph. If you have not read How procedural levels work, start there.

  • The generator: Content/MPFriendslop/Blueprints/Environments/Generation/BP_LevelGenerator
  • The map: Content/MPFriendslop/Maps/L_Procedural

The generator fields

  1. Open L_Procedural and select BP_LevelGenerator.
  2. Change the fields under Settings|Generation.
Field What it does Shipped in L_Procedural
Modules The DA_Module_ Data Assets the generator can draw the nine shipped modules
Module Count How many modules a run has, the start not counted 8
Dead End Count How many of those are dead ends, added at the tips of the level once the rest is laid out 2
Grid Size How many modules wide and deep the grid is. The start takes the middle of the bottom row, and the rest of that row stays empty 5 x 5
Seed 0 draws a new plan every run. Any other value draws the same plan every time 0
Door Chance Chance from 0 to 1 that a doorway gets a door. Below 1, some doorways only get their frame 1
Module Size The side of one module, in cm 1200
Wall Segment Length The length of one outer wall piece, in cm 400
Door Class The door spawned in a doorway BP_SlidingDoor_Single
Enemy Class The enemy spawned in the module farthest from the start. Empty means no enemy BP_Warden
Patrol Point Class The class of the points collected for its patrol BP_WardenPatrolPoint

Door Class, Enemy Class and Patrol Point Class are empty on the Blueprint itself and set on the generator placed in L_Procedural. A generator you place in your own map needs them too.

Module Count cannot go above the grid: with a 5 x 5 grid, the most is 20. Keep it at 2 or more, or the Warden gets no patrol point: a single module is always a dead end.

A dead end only goes on an empty cell that touches exactly one module, and two dead ends never touch. On a small grid there is not always room for all of them: the run then has fewer modules, with no error. For more dead ends, raise Grid Size too.

Seed only fixes the plan. The loot still changes every run, because each BP_LootSpawnPoint rolls on its own.

The outer wall meshes are on the generator's four components, Walls, Doorways, Corners and DoorFrames. Select one in the Components panel and swap its Static Mesh to use your own pieces. Keep Module Size and Wall Segment Length in step with them.

The quota

On a procedural map, the quota follows the loot that actually spawned.

  1. Open BP_FriendslopGameMode.
  2. In Settings|Extraction, set Quota Ratio.
Field What it does Default
Quota Ratio The quota is this value times the value of all the loot spawned in the level 0.6

Quota Ratio only applies on a map that has a generator. A map with no generator, such as a hand built map of your own, keeps its fixed Run Quota. The other run numbers are on Change the quota, the run length and the recap.

A bigger grid

The Warden only walks where the nav mesh is. L_Procedural has one NavMeshBoundsVolume sized for a 5 x 5 grid. When you raise Grid Size, stretch that volume over the new modules. Keep its bottom just under the floor: deeper, it would also cover the shaft under the extraction trap.

The dispatchers

Dispatcher When it fires Fires on
OnModulesVisible All the modules are visible on this machine every player, not a dedicated server
OnGenerationFinished Every module is in, the nav mesh reaches the centre of each one, and the enemy has spawned the server only

Bind OnModulesVisible for anything a player sees, such as a sound or a HUD message. Bind OnGenerationFinished for anything that needs the nav mesh.

The loading screen binds neither. WBP_LoadingScreen asks every level builder IsLevelVisible, a few times a second, until all of them answer true and the clock has started. To use your own screen, set Loading Widget Class on BP_FriendslopPlayerController.

Your own generator

The game mode does not know BP_LevelGenerator. It waits for any actor that implements BPI_LevelBuilder.

  1. Add BPI_LevelBuilder to your actor, and return true from IsLevelReady once your level is complete.
  2. When it is, get the game mode and send it NotifyLevelReady, from BPI_RunControl, on the server.
  3. On every machine with a screen, return true from IsLevelVisible once the level can be seen there. The loading screen waits for it.

Until then the run does not start: no quota, no clock. A map with no level builder starts the run once every player has arrived.

Next: Doors the Warden can open.

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