Lego bricks = Procedural Generation (Destiny)

by electricpirate , Wednesday, November 22, 2017, 09:20 (2354 days ago) @ Kahzgul

I'm so happy about this.

they specifically said it is not procedural generation. my feeling is it's more like a big bucket of legos with unique pieces. They've got a lot of those pieces but not an infinite number of them. Combine that with being able to populate with any combination of the four enemy types. I do imagine it will take a while before it feels routine.

I mean, if the computer takes 2 bricks and arranges them using a mathematical procedure, that meets the definition of procedural generation.

My guess would be that they have like 20 rooms made, and the rooms are just strung together *via procedure* to make a relatively unique map.

For it to not be procedurally generated, there would have to be a human being hand-curating a whole bunch of different layouts. Totally possible but also totally weird, because permutations are a thing that computers are *really* good at.

Many beloved games that use procedural generation are using a setup like this. The most famous and effective are probably spelunky and the original X-Com from 1993. Here's a great deep dive on how spelunky's gen works. http://tinysubversions.com/spelunkyGen/

When most people see procedural, they think it's something more like the minecraft/No man's sky approach where it users layered noise functions to create entirely unique Playspaces. most people think of this method when you say the word procedural generation though, so I can see why they avoided using it.

I think generally for skill based and challenge based games, I prefer the first approach. It lets you build designed challenges that can spike in fresh new elements to create experiences that feel unique. The second approach works well in survival and exploration based games where the designer might take a lighter touch.