Epic Games experiments with SceneGen: AI-assisted level-blocking from sketches

Gaming · 5 min read

SceneGen interprets 2D sketches and symbolic annotations to generate 3D blockouts that respect gameplay constraints like sightlines, cover geometry, and pathing. Outputs are Unreal-compatible scenes with placeholder assets and baked navmeshes to enable immediate playtesting.

Designers can iterate on layout intent quickly and test pacing or combat flow without hand-blocking every area. SceneGen also provides sliders for adjusting density, verticality, and enemy placement heuristics.

Early trials by level designers sped up prototyping cycles significantly, though fine-level aesthetic work still requires manual iteration. Epic emphasized SceneGen is experimental and intends to refine control interfaces and asset pipelines based on community feedback.