Creating games can be a challenging yet exhilarating experience, and I’m proud to say that I’ve been able to work on a few exciting projects recently. One of my games has already hit the market, with another on the way in the coming weeks – and both of them contain a random level generation feature.
While I wouldn’t necessarily consider my level generation techniques to be ground-breaking, I do believe that they add a certain level of intrigue and excitement to the gameplay experience. As an avid gamer myself, I’ve always been drawn to games that offer random level generation, from the likes of Diablo and Elite to Worms and Civilization. Each game has its own take on random level generation, and I’ve been inspired by these experiences to develop my own approaches.
Take Bloxkrieg, for instance. This game is played on a rectangular field with a paddle at the bottom, and the level generator creates an array of boxes in a variety of configurations. Using the Fibonacci sequence to generate concentric rings with varying box counts, the generator creates a visually striking playing field that’s constantly changing. Depending on the number of rings generated, a box may even appear around them. The generator can also create rows of boxes, both horizontally and vertically, as well as a cross with multiple concentric rings in each quadrant.
Then there’s Boing, a side-scrolling game that’s always keeping players on their toes. The level generator selects from a set of tiles split into “floors” and “roads” to create a dynamic course for the ball to travel through. To prevent the game from feeling repetitive, the generator maintains a ratio of at least 3 floors for every 1 road, ensuring that no double roads appear (like in the screenshot above!). The starting area appears once per playthrough at the beginning of the game.
Overall, I believe that random level generation is an exciting way to keep players engaged and add an element of surprise to gameplay. I’m thrilled to be able to incorporate these features into my own games, and I can’t wait to see how players respond to them.