Procedural Generation in Game Design

Making a game can be an intensive process, and if not planned accurately can easily run over budget. The use of procedural generation in game design can help with the intricate and multifarious aspects of game development; thus facilitating cost reduction. This form of development enables games to create their play areas, objects and stories based on a set of rules, rather than relying on the developer to handcraft each element individually. Readers will learn to create randomized maps, weave accidental plotlines, and manage complex systems that are prone to unpredictable behavior. Tanya Short’s and Tarn Adams’ Procedural Generation in Game Design offers a wide collection of chapters from various experts that cover the implementation and enactment of procedural generation in games. Designers from a variety of studios provide concrete examples from their games to illustrate the many facets of this emerging sub-discipline.

Table of Contents

Part 1: Procedural Generation
Chapter 1: When And Why To Use Procedural Generation
Chapter 2: Managing Output: Boredom Versus Chaos
Chapter 3: Aesthetics In Procedural Generation
Chapter 4: Designing For Modularity
Chapter 5: Ethical Procedural Generation

Part 2: Procedural Content
Chapter 6: Level Design I: Case Study
Chapter 7: Level Design Ii: Handcrafted Integration
Chapter 8: Level Design Iii: Architecture And Destruction
Chapter 9: Cyclic Generation
Chapter 10: Worlds
Chapter 11: Puzzles
Chapter 12: Procedural Logic
Chapter 13: Artificial Intelligence
Chapter 14: Procedural Enemy Waves
Chapter 15: Generative Artwork
Chapter 16: Generative Art Toys
Chapter 17: Audio And Composition

Part 3: Procedural Narrative
Chapter 18: Story And Plot Generation
Chapter 19: Emergent Narratives And Story Volumes
Chapter 20: Poetry Generation
Chapter 21: Characters And Personalities

Part 4: The Procedural Future
Chapter 22: Understanding The Generated
Chapter 23: Content Tools Case Study
Chapter 24: Automated Game Tuning
Chapter 25: Generating Rules
Chapter 26: Algorithms And Approaches
Chapter 27: Meaning