Procedural Content Generation for Emergent Gameplay

Publication Type:
Thesis
Issue Date:
2023
Full metadata record
The addition of emergent gameplay is a highly sought-after feature in games for both players and developers alike. Emergent gameplay refers to occurrences in games where the interaction of systems results in exciting and surprising scenarios that provide additional benefits or challenges for the player. This thesis aims to investigate the following research questions to obtain a better understanding of the nature of emergence and how to create it: How do developers design for emergent gameplay and how can PCG be used to assist with the creation of emergent scenarios? The first part of the investigation examines academic literature, developer conferences and talks to find the common factors between systemic games that help create emergence. This will be used to form the foundations of an emergent framework. The framework’s objective will provide developers with an easy-to-understand chart to evaluate their emergent game development projects and compare them with other emergent games. Another part of the investigation will involve investigating several generative techniques and creating a framework to identify which PCG methods will be suitable for facilitating an emergent environment. Finally, a testing session and evaluation will follow the development of the frameworks to observe the prototype for emergent behaviour.
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