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ArqadeGames that feature procedural generation of content?
[+35] [23] RCIX
[2010-08-04 05:41:34]
[ game-rec procedural-content ]
[ http://gaming.stackexchange.com/questions/4369]

I'm looking for games that include procedurally generated content as a major feature; like all levels are generated, enemies, weapons, etc.

One per answer please, and pics if you got em!

Games that have been mentioned already:

(2) this is a poll-type question, but I like it 'cause DF is on the top. - antony.trupe
(3) Sad it's closed, I found it useful and would have it left open to let more pour in. - Turrican
(2) @tzenes, @C.Ross, @Mana, @Ivo Flipse, @Arda Xi: sigh how is this subjective? Either a game features procedural generation of content or not. It's not like "well maybe this one counts but maybe it doesn't". - RCIX
There's been something of a crusade against all Lists going on, RCIX. Please review the link and cast your voice if you wish. Also, comment replies don't work on closers. - Grace Note
(4) list of x, but this one is fairly useful IMO - Jeff Atwood
@Jeff to be honest Jeff I fail to see how this question is any more beneficial than asking "What programming languages support object oriented programming?" It's a list, its not very interesting to hardcore gamers and it mandates similar [game-rec] questions. - tzenes
(2) @tzenes this is much more focused and rare than OOP. It'd be like asking, "What languages support {esoteric, rare feature}" - Jeff Atwood
@Jeff to the contrary, procedural generation of content has become more and more of a mainstream feature. Once upon a time it was the exception and not the rule but that has been changing. - tzenes
(1) @tzenes: if it's so mainstream, why isn't there a massive flood of answers for thia question? - RCIX
@RCIX 19 is no small number, but I'm sure I can come up with more if you'd like. Here are a few: L4D (both), ToeJam&Earl, Roboblitz, Jade Cacoon, Just Cause, Disgaea, Seven Kingdoms, Xconq, Hellgate: London, Dark Cloud (both), Fuel, The Sentinel, Vega Strike, I could seriously go on for days. - tzenes
@tzenes: I don't mean any game that has some aspect procedurally generated, i mean some game that prominently features it. Like DF or Worms. - RCIX
(2) @RCIX every game I listed as a level of procedural generation on par with Diablo (the #3 answer here). - tzenes
The reason you're not getting a "massive flood of answers" is because not many people are going to go out of their way to recommend anything besides their favourite games that have this quality, most of which will already be listed. People will just see that their original suggestion is already there, and be content with that. There's no incentive to go beyond that. After all, living with a brother who I always enjoy co-op with, I can tell you there are a LOT more than 41 good co-op games. - Grace Note
[+26] [2010-08-04 05:54:20] Mana

Dwarf Fortress [1].
The entire world, including all the lore and civilizations, is randomly generated when you start a brand new game.

alt text alt text

[1] http://www.bay12games.com/dwarves/features.html

and you can play new game on your last map so you can see your past fortress. - dierre
(1) we really could get a prettier screen-shot. - antony.trupe
This one look better? - Mana
better, yes, but a tileset mod would be better, for example i.imgur.com/2Aj0V.png from bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=57557.0 - antony.trupe
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[+25] [2010-08-04 10:53:27] xan

Worms uses procedurally generated levels. In older versions it would show you the value used to seed the generator so you could replay the same level by reseeding the generator.

Worms


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[+23] [2010-08-04 08:14:22] Gnoupi

The Diablo series [1] uses generated weapons, items and maps.

alt text

Diablo 3 will add to this generated quests and "events" [2] occurring in the maps.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diablo_%28series%29
[2] http://www.planetdiablo.com/features/articles/d3-04012008/

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[+17] [2010-08-04 08:04:58] Gnoupi

Torchlight [1] uses generated weapons, items and maps.

alt text

From Wikipedia [2]:

The game generates each level of the dungeon by assembling modular "chunks" of the game environment. Each chunk is designed by hand and may be composed of multiple rooms. They can contain scripted events and interactive objects such as levers that open secret doors or cause bridges to move. This approach to level generation is intended to create dungeons with more purposeful design, instead of environments that simply look like "crossword puzzles that have been extruded upwards." [3]

The last sentence is most likely directed at the Diablo games.

[1] http://www.torchlightgame.com/
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torchlight
[3] http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/torchlight-hands-on?page=2

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[+17] [2010-08-04 06:56:12] jshu

Minecraft [1] procedurally generates infinite three-dimensional worlds (awesome video) [2], though I think the developer might still be working out some kinks with rendering and savegames. The client is in Java.

screenshot of infinite map screenshot of procedurally generated arch

[1] http://minecraft.net/
[2] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NszGurDUlHc

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[+16] [2010-08-04 07:37:16] HenryHey

.kkrieger [1] is almost entirely procedurally generated. Made by the demoscene group Farbrausch in 2004, it only weights 96Kb! .kkrieger

[1] http://www.theprodukkt.com/kkrieger

Does it have much of a game, though? I remember it being a very simple demo, can't even remember if interactive or not... - NPC
It is interactive, but I think it only has one level. - HenryHey
Who cares, it's procedurally generated. Restart it and you have a new level. - Arda Xi
(2) Is it different every time? I was under the impression .kkrieger was procedurally generated but the same every time. - Martin
Yes, I believe the textures etc are procedurally generated (hence the tiny size) but I don't know if the map is. - MGOwen
Nopes the map is fixed. But would you believe the size of this game? 96kb. - Mugen
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[+10] [2010-08-04 07:19:50] jshu

Love [1] by Eskil Steenberg is another procedurally-generated game; not only is the landscape procedurally generated, but the animations and settlements are as well.

