List of games using procedural generation

Last updated

Procedural generation is a common technique in computer programming to automate the creation of certain data according to guidelines set by the programmer. Many games generate aspects of the environment or non-player characters procedurally during the development process in order to save time on asset creation. For example, SpeedTree is a middleware package that procedurally generates trees which can be used to quickly populate a forest. [1] Whereas most games use this technique to create a static environment for the final product, some employ procedural generation as a game mechanic, such as to create new environments for the player to explore. The levels in Spelunky are procedurally generated by rearranging premade tiles of geometry into a level with an entrance, exit, a solvable path between the two, and obstacles to that path. [2] Other games procedurally generate other aspects of gameplay, such as the weapons in Borderlands which have randomized stats and configurations. [3]

Contents

This is a list of video games that use procedural generation as a core aspect of gameplay. Games that use procedural generation solely during development as part of asset creation are not included.

List

Roguelike games

Games in the roguelike genre all have at least procedurally generated levels. [4]

Other

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.
TitleYearDeveloper(s)Procedural content
.kkrieger 2004 Farbrausch Most of the meshes and textures are procedurally generated, and the music is procedurally generated during runtime. [5] [ unreliable source ]
7 Days to Die2013The Fun PimpsMaps (Worlds) can be generated, either randomly, using a seed, or via third party tools.

The distribution of POIs and loot is also generative.

Anarchy Online 2001FuncomMission rewards, loot, dungeon layout, and location on the world map can be generated based on selections made at mission terminals. [6] [ unreliable source ]
Astroneer 2019 System Era Softworks Procedural planet terrain. [7]
Banished 2014Shining Rock SoftwareTerrain map. [8]
Borderlands series 2009–2019 Gearbox Software, 2K Australia Weapons. [3]
Civilization series 1991–2018 MicroProse, Activision, Firaxis Games Customizable world map. [9]
Core Keeper 2022 Pugstorm Explorable underground world [10]
Crypt of the NecroDancer 2015Brace Yourself Games2D grid-based top-down dungeons with halls and rooms [11] [12] [13] with randomly placed enemies and items. [14]
Deep Rock Galactic 2018 Ghost Ship Games Cave systems separated into rooms and tunnels by walls of dirt. [15]
Descenders 2018RageSquid3D downhill courses on relatively dirt trails. [16]
Don't Starve 2013 Klei Entertainment Flat 2D world. [17] Later expanded with cavern systems [18] and oceans. [19]
Dwarf Fortress 2006 Tarn Adams Almost entirety of game content [20] based in a layered 3D world with elements like its history, [21] creatures and narrative, [22] religion, [23] etc.
Elite 1984 David Braben, Ian Bell Eight 3D wireframe galaxies consisting of 256 procedurally generated star systems each [24] [25]
Enter the Gungeon 2016Dodge Roll2D flat dungeon levels made of room "chunks". [26]
Factorio 2016 Wube Software 2D terrain map generation. [27] [ non-primary source needed ]
Fractal Block World2021Dan Hathaway Recursive 3D landscapes made of cube blocks. [28]
Islanders 2019Grizzly Games3D terrain generation of islands. [29]
Left 4 Dead 2 2009 Valve Gameplay changes to match player's performance, such as enemies, paths, or weather. [30]
Minecraft 2011 Mojang 3D world primarily made of cube blocks. [31] Effectively infinite. [32]
Minecraft Dungeons 2020 Mojang Randomly-generated 3D dungeons filled with monsters, traps and puzzles, and treasures. [33] [34]
Mini Metro 2015Dinosaur Polo ClubAbstract 2D levels and audio system. [35]
No Man's Sky 2016 Hello Games 3D galaxies with planets and their flora and fauna. [36] [37]
Pixel Piracy 2015Quadro Delta2D world, [38] including islands, towns and shops, as well as ship's crew. [39]
RimWorld 2013 (EA)Ludeon StudiosCustomization 3D spherical world map and flat 2D gameplay map, [40] as well as many elements, [41] notably narrative and events. [42]
Rogue Legacy 2011Cellar Door GamesSide-scrolling castle, [43] made up of interconnected rooms.
The Sentinel 1986 Firebird 3D terrain generation for all 10,000 levels.[ citation needed ]
Sir, You Are Being Hunted 2014 Big Robot An open world island landscape. [44]
Spelunky 2008MossmouthSide-scrolling underground rectangular levels made up of tiles. [2]
Spore 2008 Maxis 3D creatures, tribes, civilizations, planets and terrain, spaceships and galaxies, music, [45] [46] award-winning animation system. [47]
Starbound 2016 Chucklefish 2D side-scrolling planets [48] and content on them, such as dungeons and bosses. [49]
Stardew Valley 2016 ConcernedApe Cave areas [50] of increasing difficulty and loot. [51]
Terraria 2011 Re-Logic Side-scrolling rectangular 2D world. [52]
The Binding of Isaac 2011 Edmund McMillen Bird eye view 2D levels made up of interconnected rectangular rooms with random monsters and loot. [53]
Valheim 2021 Irongate Studios A procedurally-generated circular map of an archipelago of islands in an ocean; with the player starting the game in the center. [54]
Vintage Story 2016Anego StudiosA procedurally-generated voxel-based open world of up to 64 million square kilometres with an emphasis on realism. A 2023 update includes "upgraded world generation with various new land forms, a geologic activity system, and large scale mountain regions" [55]
World of Warcraft: Shadowlands 2020 Blizzard Entertainment Torghast, a dungeon with procedurally-generated enemy spawns. [56]
Microsoft Minesweeper 1990 Microsoft Rectangular grid of hidden mines. [57]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roguelike</span> Subgenre of role-playing video games

