HexMine: the new project from SideFx Labs

Imagine an entire gold mine built not piece by piece, but thanks to a system capable of automatically generating coherent environments.
This is the idea behind HexMine, a project by SideFX Labs that shows how procedural technology can become an ally for artists, game designers and digital creatives.

A world built with hexagons

The most fascinating feature of HexMine is the use of a hexagonal grid.
Thanks to the Labs Hexagon Gridtool, artists can organize the space as a mosaic of hexagons, a choice that guarantees visual order and maximum modularity.
Each hexagon becomes a point where you can place a piece of the mine: a rock, a beam, a walkway, a tunnel.

The result is an environment that maintains stylistic and compositional coherence, while remaining fully customizable.

From theory to 3D scene

The HexMine workflow is an example of software synergy.
First, the map structure is generated in Houdini, then it is exported as a simple “point cloud” and rebuilt in Unreal Engine thanks to the PCG (Procedural Content Generation) system.
In this way, each point of the grid becomes a signal for the game engine: “Insert this asset here, rotate it here, vary its shape here”.

The advantage? Creating, modifying, or regenerating an entire level takes just a few moments, without sacrificing visual quality.

If you are interested in the project you can find the Artstation profile of SideFx labs here

If you want to download the demo you can find the official page here