An Introduction to Procedural Generation
If you’ve been following my articles for a while, then you know I love simulations. Using sets of rules to model complicated situations and predict the outcome is incredibly powerful, and computers have made this process remarkably fast. My research projects have taken several turns through nuclear physics, firefly behavior, and ice ages, but all topics share a common use of simulations as a tool to understand the world.
This love also translates into video games; I really enjoy playing games that use simulation in a clever way to enhance the experience. The most obvious example is Minecraft, which generates infinite random worlds for the player to explore that follow a set of rules. But this technique has exploded in popularity in the last decade and is now involved in many games.
One of the earliest uses of procedural generation for levels is in a game called Rogue, first released in 1980. The game featured several floors of dungeons that the player explores while collecting loot and fighting monsters. If you die, you lose everything and must start from scratch, facing a new randomly generated dungeon. This…
