History Main / ProceduralGeneration

* ''VideoGame/{{XCOM 2}}'' features procedurally-generated maps that used pregenerated UFO and building elements as part of the landscape (explained in detail in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jrq5rDI4dk a Games Developers Conference Talk]]). These can interact with SaveScumming to the player's advantage: if a mission is just too difficult, load a save from before the mission start. The mission will reappear with the same objectives but on a different map, which may or may not be easier than before.

* ''Series/TheAvengers'' episode "Love All" (6-21) involved [[ExtrudedBookProduct computer-generated]] {{romance novel}}s.

* ''VideoGame/{{XCOM 2}}'' features procedurally-generated maps that used pregenerated UFO and building elements as part of the landscape. These can interact with SaveScumming to the player's advantage: if a mission is just too difficult, load a save from before the mission start. The mission will reappear with the same objectives but on a different map, which may or may not be easier than before.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Westerado}}'', the appearance of a person who killed your family in the opening, and who is searched by the player the entire game is randomly generated every time you play to keep the game fresh. Even their gender can change!

** The game even has procedurally generated "forgotten beasts" living underground, similar "titans" living above ground, various "night creatures" generated from a different format, and the procedurally generated Hidden Fun Stuff. The .40 versions also contain procedurally generated metal, weapon, armour, and entity raws for adventure mode HFS.

* ''VideoGame/EmpireEarth'': Random maps are generated according to some specifications (terrain type, map size...), but the editor allows their creation with just a seed number.

Procedural Generation has a kind of sinusoidal history: it was pretty much required in the days of 8-bit gaming, as cartridges and computers literally did not have enough memory to generate all the levels. This brought in the concept of using "seeds" to grow a randomly generated world which looked realistic and challenging. Then, as games got more detailed and had more capacity, level generation was done manually, as by this time, random generation, particularly in games with save features, took up more space than static levels (take ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress'' for example: each world can hit 100MB... in .txt form) As of late, procedural generation in video games tends to be behind the scenes: in AI, for example, or for audio or visual effects.

* ''VideoGame/{{XCOM 2}}'' features procedurally-generated maps that used pregenerated UFO and building elements as part of the landscape.

[[folder:Pen-and-Paper RPGs]]

* ''VideoGame/KingdomOfLoathing'' has a number of zones based around randomly-generated content, such as the [=GameInformPowerDailyPro=] dungeon. It's even possible to use a psychoanalytic jar on game creator Jick and try and fight your way to the top of the Tower of Procedurally-Generated Skeletons.

* ''VideoGame/StarFlight'' used a plasma cloud fractal to generate altitude maps for 800 planets. The game fit on two 360k floppy disks.

* ''VideoGame/Starflight'' used a plasma cloud fractal to generate altitude maps for 800 planets. The game fit on two 360k floppy disks.

* ''VideoGame/{{Fuel}}'' is a RacingGame with a map of '''14,000 square km''' of [[AfterTheEnd postapocalyptic]] wilderness, or ''half the size of Belgium''. It uses a fixed seed generated by the developers and a few manually created landmarks.

* ''VideoGame/TheSwindle'' generates a heist location anew with each mission launch.

* Every level in ''VideoGame/TwentyXX'' is generated from a pool of available platforming and combat challenges that are modified by the stage of the game you're at - higher levels typically spice up the challenges with more environmental hazards, tougher enemies and so on. The bosses, however, always remain the same.

The {{Demoscene}} has historically made more use of these techniques than anybody, in order to eke out spectacular graphical effects from tiny, tiny packages.

[[folder: Video Games ]]

* Music/BullOfHeaven probably uses this for their extreme-length songs.

* ''{{Mezzacotta}}'' has comics generated using the date as a seed.

Procedural generation is a form of creating media automatically. Rather than hand-crafting every coastline, mountain, tree, person and their identity, a designer makes a system where they need to enter a few variables and the program works up the details. It's a bit of a double-edged sword: when it's done well, it works ''really'' well, but when it's done poorly, it's either a mess or horribly boring.

Procedural generation has a kind of sinusoidal history: it was pretty much required in the days of 8-bit gaming, as cartridges and computers literally did not have enough memory to generate all the levels. This brought in the concept of using "seeds" to grow a randomly generated world which looked realistic and challenging. Then, as games got more detailed and had more capacity, level generation was done manually, as by this time, random generation, particularly in games with save features, took up more space than static levels (take ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress'' for example: each world can hit 100MB... in .txt form) As of late, procedural generation in video games tends to be behind the scenes: in AI, for example, or for audio or visual effects.

** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsArena Arena]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIDaggerfall Daggerfall]]'' were almost entirely generated in this fashion, with a few plot-specific cities and dungeons as exceptions. The former being ''the size of Europe'', the latter being only the size of Britain or so.
** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind Morrowind]]'' went away from it for the first and, to date, only time in the main series. The entire world was hand-created and remains exactly the same between play throughs.

Procedural generation is a form of creating media automatically. Rather than hand-crafting every coastline, mountain, tree, person and their identity, a designer makes a system where they need to enter a few variables and the program works up the details. It's a bit of a double-edged sword: when it's done well, it works ''really'' well, but when it's done poorly, it can just look like a mess.

* ''VideoGame/NoMansSky'', a sort of SpiritualSuccessor to ''VideoGame/{{Noctis}}'': A space flight simulator allowing you free roaming in a massive universe full of stars, all of which support at least one of the game's 18 ''quintillion'' planets, all procuedurally-generated. And the planets aren't the only things that are procedurally-generated, either: [[UpToEleven every plant, animal, asteroid field, spaceship, trading route, weapon, and space station in the game is also procedurally-generated.]]

* ''[[VideoGame/TheGameOfLife Conway's Game Of Life]]'' is an artificial life simulation which involves drawing cells on a grid and then applying the game's rules to them. It can lead to some surprisingly life-like patterns. TheOtherWiki has some [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conway%27s_Game_of_Life particularly awesome animations]].