Procedural generated games

[Lantiz]

Hi there!


Been talking about procedural generation on the November Goals & Progress Thread topic, and got curious to know from the community about games that makes good use of procedural generation.


So I ask you:


What are the games with procedural generated content that you played and liked?

 

[barnzie8]

Cant really give you a game that had a great generated map but i can tell you about a bad experience. In the Guided fate paradox's second last chapter had a rather annoying gimmick. It was a flooded level with switches to raise and lower the water height. Pretty often a switch would be put in a spot where it was impossible to get to, meaning you had to wait for over 500 turns or bring a couple of floor exit items. To make it worse there are enemys that eat items on the ground which mean i would often starve to death.

 

[Lantiz]

Well this is really a good example of a bad experience '-'


I'll remember to keep an eye on the gimmicks to use.


Thanks a lot.

 

[barnzie8]

All the other gimmicks in the other levels worked out fine, i guess you could think about making puzzles into one room to prevent an unwinnable situation. Use of gimmicks could help spice up a standard map and get players to change their strategy, but i guess that depends on what kinda game you want.

 

[Lantiz]

Thanks for your thoughts.


I actually have some ideas that appear to be good. But for now I just want to have something to look at.


I play(ed) a lot of procedural generated games, but I wanted people to tell their personal preference too.


Would probably find something new this way

 

[Canini]

I have to agree that it is hard to come up with a positive example. Procedural generation is almost by defination less polished/well done than something carefully designed by a human. I could see it working for some sort of disorienting dream sequence level, though.

 

[Lantiz]

Hmm maybe. 


I feel like when talking about procedural content, what comes in mind is a big open world composed by some dirt, water, trees, and some random spawned items/npcs. Read: Terraria, Starbound, Minecraft...


Actually I can think of two amazing games that make good use of it: The Darkest Dungeon, and Road Not Taken (which is not even combat focused).


And some other different approaches, like a puzzle-dungeon crawler: Desktop Dungeon.


These examples are by no means unpolished.


I'm sure there are some more out there that I don't know about, and that's what I'm looking for.

 

[barnzie8]

If you are just looking for games that have this feature well here is one list https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Video_games_with_procedurally_generated_levels. You can also search that tag on steam and that list really only does the most popular games. Sorry if it doesn't link properly.

 

[Lantiz]

Well it's not what I'm looking for.


I'm asking about the community experience, like your first post in this topic.


Even it being about a bad experience, it was an experience.


I want to know about procedural based games that the people around here played and liked, simple as that. [:


Edit: I edited the OP so the people find it easier to understand.

 

[barnzie8]

Most games with randomly generated maps and levels, the environments have never really stood out. It is the mechanics and how they interact with the maps which has mostly caught my attention. I have seen your game thread, not much information to go on (iirc). I know i said how a gimmick annoyed me, but good and proper use can add variety.


Runescape has a dungeoneering skill which is basically a rouge-like mini-game. Some doors to rooms have skill locks on them, e.g you need fifty firemaking to burn this wood blocking a door. Sometimes the skill requirements can be pretty steep and depending on the doors location it can block off a large chunk of the map. Most of the skills doors are fine but it can be annoying having fifty% blocked off.  

 

[Vox Novus]

The only thing I can think of off that I've tried off the top of my head that really fits what you are asking is probably the Star Ocean games. They tend to often have super dungeons that are randomly generated floors (from a list of room types) with randomly generated treasure chests. The area is meant to be difficult since its all optional content and the fact that you don't know exactly where the exit to the next floor is means you can't plan out how long you are going to be there if you are just trying to advance through areas as quick as you can (trying to go through the dungeon, don't mean training trips).

 

[Lantiz]

Most games with randomly generated maps and levels, the environments have never really stood out. It is the mechanics and how they interact with the maps which has mostly caught my attention

Yes I agree.


I.e. No Man's Sky is (most of time) a bunch of useless random generated landscapes, it lacks variations and interactions.

not much information to go on (iirc)

You are actually right.


For now I just have a small demo to test the engine. Been bug fixing and improving.

Runescape has a dungeoneering skill which is basically a rouge-like mini-game. Some doors to rooms have skill locks on them, e.g you need fifty firemaking to burn this wood blocking a door. Sometimes the skill requirements can be pretty steep and depending on the doors location it can block off a large chunk of the map. Most of the skills doors are fine but it can be annoying having fifty% blocked off.  

Hmmm this seems to be a cool feature, I mean, unlocking rooms with game progression can be fun and bring that feeling of "what comes next?".


But yeah, it needs to be well balanced.


@Vox Novus


It sounds like something that can get repetitive fast, but are those dungeons optional only?


By the way, Is this game open world?


I've been looking to it for a few days, but for some reason I always think it is Phantasy Star. hahaha

 

[Vox Novus]

@Lantiz No, they aren't open world and yeah the super dungeon is always optional post-game content. 

 

[Lantiz]

@Lantiz No, they aren't open world and yeah the super dungeon is always optional post-game content. 

Seems like a good addon then.


Talking about dungeon, it may sound a bit offtopic but I would like to see a SAO game with procedural Aincrad.

 

[Vox Novus]

Well I think the whole procedural generated dungeons fit well with the concept of a mmo setting. It allows you to experience the same content repeatedly while adding difference to it. That works well in an mmo scenario where you might need to grind to tackle the next story quest or get a rare piece of equipment. It also works well for small parties of players and makes each journey a little unique.


It just seems to play off the typical hub city scenario well.

 

[Lantiz]

Oh i did think about it in sigle player "simulation", but yeah, in an MMO would be really nice.

 

[Vox Novus]

Works great there to, its really just suitable for any situation in which the player would need to visit a location more than once because it adds variety. As in the case of Star Ocean though, its also used as a way too add difficulty.

 

[Lantiz]

Works great there to, its really just suitable for any situation in which the player would need to visit a location more than once because it adds variety. As in the case of Star Ocean though, its also used as a way too add difficulty.

I see... I think dificulty is good to a poind, depending of the target public.


But I dont think procedural generation is a good thing for this purpose :s

 

[Vox Novus]

I meant it from the perspective that you don't know entirely what to expect. You can't plan your trips entirely out when you go to a dungeon. In the case of star ocean the dungeon forces you to go back because you can't save in it. So you need to decide on exactly what you hope to accomplish each trip; which you can't plan entirely for because of the procedural generation.

 

[Lantiz]

I meant it from the perspective that you don't know entirely what to expect. You can't plan your trips entirely out when you go to a dungeon. In the case of star ocean the dungeon forces you to go back because you can't save in it. So you need to decide on exactly what you hope to accomplish each trip; which you can't plan entirely for because of the procedural generation.

Oh I see.


Bu it's not so odd. If I'm not confuse, The Darkest Dungeon for example also has something like that. You can only leave when you find the exit.


And I think it's actually good for immersion purposes and what the game proposes.


Not sure if it's the same case on Star Ocean tho. Probably not...?