Aug 13, 2011 at 11:52 PM
Join Date: Jan 4, 2008
Location: Lingerie, but also, like, fancy curtains
Posts: 3054
Procedural generation is, simply put, the art of creating unique worlds through programming. Spelunky, Minecraft, Terraria, Nethack and others are all procedurally generated, and that's a large part of their appeal. These games, like many awesome games (Zelda, La Mulana, Cave Story), are based around the idea of dungeon crawling - of exploring places we've never been before and conquering them. What procedural generation offers is a completely new world to explore every single time you start a new game. This, quite obviously, allows for a bajillion funs when done well, but it is often not done well.
So, dear folks, how would you approach procedural generation (both of zelda-like worlds and cavern systems), and what steps would you take towards making sure it was still fun?
PS: I know this is different from the normal sort of thread on these forums. I just figured that if we have a new section, why not use it? Another note is that even if you have no programming experience, you should totally still make your ideas known. Usefulness!
PPS: I do have a sort of iterative offering. I'm still working on it though, and I'm not sure when it will be done (due to remaking my computer from scratch sometime soon).
So, dear folks, how would you approach procedural generation (both of zelda-like worlds and cavern systems), and what steps would you take towards making sure it was still fun?
PS: I know this is different from the normal sort of thread on these forums. I just figured that if we have a new section, why not use it? Another note is that even if you have no programming experience, you should totally still make your ideas known. Usefulness!
PPS: I do have a sort of iterative offering. I'm still working on it though, and I'm not sure when it will be done (due to remaking my computer from scratch sometime soon).