Roguelike is a style of role-playing game traditionally characterized by a dungeon crawl through procedurally generated levels, turn-based gameplay, grid-based movement, and permanent death of the player character. Most roguelikes are based on a high fantasy narrative, reflecting the influence of tabletop role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons.

<i>Strange Adventures in Infinite Space</i> 2002 video game

Strange Adventures In Infinite Space is a roguelike video game created by the indie developer Digital Eel and released for Windows and Mac on March 15, 2002, by boardgame developer-publisher, Cheapass Games. Releases for Pocket PC and Palm by British developer-publisher Astraware followed. In 2020, the game was updated to run on current computer operating systems of the day. It remains free to download and share.

Dwarf Fortress is a construction and management simulation and roguelike indie video game created by Bay 12 Games. Available as freeware and in development since 2002, its first alpha version was released in 2006 and received attention for being a two-member project surviving solely on donations.

<i>Minecraft</i> 2011 video game

Minecraft is a 2011 sandbox game developed and published by Swedish video game developer Mojang Studios. Originally created by Markus "Notch" Persson using the Java programming language, the first public alpha build was released on 17 May 2009. The game would be continuously developed from then on, receiving a full release on 18 November 2011. Afterwards, Persson left Mojang and gave Jens "Jeb" Bergensten control over development. In the years since its release, it has been ported to several platforms, including smartphones, tablets, and various video game consoles. In 2014, Mojang and the Minecraft intellectual property were purchased by Microsoft for US$2.5 billion. Minecraft is the best-selling video game of all time, with over 300 million copies sold and nearly 170 million monthly active players as of 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arcen Games</span>

Arcen Games is a small video game company founded in 2009 by Chris McElligott Park. The company launched their first product, AI War: Fleet Command, in mid 2009 for Windows PCs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mojang Studios</span> Swedish video game developer

Mojang Studios is a Swedish video game developer based in Stockholm. The studio is best known for developing the sandbox and survival game Minecraft, the best-selling video game of all time.

Zachtronics LLC is an American video game developer, best known for engineering-oriented puzzle video games and programming games. Zachtronics was founded by Zach Barth in 2000, who serves as its lead designer. Some of their games include SpaceChem, Infinifactory, TIS-100, and Shenzhen I/O. Infiniminer (2009) inspired the creation of Minecraft.

