[UE4] Interactive Foliage

Interactive foliage system created in Unreal Engine 4 at work using C++ and Blueprints. The system is divided into two parts.
1. Small foliage like short grass
To achieve it I use the render target texture into which I write the direction and strength of deformation. By using the render target I can render all the forces on the scene at once. With time the plants return to their original position/rotation.
2. Large foliage
For larger plants I used a different approach. The design required the foliage to interact with any object or force. That's why I decided to use a physical simulation, which provides very good results. By default, all plants are instanced meshes that provide very good performance with a small number of drawcalls. When a collision or force is detected, each instance is replaced with a physical object. Then, when the player moves away from them, they return back to the instance for keeping performance.
Published with permission of Artifex Mundi S.A.