Procedural generation, or why this game took so much longer than a month to make.

Procedural generation, or why this game took so much longer than a month to make. When we set out to make this game, we knew that the ambition and amount of content being put in would delay the release. Given the main feedback from the infinite Kaz runner we wanted to make this game more competitive. Players were looking for ways to measure up with each other. Players will also consume content faster than we can make it, so no matter how many levels we made it wouldn’t be enough. Unless…

Through the magic of procedural generation there is more possible level combinations than I am willing to calculate right now, easily thousands. As for the method of generation, we couldn’t go with a maze builder or the like, those end up feeling too impersonal and uninteresting. Epically if the main mechanic is about movement and navigation. So, we spent hours making hundreds of 10x10 tiles with 7 (closer to 5 considering edge types) different possible connections, think puzzle pieces that can fit together. This allows us to work in interesting navigation challenges. However, the time cost of making all those tiles was significant and we are now super behind schedule. But if you need a ton of levels, making hundreds of tiles doesn’t seem so bad…

Until next time ^_^