| Akvod said: What do you think about Minecraft? It is fun to just explore the game (I really just don't understand the game as a game though. It actually feels meta in a sense as you realize you're kind of wasting your time mining for resources and feel like an idiot for playing video games in general. And then I never really cared about playing the game like Legos), although even Minecraft's exploration can get old too.
Like I said, I don't think PCG games can't rely on level design or the map as the main attraction/core of the game. At some point, the experience of exploring gets dull, and aesthetically the game feels dull when you just keep seeing the same thing over and over again. The PCG really just becomes a way to make other elements fresh and continue to shine. Combat, socializing, etc. |
I tried Minecraft a few times but it did not click with me. Running around, exploring was ok, much better in Proteus though. Terraria was better, also with procedurally generated maps, exploring the depths was more fun in 2D. Yet I still stuck to 1 map after I got going, it might as well have been hand made. Randomized maps work in strategy/building games like civilization. Those games play out so differently that they remain fresh for longer.
GT5 had PCG rally stages. A good way to keep you guessing and listen to your co-driver, but it all starts to look the same very soon. I guess since we're used to navigating by landmarks, a landscape where everything keeps randomly repeating quickly becomes unappealing.
I think Skyrim used PCG for certain quests, or at least I hope they did because they were terrible. Simple random errands.
Simple randomness can already work really well to keep things fresh. I played Tokyo Jungle for quite a while. The familiar terrain with continually changing threats was a great combination. Procedurally generating the terrain would have been too much.
Procedural generation is more suited to evolving worlds. From small slow changes like a river changing course to full scale volcano erruptions. From dust run at normal speed. Godus without all the clicking.
