[mtlmtlmtlmtl]

This is neat and all, but procedural 2D level generation can be done really well just with simple heuristics, see Spelunky from 2008. And that can be built into the game and computed efficiently on the fly, not requiring an internet connection.

[Larrikin]

I assume this is why Angry Birds 2 is such a terrible game compared to previous incarnations. All the levels get a base then a random generation of enemies. I wonder if it's actually possible to beat all incarnations, as many times I will get to a level, lose all my hearts a few hours or days in a row then easily complete the level without really learning any tricks or strategy.

It has served as a good example to teach kids in my life about the scam of digital artificial scarcity employed by the game by making you wait for hearts or pay.

[codetiger]

Came here to post the same thing. Procedural level generation has been there for a while and it does not need advanced AI. Probably if the same thing was done for games like Call of Duty or Medal of Honour type games, it would be more impressive.

[mtlmtlmtlmtl]

Minecraft is a notable example of 3D procedural generation. It's so much more complicated than Spelunky though. But definitely impressive.

[dpflan]

And cheaper (compared to the upfront cost to get to the point of GPT doing this versus classic methods).

[taeric]

Isn't that the secret, though? Sufficiently advanced procedurally generated content is indistinguishable from AI.

[codetiger]

Agreed, my argument is only on "sufficiently advanced". Mario is super simple to create a AI for this purpose. And the levels look very unhuman generated. :)

[Wowfunhappy]

Isn't Spelunky rearranging level pieces which were designed by a human? I imagine if you played it long enough, you'd start to recognize the pieces.

[sh4rks]

A lot of roguelikes (e.g. Dcss) do this as well. I'd be interested to see a game with truly random procedurally generated levels, though the levels may end up being repetitive and mundane.

[oneoff786]

I don’t believe that’s true. DCSS is mostly true procedural generation from a seed against constraints. There however some special fixed layouts for final floors, and small predefined vault rooms.

[skyyler]

I've played an absolute fuckton of DCSS and it is true. There are small "blocks" that you'll see over and over that are exactly the same. The best example I can give is the room Crazy Yiuf hangs out in with the tree hallway leading to it.

[oneoff786]

That is a vault

Edit: not to be confused with the Vaults floor*

Vaults are custom handcrafted rooms.

[jezzamon]

Yes, you do. Each piece has randomness within the piece too, so even then it's not all the same.

Being able to learn how the level generation works as a player is part of the experience of playing a roguelike game, so I don't think that's a bad thing though! Games with too much randomness and not enough structure can feel a bit samey

[Wowfunhappy]

Absolutely, but I can imagine an AI like ChatGPT, which is able to write stories that at least feel "creative"—might be able to generate levels that feel hand-crafted but are in fact entirely original.

[astrospective]

While it does arrange prebuilt blocks it also does more, it will punch holes in the walls as needed and does procedural population of what's in each block. The second one takes things further.

[mtlmtlmtlmtl]

Effectively, yes. Although a lot of additional things are also randomized like item/enemy spawns.

Then for Spelunky 2 there's the randomizer mod which randomizes almost everything. It pretty much never ceases to surprise you. Look up spelunky 2 randomizer on Youtube to see for yourself.

[hotpotamus]

The first game I played and was aware that it was procedurally generated, though I would not have known that term as a child, was the first Diablo, and a quick search shows that it was already a well-established concept by then, going back to the late 70's/early 80's.