PROCEDURAL CONTENT GENERATION for GAME DESIGNERS a Dissertation

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SANTA CRUZ EXPRESSIVE DESIGN TOOLS: PROCEDURAL CONTENT GENERATION FOR GAME DESIGNERS A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in COMPUTER SCIENCE by Gillian Margaret Smith June 2012 The Dissertation of Gillian Margaret Smith is approved: ________________________________ Professor Jim Whitehead, Chair ________________________________ Associate Professor Michael Mateas ________________________________ Associate Professor Noah Wardrip-Fruin ________________________________ Professor R. Michael Young ________________________________ Tyrus Miller Vice Provost and Dean of Graduate Studies Copyright © by Gillian Margaret Smith 2012 TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Figures .................................................................................................................. ix List of Tables ................................................................................................................ xvii Abstract ...................................................................................................................... xviii Acknowledgments ......................................................................................................... xx Chapter 1: Introduction ....................................................................................................1 1 Procedural Content Generation ................................................................................. 6 1.1 Game Design.................................................................................................... 7 1.2 Procedural Content Generation for Game Design .......................................... 9 2 2D Platformer Games ............................................................................................... 13 3 Research Contributions ............................................................................................ 15 3.1 Design Understanding ................................................................................... 16 3.2 Control ........................................................................................................... 16 3.3 Intersecting the Design Process .................................................................... 16 3.4 Expressivity .................................................................................................... 19 4 Dissertation Overview .............................................................................................. 20 Chapter 2: Procedural Content Generation for Game Design ........................................... 23 1 The Design of PCG Systems ...................................................................................... 23 iii 1.1 Controlling the Generator’s Expressivity ....................................................... 24 1.2 Understanding Game Design and Players ..................................................... 34 2 Procedural Content Generation for 2D Platformer Games ...................................... 36 3 AI in Tools for Design and Creativity......................................................................... 43 Chapter 3: Design Space Analysis ................................................................................... 49 1 Existing Models of Level Design ............................................................................... 50 2 Deconstructing Platformers...................................................................................... 52 3 The Composition of Platformers .............................................................................. 56 3.1 The Avatar ..................................................................................................... 56 3.2 Level Components ......................................................................................... 57 4 The Rhythm-Based Structure of Platformer Levels .................................................. 59 5 Case Study: Sonic the Hedgehog .............................................................................. 63 6 Discussion and Future Work ..................................................................................... 66 Chapter 4: Launchpad: Designer-Influenced Level Generation ......................................... 69 1 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 69 2 Generating Levels ..................................................................................................... 72 2.1 Rhythm Group Generation ............................................................................ 73 3 Critics ........................................................................................................................ 79 3.1 Line Distance Critic ........................................................................................ 80 iv 3.2 Component Frequency Critic ......................................................................... 81 3.3 Combining Critics ........................................................................................... 82 4 Global Passes ............................................................................................................ 82 5 Discussion and Future Work ..................................................................................... 83 5.1 Future Work .................................................................................................. 87 Chapter 5: Tanagra: Mixed-Initiative Level Generation.................................................... 88 1 Related Systems ....................................................................................................... 90 2 Level Representation ................................................................................................ 93 2.1 Beats .............................................................................................................. 94 2.2 Geometry Pattern Library.............................................................................. 95 3 Design Environment ............................................................................................... 100 3.1 Geometry Editing......................................................................................... 101 3.2 Beat Editing ................................................................................................. 102 3.3 Playtesting ................................................................................................... 103 3.4 Generator Invocation .................................................................................. 103 4 System Overview .................................................................................................... 105 4.1 Reactive Planning with ABL ......................................................................... 107 4.2 Numerical Constraint Solving with Choco ................................................... 110 5 Geometry Management and Generation ............................................................... 113 v 5.1 Hierarchical Geometry Patterns .................................................................. 113 5.2 Creating User Geometry from Tiles ............................................................. 119 5.3 Incorporating User-Created Geometry into Patterns ................................. 120 6 Beat Management .................................................................................................. 122 7 Constraint Solving and Search ................................................................................ 124 7.1 Constraint Solving ........................................................................................ 125 7.2 Searching for a Solution .............................................................................. 126 8 Use Scenario ........................................................................................................... 127 9 Interface Changes ................................................................................................... 133 10 Reactive Grammars .............................................................................................. 136 11 Future Directions .................................................................................................. 139 Chapter 6: Endless Web: PCG-Based Game Design ........................................................ 143 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 143 2 Endless Web ............................................................................................................ 146 2.1 PCG Influence on Story ................................................................................ 153 3 The Use of PCG in Game Design ............................................................................. 153 3.1 Replayability ................................................................................................ 154 3.2 Adaptability ................................................................................................. 155 3.3 Player Control .............................................................................................. 156 vi 3.4 Game Mechanics ......................................................................................... 158 3.5 Endless Web as a PCG-Based Game ............................................................ 158 4 The PCG-Based

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