<i>Starbound</i> 2016 video game

Starbound is a 2016 action-adventure game by Chucklefish. Starbound takes place in a two-dimensional, procedurally generated universe which the player is able to explore in order to obtain new weapons, armor, and items, and to visit towns and villages inhabited by various intelligent lifeforms. Starbound was released out of early access in July 2016 for Windows, macOS, and Linux, and for Windows via Xbox Game Pass in December 2020. It was also released for Xbox One in October 2024.

Numerous video games were released in 2016. New hardware came out as well, albeit largely refreshed and updated versions of consoles in the PlayStation 4 Pro, PlayStation 4 Slim, and Xbox One S. Commercially available virtual reality headsets were released in much greater numbers and at much lower price points than the enthusiast-only virtual reality headsets of earlier generations. Augmented reality also became mainstream with Pokémon Go. Top-rated games originally released in 2016 included Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, Inside, Overwatch, Forza Horizon 3, Madden NFL 17, WWE 2K17, NBA 2K17, Dark Souls III, and Battlefield 1 and Doom 2016. The top five highest-grossing video games of 2016 were League of Legends, Honor of Kings/Arena of Valor, Monster Strike, Clash of Clans, and Dungeon Fighter Online.

<i>Crypt of the NecroDancer</i> 2015 video game

Crypt of the NecroDancer is a roguelike rhythm game by Brace Yourself Games. The game takes fundamental elements of a roguelike dungeon exploration game and adds a beat-matching rhythm game set to an original soundtrack written by Danny Baranowsky. The player's actions are most effective when moving the character set to the beat of the current song and are impaired when they miss a beat, so it is necessary to learn the rhythmic patterns that the various creatures follow. The mixed-genre game includes the ability to import custom music, and the option to use a dance pad instead of traditional controllers or the keyboard. The game was released for Linux, OS X, and Windows in April 2015, being co-published by Klei Entertainment, for the PlayStation 4 and Vita in February 2016, for the Xbox One in February 2017, and for Nintendo Switch in February 2018. Crypt of the NecroDancer Pocket Edition, developed for iOS, was released in June 2016.

<i>Eldritch</i> (video game) 2013 video game

Eldritch is a 2013 first-person shooter video game developed by David Pittman and published by American indie studio Minor Key Games. It was inspired by the writings of H. P. Lovecraft and gameplay elements of roguelike games. The expansion Eldritch: Mountains of Madness was released in December 2013. The game's source code was released in 2014, though the content itself remains proprietary.

Enter the Gungeon is a 2016 bullet hell roguelike game developed by Dodge Roll and published by Devolver Digital. Set in the firearms-themed Gungeon, gameplay follows several player characters called Gungeoneers as they traverse procedurally generated rooms to find a gun that can "kill the past". The Gungeoneers fight against bullet-shaped enemies, which are fought using both conventional and exotic weapons. Enter the Gungeon features a permadeath system, causing the Gungeoneers to lose all obtained items and start again from the first level upon death. Between playthroughs, players can travel to an area called the Breach, where they can converse with non-player characters and unlock new items randomly encountered while playing.

<i>Crown and Council</i> 2016 video game

Crown and Council is a turn-based strategy game developed by Mojang employee Henrik Pettersson. The game was both announced and released as a surprise on Steam on April 22, 2016 and was made available for free.

<i>The Long Journey Home</i> (video game) 2017 video game

The Long Journey Home is a 2017 space exploration video game by Daedalic Entertainment for Windows, macOS, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.

<i>Desert Golfing</i> 2014 golfing video game

Desert Golfing is a minimalist golf video game developed and published by Canadian indie studio Blinkbat Games, designed by Justin Smith, and released on August 6, 2014, for iOS and Android, and on December 19, 2017, for Windows and macOS. It received a positive reception from critics for its addictive gameplay and simplicity. In July 2020, Smith, now operating under the studio name Captain Games, released a follow-up titled Golf on Mars, featuring new control options and course generation variety.

<i>Descenders</i> 2019 cycling video game

Descenders is a cycling game developed by RageSquid and published by No More Robots. It was released for Linux, macOS, Windows, and Xbox One on 7 May 2019, for PlayStation 4 on 25 August 2020, for Nintendo Switch on 6 November 2020 and Xbox Series X/S on 8 June 2021. A mobile version for iOS and Android was released on 4 August 2022.

