Procedural Map Generation

Introduction
Getting Started
3 Topics
Creating a New Project
Setting up the Project Structure
Making it Nighttime
Parsing ASCII to 2D
4 Topics
What is ASCII?
Creating the ASCII Parser
Breaking Down the ASCII String
Cleaning up the Code using an API
Creating 3D Prototype Tiles
2 Topics
A New Scene for Tiles
Putting the Tiles into a Data Table
Turning 2D into 3D
3 Topics
Generating the Map
Flying to the Moon
Creating an API
Checking those Cardinal Directions
5 Topics
What are Cardinal Directions?
Create Corner Tile
Create Key Column for Tiles Data Table
Check those Neighbors
Look for Dead Ends
Spawning the Player
Using the NPC AI Kit
5 Topics
Add the NPC AI Kit to the Project
Add the Combat Dependencies to the Project
Create Enemy Data Table
Update Tiles Data Table and ASCII Map
Dynamically Spawn Enemies
Adding Runtime AI Nav Mesh Generation
3 Topics
Add Runtime Nav Mesh Community Content to Project
Update MapBuilder API for Runtime AI Nav Mesh
Update Player Spawning Logic
Loading Progress UI for Players
4 Topics
Creating the UI
Updating the MapBuilder Script
Creating the PlayerClient Script
Updating the PlayerServer Script
Fighting Back
2 Topics
The Carlos Blade
Giving the Player a Weapon
Polishing Up
6 Topics
Creating a Roof
Player Respawning
Remove Player Flying
Add Player Health Bar
Add Gameplay Music
Adjust the Lighting
Creating an ASCII Editor
6 Topics
Update Tiles Data Table
Create Map Editor Scene
Create Map Editor UI
Create New Binding
Create ASCIIEditor API
Create EditorClient Script
Creating Maps from NFTs
4 Topics
Import Libraries
Create Crypts and Caverns API
Update GenerateMap Script
Test the Game
Course Quiz
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What are Cardinal Directions?

Procedural Map Generation Checking those Cardinal Directions What are Cardinal Directions?

Cardinal directions, refer to the points of a compass, North, South, East, and West. These are the 4 main points of a compass which will be used for checking what tiles are in those directions. Learning how to get the different directions will allow you to do pattern matching to place a tile in a spot based on what the pattern is.

Take a look at the image below. You will see the ASCII map string to the right, and on the left is the generated map which match the tiles in the ASCII string. When the map is generated in 3D space, the north facing direction (also the world forward direction) is going to be towards the first row created. So using the compass below, we can see the cardinal directions of the map. This is going to be very useful to work out the neighboring tiles.

World Forward Direction

The world forward direction is the X axis, which is red. When you click on an object in the scene view, you can see the directions using the gizmo (Red = X, Green = Y, Blue = Z). This is easier to see when the Translation (E to enable) tool is active. Make sure that you are in world space and not local space (T to toggle).

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