Exploration of an Assembly-Based PCG Framework for 3D Asset Generation

Sammanfattning

Contemporary procedural content generation frameworks typically target a singlecontent category; cross-domain frameworks that also retain artistic control remainunder-explored. This thesis explores an assembly-based PCG framework for modular 3D asset generation across two distinct categories of 3D assets: buildings andvegetation. The framework was developed and evaluated across two cycles utilisingthe Design Science Research Methodology (DSRM), with the first establishing abaseline implementation and the second extending the descriptor schema and evaluation methodology in response to findings from the first.Three evaluation criteria guided the assessment: authorial control over the outputdistribution, schema reuse across structurally distinct 3D assets, and the expressiverange of the generated output, measured via expressive range analysis (ERA) Thedescriptor schema was applied to both domains without modification, with cascadeactivation supporting the deeper hierarchical structure of vegetation. Authored constraints were enforced reliably across all generations of the buildings domain. Theexpressive range proved one-dimensional for buildings, whose variation was purelycombinatorial, and two-dimensional for vegetation once deformation operations introduced a parametric axis independent of selection.These results indicate that a single descriptor-based schema can support structurallydistinct content domains, with expressive range determined by descriptor authoringrather than by inherent framework constraints.