A roguelike deck-building game is a hybrid genre of video games that combines the nature of deck-building card games with procedural-generated randomness from roguelike games.

<i>Caves of Qud</i> 2024 roguelike role-playing video game

Caves of Qud is a roguelike role-playing video game developed by American studio Freehold Games set in an open world that is partially pre-made and partially randomly generated. The game takes place in a post-apocalyptic science fantasy setting and is inspired by the pen-and-paper role-playing games Gamma World and Dungeons & Dragons.

<i>Star Traders: Frontiers</i> 2018 video game

Star Traders: Frontiers is a hybrid space trading and tactical role-playing game designed by Trese Brothers, a two-man independent video game studio. Players control a spaceship captain in an open world setting.

References

  1. ↑ Davenport, James (6 September 2017). "From the Elder Scrolls to the US Secret Service: Where videogame trees come from". PC Gamer.
  2. 1 2 Plunkett, Luke (9 December 2013). "See How Spelunky Levels Are Made". kotaku.com.
  3. 1 2 "How many weapons are in Borderlands 2?". eurogamer.net. 16 July 2012.
  4. ↑ Fogel, Stefanie (12 June 2017). "7 roguelikes that every developer should study". www.gamasutra.com. Retrieved 2019-06-16.
  5. ↑ "Weighing in at just 96KB, this is definitely the lightest 3D game in human history". 11 March 2016.
  6. ↑ Venter, Jason (9 October 2013). "Anarchy Online Classic – Blitzing Guide" . Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  7. ↑ "System Era's Charming Low-Poly Space Frontier Comes to Life in Astroneer". 23 February 2016.
  8. ↑ Dean, Paul (28 February 2014). "Banished review". Eurogamer . Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  9. ↑ Totilo, Stephen (10 March 2010). "Civilization V Preview: Small Changes, Big Differences". kotaku.com.
  10. ↑ "Core Keeper".
  11. ↑ "Review: Crypt of the NecroDancer". Hardcore Gamer. 24 April 2015. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  12. ↑ Thursten, Chris (12 May 2015). "Crypt of the Necrodancer review". PC Gamer . Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  13. ↑ Matulef, Jeffrey (10 July 2015). "Crypt of the NecroDancer to get jiggy on PS4 and Vita". Eurogamer . Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  14. ↑ Rob Rich (6 July 2016). "Crypt of the NecroDancer Review: Disco Inferno" . Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  15. ↑ Wiltshire, Alex (19 March 2018). "How Deep Rock Galactic mines fun from absolute darkness". Rock Paper Shotgun. Retrieved 26 January 2020.
  16. ↑ Bowman, Mitch (2018-02-09). "Downhill biking game Descenders could be the heir to Skate's throne". PC Gamer. Retrieved 2019-05-04.
  17. ↑ Meer, Alec (26 April 2013). "Wot I Think: Don't Starve". Rock, Paper, Shotgun.
  18. ↑ V, Perry (22 May 2013). "Don't Starve update adds caves and bunnies". pcgamer.com.
  19. ↑ Clark, Tim (12 January 2016). "Don't Starve: Shipwrecked is a breath of fresh... Nope, that's a hurricane". pcgamer.com.
  20. ↑ Fenlon, Wes (31 March 2016). "Dwarf Fortress' creator on how he's 42% towards simulating existence". pcgamer.com.
  21. ↑ "Dwarf Fortress will crush your CPU because creating history is hard". polygon.com. 23 July 2014.
  22. ↑ Weiner, Jonah (21 July 2011). "The Brilliance of Dwarf Fortress". The New York Times.
  23. ↑ Johnson, Mark (5 August 2016). "Generation Next, Part 2: How To Generate A Religion". Rock, Paper, Shotgun.
  24. ↑ Spufford, Francis (2003-10-18). "Backroom Boys by Francis Spufford". the Guardian. Retrieved 2022-09-27.
  25. ↑ "» Elite (or, The Universe on 32 K Per Day) The Digital Antiquarian" . Retrieved 2022-09-27.
  26. ↑ "Enter the Gungeon PC Review: A Fistful of Bullets". USgamer.net. 9 April 2016.