Check out the debut trailer for Love [2], a review of Love [3], or player-made Love videos on YouTube [4] to get an idea of what it really looks like, the screenshots look a little weird thanks to whatever crazy shaders the developer is using.

power line ai generated base

[1] http://www.quelsolaar.com/love/features.html
[2] http://www.gametrailers.com/video/debut-trailer-love/41941
[3] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYWelPtCHOE
[4] http://www.youtube.com/results?search_type=videos&search_query=love+eskil

that looks awesome! - Tobias Kienzler
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[+10] [2010-08-04 11:35:11] Juha Syrjälä

One of the first games to use this was probably Elite [1], first published on 1984. The galaxies are generated procedurally, even though the number of galaxies was limited to 8.

The Elite universe contains eight galaxies, each galaxy containing 256 planets to explore. Due to the limited capabilities of 8-bit computers, these worlds are procedurally generated. A single seed number is run through a fixed algorithm the appropriate number of times and creates a sequence of numbers determining each planet's complete composition (position in the galaxy, prices of commodities, and even name and local details — text strings are chosen numerically from a lookup table and assembled to produce unique descriptions for each planet). This means that no extra memory is needed to store the characteristics of each planet, yet each is unique and has fixed properties. Each galaxy is also procedurally generated from the first.

There is even the source code [2] available for procedural generation part (trading engine).

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elite_(video_game)
[2] http://www.iancgbell.clara.net/elite/text/index.htm

Surely nethack predates elite... - Seamus
(2) @Seamus: Nope, Nethack was released July 1987. However Rogue is earlier, having been released on 1980. - Juha Syrjälä
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[+9] [2010-08-04 06:37:03] HenryHey

Spelunky [1] it's a platformer made as a roguelike. Available free for the PC and an XBLA port is in the works.

alt text

[1] http://www.spelunkyworld.com/

(1) A perfect game. - NPC
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[+9] [2010-08-12 13:06:54] Matias

Audiosurf [1]

alt text

Its tracks are generated from the music you want

[1] http://www.audio-surf.com/

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[+8] [2010-08-04 16:34:13] Seamus

Nethack procedurally generates dungeons.

Progress Quest also features a lot of procedural generation of stuff (and not much else...)


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[+8] [2010-08-04 07:29:47] kevint

Borderlands [1] procedurally generates the weapons and other items in the game.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borderlands_%28video_game%29

Getting the weapons/ammo is a very small part of gameplay in Borderlands considering it has a lot of fixed missions, fixed enemy locations, fixed puzzles, fixed enemies/maps etc. If you think this is an example of procedurally generated game then I would say so is every other game. Almost every game has some bit of procedurally generated content in it be it dropped loot, crowd, ai movement, falling of bullet clips etc. I believe the asker wants to know a game in which the main game-play or at least part of main gameplay involves procedural content. Diablo, Torchlight are definitely good exs. - Mugen
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[+7] [2010-08-04 08:56:30] Neil Aitken

Subversion [1]. The next title from Introversion uses procedurally generated cities.

A procedurally generated city.

[1] http://www.introversion.co.uk/subversion/

2 minutes city generation: youtube.com/watch?v=_zluTvROHXA - HenryHey
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[+7] [2010-08-04 10:00:57] Grant Peters

Spore [1] has a lot of content procedurally generated (creature meshes & animations, vehicles and planets at least)

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spore_%282008_video_game%29

It was actually more community generated (taking content from other people's games). And it was very disappointing to me at least. - C. Ross
@C. Ross - Most of the content is still procedurally generated, just because it has input from the players it doesn't remove this fact (otherwise you wouldn't be able to say half the games here are procedurally generated, such as ".kkrieger" where all the data is hand crafted to give the meshes, animation and sound) - Grant Peters
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[+4] [2010-08-04 10:55:01] xan

Frozen Synapse [1] Uses procedurally generated levels to infinite variation to the game.

Frozen Synapse

[1] http://www.frozensynapse.com/

Good find, I have the beta and totally forgot that it's procedural. - Neil Aitken
This game looks interesting... - Scoregraphic
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[+3] [2010-08-04 08:35:15] Daniel Beck

The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall [1] has a mostly procedurally generated game world.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Elder_Scrolls_II%3a_Daggerfall

(2) Wasn't that generated during development, not when you play, though? - Macha
The dungeons are generated (which caused some of them to be impassable). - NPC
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[+3] [2010-09-03 11:00:06] Scoregraphic

Eufloria [1] also generates the levels procedurally. Amazingly addictive!

Eufloria

[1] http://www.eufloria-game.com

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[+2] [2010-09-06 14:50:15] Nelson

Fuel, the arcade racer, features a giant procedurally generated world. Shamus Young did an interesting analysis of it, more in The Escapist [1] and his blog [2].

[1] http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/columns/experienced-points/6418-The-Future-is-Procedural
[2] http://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/?p=5237

+1 for the Fuel mention, but it's not really an arcade racer, more of an exploration style driving game. - GnomeSlice
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[+2] [2010-08-04 14:16:41] McKay

the Master of Orion series had procedurally generated star maps.


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[+1] [2010-08-04 11:46:34] fail badp

Soon to be released Infinity is going to feature a procedurally generated universe. Don't forget about roguelikes or even simpler games like labyrinths.


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[0] [2010-08-04 13:07:08] George Stocker

Oblivion procedurally generates terrain and dungeons [1].

[1] http://www.mxac.com.au/drt/OblivionProcedural.htm

(2) From that article only the dreaded monster-autoleveling roughly fits the "procedural generated" definition, and that was the most disliked feature of the game. - NPC
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[0] [2010-08-04 14:19:31] McKay

Star Trek Online has a little procedural content.


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[0] [2010-09-03 12:30:46] community_owned

Anarchy Online uses Procedural dungeons and Missions


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