Custom Unity Solution For Interacting With Millions Of Scattered Objects Across Terrain

Last month, we featured a terrain renderer developed by Kacper Szwajka, renowned for his guide on procedural object placement in Unity. This was for Highland Keep, a survival strategy game set in medieval Scotland that combines third-person combat with classic RTS castle-building.

The developer has released a new update featuring a custom solution that allows interaction with millions of scattered objects across the terrain. For example, an AI on the far side of the map can gather rocks or chop down trees, and the player witnesses these changes in real-time.

This feature builds upon the previous GPU scattering system, but now it not only loads the visual elements of objects but also incorporates their associated logic. Additionally, any changes made, such as picking up or destroying objects, are saved.

Kacper has shared some details on this approach on his personal page, noting that it can store 1,048,576 rocks in just 0.13 MB. For more information, you can check out his article on the method for implementing runtime GPU placement of objects on terrain mentioned earlier.

We're also getting closer to Highland Keep internal tests that will evaluate the full game flow. However, as Kacper explained, there's still work to be done, including completing a major AI rework and fine-tuning the combat and building mechanics.

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