  27. ↑ "Map generator - Factorio Wiki". wiki.factorio.com.
  28. ↑ Dan Hathaway. "Fractal Block World". danthemanhathaway.com.
  29. ↑ Moore, Michael (28 Apr 2019). "These two city-building puzzle games play very differently, but share a grim outlook on the environment". The Verge. Retrieved 2019-08-02.
  30. ↑ Walker, John (1 June 2009). "Left 4 Dead 2: Exclusive RPS Hands-On Preview". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  31. ↑ "Here's how 'Minecraft' creates its gigantic worlds". engadget.com.
  32. ↑ "Just how big is a Minecraft world? Big, as it turns out". PCGamesN.
  33. ↑ "'Minecraft Dungeons' is a blocky, smash-and-slash adventure". Engadget. Retrieved 2019-06-11.
  34. ↑ Campbell, Colin (2019-06-10). "Minecraft Dungeons is simple, Diablo-inspired fun for the family". Polygon. Retrieved 2019-06-11.
  35. ↑ Curry, Peter (15 June 2016). "Postmortem: Dinosaur Polo Club's Mini Metro". www.gamasutra.com. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  36. ↑ "After two years, is No Man's Sky everything Hello Games originally promised?". gamesradar.com. 10 August 2018.
  37. ↑ Alexandra, Heather (18 October 2016). "A Look At How No Man's Sky's Procedural Generation Works". kotaku.com.
  38. ↑ Boccher, Mike (21 January 2016). "Pirate simulator Pixel Piracy headed to Xbox One and PS4" . Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  39. ↑ "Pixel Piracy Review: What Shall We Do With The Drunken Sailor?". Player.One. 11 August 2014. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  40. ↑ Smith, Adam (20 December 2016). "RimWorld's huge Wanderlust update is world-changing". Rock, Paper, Shotgun.
  41. ↑ Moser, Cassidee (11 August 2016). "How RimWorld fleshes out the Dwarf Fortress formula". www.gamasutra.com. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  42. ↑ Wiltshire, Alex (12 August 2016). "How RimWorld Generates Great Stories". Rock, Paper, Shotgun.
  43. ↑ "The making of Rogue Legacy". eurogamer.net. 29 July 2013.
  44. ↑ "Sir, You Are Being Hunted, and the advantages of procedural generation". 27 May 2014.
  45. ↑ Garst, Aron (11 September 2018). "Developing Spore : An oral ('Sporal'?) history 10 years on". www.gamasutra.com. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  46. ↑ Kohler, Chris (13 March 2008). "Designer Will Wright Walks Us Through Spore". Wired. Retrieved 23 January 2019– via www.wired.com.
  47. ↑ IGN Staff (15 October 2008). "Spore Honored with 2008 Popular Mechanics Breakthrough Award" . Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  48. ↑ Grayson, Nathan (4 August 2016). "Starbound: The Kotaku Review". Kotaku. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  49. ↑ Sykes, Tom (18 December 2016). "Starbound's Vault update adds procedural dungeons, procedural bosses". PC Gamer. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  50. ↑ "How did indie farming sim Stardew Valley top the Steam sales chart?". polygon.com. 29 February 2016.
  51. ↑ "Stardew Valley review". eurogamer.net. 10 October 2017.
  52. ↑ Mc Shea, Tim (May 31, 2011). "Terraria Review, Terraria PC Review".
  53. ↑ "The Binding of Isaac takes on religion in a randomly generated Zelda-styled Roguelike". arstechnica.com. 29 September 2011.
  54. ↑ Toms, Ollie (11 February 2021). "Valheim map: Biomes, placing map markers, how to ping the map". Rock, Paper, Shotgun.
  55. ↑ Dawe, Liam (18 April 2023). "Survival game Vintage Story set for a huge update with a big story event". Gaming on Linux.
  56. ↑ "Polygon article on Shadowlands". Polygon . 20 April 2020.
  57. ↑ "The most successful game ever: a history of Minesweeper". TechRadar . 28 May 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.