PCG Based Island Generation
NOTE! This page is WIP and not fully complete :)
Project Overview
At the start of 2026, I set myself a challenge: build one experimental project each month. The first began as a gravity mechanic and ultimately became the foundation for Storm Reavers. This second experiment focused on procedural island generation.
Video Taken around Feb 2026
What the System contains
The system can be broken into a few different logical components -
Island-body and shape generation creates the dynamic mesh and splines, then passes the wall data to C++.
Runtime virtual texture generation establishes biomes and material refinement.
A secondary subgraph reads island data to place partitioned foliage.
The point-of-interest system places destinations such as castles and houses across the map.
A final pathfinding pass connects islands with bridges, clears foliage along each route, and adds environmental detail.
While I could break down individual components of the system, I would instead defer those of you who want to implement something similar to the sample projects that are a part of PCGEx.
V1 - shows direct A* routes between points.
V2 - Refines the A* with additional costs such as trying to keep paths towards the center of an island.
V3 - Final version adds a feedback loop that favors existing routes, creating a more natural road network.
Bonus
One bridge-system challenge came from arbitrary pathfinding data: a spline could cross open voids between islands. To turn those paths into dynamic bridges, I used an overlap check to identify where a proxy bridge intersected an island, then removed those overlapping sections with a boolean operation. The result was a clean, seamless connection between islands.
Given more time, I would have explored richer bridge connections. The current solution links points directly, so the forms can feel abrupt; curved, context-aware spans would make the network feel more natural.
