Separate maze edges into scatter zones
The current Houdini graph extracts outer and inner maze edges so vegetation can be driven by the maze layout instead of placed as a flat paint pass.
Inside the project
Systems
How Houdini geometry, Unreal materials, and gameplay systems connect.
Production Workflow
The production path
Six stages, shown through the actual project.
Use edge distance to control density
A distance-from-edge attribute and falloff ramp control how tightly plants hug the walls, keeping scatter useful without creating a hard outline.
Push, scale, and rotate the plant points
Noise, orientation, scale, and cleanup steps create separate export branches for edge plants and inner plants before the data moves to Unreal.
Check the scatter against the maze scene
The stone walls, water, grass, and blockout scatter are reviewed together in Unreal so the workflow is judged in the actual play space.
Keep vegetation on shared masters
Foliage assets use virtual texture inputs, ARO masks, and optional WPO controls so grass and shrub materials stay predictable as the library grows.
Fold art tests back into the playable slice
The HubDoor and maze material work support the larger target loop: hub doors, level travel, finish triggers, return to hub, and progression.
Gameplay
Deterministic Map Definitions
Each ranked map is represented by a data asset with MapId, DisplayName, CampaignOrder, RankedSeed, MapVersion, level reference, and progression metadata.
Run State and Timing
The run subsystem manages normal, hardcore, and practice starts, level transitions, elapsed time, deaths, validation tags, splits, and run completion.
Hub Door Progression
A reusable C++ door actor calculates locked, unlocked, and completed states, then leaves visual treatment to Blueprint presentation.
Save and Leaderboard Path
Local progress, local bests, and pending leaderboard submissions are tracked before the online path is hardened.
Procedural production
Procedural Material Pipeline
Houdini outputs are being shaped into modular wall pieces, packed masks, shared tiling textures, and Unreal texture maps.
Edge-Aware Vegetation Scatter
Houdini separates inner and outer maze edges, uses distance-from-edge falloff to push vegetation away from walls, and exports test branches for Unreal review.
Vegetation Material Migration
Grass and foliage assets are moving onto shared virtual-texture masters with BaseColor, Normal, and ARO mask slots plus optional WPO controls.