next »

[Udderdude]

I'm quite happy to see that the levels are already better than what I'd be able to produce by hand

I just want to point out that with practice, you can easily make maps that are more interesting than anything a procedural generator could pump out.  There's a reason certian games are revered for their amazing level design, and it isn't because they had the best procedural level generator.

[senorbarborito]

I just want to point out that with practice, you can easily make maps that are more interesting than anything a procedural generator could pump out.  There's a reason certian games are revered for their amazing level design, and it isn't because they had the best procedural level generator.

sure, I totally agree.

but at least for now, I think that as a programmer, this is the approach that suits me best.  I should probably move on at some point, but right now I quite like changing the generation blocks/code to see what works and doesn't work in the game.  this allows me to test different strategies and it's a lot faster for me than sitting and placing 500 tiles.

but yeah, no matter what I do the levels feel a bit samey.

[Miguelito]

but yeah, no matter what I do the levels feel a bit samey.

Well, do what a painter would do: Break up your strokes!
If you keep working with the same type of wall/corridor/corner etc., the level will certainly end up looking a bit uniform. How about inserting some completely different tiles? One completely empty, one with a Bomberman-style block grid, a spiral, meanders...
Try thinking in terms of what will actually happen there: Place some Space Invaders-style cover around a large open area, or put a single enclosed arena with one entrance only.

Then, you could clump certain types of blocks together instead of distributing them equally, imitating the feel of buildings (long walls) standing next to a forest (dotted obstacles) and to a desert (practically nothing).

Would make the whole scene more organic, I'd think...

[senorbarborito]

Well, do what a painter would do: Break up your strokes!
If you keep working with the same type of wall/corridor/corner etc., the level will certainly end up looking a bit uniform. How about inserting some completely different tiles? One completely empty, one with a Bomberman-style block grid, a spiral, meanders...

I think it's clear by now that my approach doesn't allow enough control over the map and hence will not be able to provide enough "interesting" situations for the player.

For the final thing I'm pretty sure I'll need to be able to design each room by hand, so I can create complex situations like the ones you suggest.  still, there´ll be plenty of random elements in each room and they will be assembled randomly as well, so it should feel different every time you play.

This is probably the way to go, but for now I´ll continue with the current approach by incorporating different room types as well as enemies, so I can get a more global idea of the problem rather than just working on the room generation side.

In fact I've been working on different enemy types for the last couple of days.  Pretty basic stuff but I'm still looking forward to putting them in the game