AI and LevelDesign

By: Emerson McCabe

05/16/2025

In the beginning, I encountered several issues when trying to set the parent class for my AI blueprints. Each time I created a new blueprint and attempted to assign a parent class, none would appear in the dropdown. This created some initial challenges when getting started on the project. It also took some time to refresh my understanding of how AI controllers interact with agents and behavior trees. However, once I began to see progress in the AI's behavior, I was able to quickly develop a functional prototype. Blocking out the level involved some trial and error. I had to strike a balance between creating an open-world feel with enough space for environmental elements, while still keeping the overall map size reasonable and manageable.

I eventually discovered the root cause of the blueprint parent class issue: a problem within the project's Binaries folder. Deleting and regenerating this folder resolved the issue, allowing parent classes to remain properly attached to blueprints. To assist with level blocking, I added a few reference objects to maintain accurate scaling. I used a standard humanoid model and a car model as the primary reference points to ensure that roads were an appropriate width and that buildings wouldn’t appear oversized in comparison.