Learn the tricks of simple procedural generation and how various genres, such as racing simulators, platformers, and roguelikes, can all benefit from these techniques.
In this book, you'll learn how to combine hand-crafted content with algorithms to create immersive and beautiful environments. You'll learn how to create a seeding system, so that you can replay great levels with your friends. We'll cover how to create good tilesets, how to use the tilemap editor effectively, and how to inject just the right amount of logic into an otherwise automated machine that is your own personal procedural content generation engine.
We will use 2D examples to demonstrate the concepts covered throughout the book. By the time you complete this book, you’ll have a good handle on how to add procedural generation to your games.
What You Will Learn
- Learn to set up the perfect content generation system
- Master the tools for randomization and repeatability
- Understand how much content to craft versus how much to generate
Who This Book Is For
Basic familiarity with the Godot engine and GDScript is essential. While all concepts are explained in the book, it can be overwhelming learning these techniques at the same time as learning the engine.
Author(s): Christopher Pitt
Edition: 1
Publisher: Apress
Year: 2023
Language: English
Commentary: TOC's links are URLs pointing to the book's doi
Pages: 269
City: Berkeley
Tags: Game Development; Procedural Generation; Godot; Indie; Randomization; Seeding; Interaction Systems
Table of Contents
About the Author
About the Technical Reviewer
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Chapter 1: Hand-Crafted Content vs. Procedural Content
Example: Limbo
Procedural Content Generation
Example: Oxygen Not Included
How Much of Each?
Example: Diablo 2
Where We Go from Here
Chapter 2: Generating with Nodes
Setting Up a New Project
Loading Experiments
Creating Nodes via Script
Randomizing Behavior
Creating Realism with Randomization
Summary
Chapter 3: Generating with Tiles
Creating Tile Sets
Modifying Tiles with Code
Using Terrains
Using Terrains with Code
Summary
Chapter 4: Recreating Sokoban
Creating Levels
Selecting a Level
Switching Screens
Globals and Other Mischief
Drawing Levels
Drawing Nodes
Moving the Player
Avoiding Closed Doors
Moving Crates
Winning a Level
Summary
Chapter 5: Designing Levels in Pixel Art
Creating Pixel Art
Converting Pixel Art to a Grid
Flipping Layouts
Combining with Nodes and Tile Maps
Summary
Chapter 6: Creating a Seeding System
A New Experiment
Generating Easier Seeds
Summary
Chapter 7: Recreating Bouncy Cars
Getting Set Up
Creating a Seed Screen
Generating Maps
Drawing the Map
Drawing the Players
Calculating Waypoints
The Right Way to Do This
Moving the Players
Warning the Players About Directions
Summary
Chapter 8: Navigating in Generated Levels
Getting Set Up
Adding Basic Movement
Adding Navigation to Tile Maps
Adding Obstacle Nodes
Merging Polygons
Summary
Chapter 9: Collective Nodes in Generated Maps
Refreshing Our Memory
Selecting the Appropriate Node(s)
Summary
Chapter 10: Recreating Invasion
Getting Set Up
Screens
Transitions
Adding Shaders
Planning Room Generation
Tile Map
Exits
Sanctuaries
Arrows
Spawns
The Remaining Nodes
Generating One Room
Generating Many Rooms
Hiding Invalid Arrows and Sanctuaries
Moving Around in the Rooms
Transitioning to Neighboring Rooms
Spawning Survivors
Rescuing Survivors
Taking Things Further
Summary
Chapter 11: Paths and Path Followers
Defining Paths
Moving Along the Path
Moving Between Paths
Summary
Chapter 12: Interaction Systems
Managing Interactions
How This Could Apply to Invasion
Having Conversations
Dialog in Invasion
Summary
Chapter 13: Recreating This War of Mine
This War of Mine
Getting Set Up
Generating Levels
Selecting Starting Characters
Interacting with Objects in the World
Ending the Day
Deciding When to End the Game
Unlocking New Levels and Characters
A Note About Mobile Game Development
Taking It One Step at a Time
Thank You for Reading This Far
Index
