JultikaUniversity of Oulu repository

Abstract

Game developers use Procedural Content Generation (PCG) in aid of game development to reduce costs, reach better memory consumption, increase creativity, and augment our limited human imagination by generating content algorithmically. Virtual terrain is one of the main topics of PCG; how well do these techniques support the special needs of game level design? To answer this question, a literature review was conducted to analyse correlation between the capabilities of various PCG-techniques and the needs of level design patterns. We observed that techniques permitting higher degree of local control increased their applicability for virtual terrain in games and that traditional fractal techniques, such as the midpoint displacement method and noise-functions, performed poorly despite their popularity. Our foremost contributions to this field of study were new insights towards more suitable PCG-techniques for use in game development.