Create your first procedural building.

Choose the target, not every detail

Decide whether this model is a close building with accessible interiors, a mid-distance asset, or urban background. That single choice controls how much geometry you should generate. A walkthrough needs openings, circulation and rooms; a skyline asset usually benefits from an exterior shell and fewer systems.

Have one known reference dimension ready, such as required footprint width, a doorway height or a storey height. You will use it after import to verify that the destination application preserves the intended scale.

Work from envelope to details

1. Open a new building

   Enter the building editor and begin from a fresh project. Name the project immediately so saved presets and later city assets remain easy to identify.

2. Set footprint and vertical structure

   Enter width, depth, floor count and storey dimensions before façade tuning. Orbit the model and compare the overall proportions with the intended use.

3. Select the architectural form

   Choose a base form and style that are close to the desired family. Treat style as a structured starting system; individual façade and roof controls still determine the final option.

4. Refine façades and access

   Adjust window arrangement, openings, balconies, roof treatment, entrance and garage access. Inspect more than the front elevation so a useful façade does not conceal a conflict at the corners or rear.

5. Set interior scope

   Generate rooms, partitions, slabs and stairs when the camera enters the building. Select an exterior-only or reduced-interior state for context assets where unseen geometry would only add weight.

6. Inspect section and geometry views

   Use the available viewing modes to look for floating elements, unexpected intersections and missing openings. Check the lowest floor, roof line and any cut-back area carefully.

7. Save the reproducible option

   Store the preset with its seed before experimenting further. If the next variation is worse, the saved parameters let you recover the approved state without approximating it by eye.

Verify one representative file

For a first Unreal Engine test, export GLB. It is compact and can keep geometry, UVs, named materials and image textures in one file. Choose another format only when your downstream tool or process has a clear reason for it.

• Confirm the downloaded file has a useful, recognisable name.
• Import at scale 1.0 first, then measure the known reference dimension.
• Check that outward surfaces face correctly and that openings remain open.
• Inspect material slots and apply a temporary tiled checker or grid to confirm UV orientation and density.
• Walk through the model if interiors are included; pay attention to doors, stairs, slabs and head clearance.

If the asset passes this check, it is safer to create a family or build a larger city. If it does not, return to the parameters and correct the source rather than patching every future variation separately.

Common first-run problems

The building is too heavy

Remove interiors for assets that will not be entered, reduce unnecessary systems and validate a smaller scope. Generated detail should follow the camera and gameplay need.

The import scale looks wrong

Return to a known dimension. Confirm that the source parameters are metric and that the importer is not adding an extra scale conversion. Do not compensate by eye until you know which stage introduced the mismatch.

Materials look different after import

Formats and destination importers do not reproduce every material system identically. Use the named groups and UVs as the reliable handoff, then build the final production material in the destination tool. Native PBR material export is coming soon, not a current dependency.

A variation cannot be reproduced

The parameter set alone may not capture the same controlled randomness if the seed changed. Save the complete preset and seed together before generating alternatives.

Take the model downstream