Steambirds: How handcrafted levels prevent game design iteration

Re:Steambirds: How handcrafted levels prevent game design it... by TheEzEzz on Friday December 03, 2010 @09:34PM (#1968261)

I can't stress how fantastic it is being free from the chains of handcrafted levels. You can really iterate and refine the core mechanics all the way up to end of production. It's liberating!

For some genres interesting levels are a must though. My own current project is looking at how to generate platformer levels that are both interesting and possible to beat. I've got a pretty powerful algorithm up and running, with a pre-trailer up at http://www.pwnee.com

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Re:Steambirds: How handcrafted levels prevent game design it... by thristian on Saturday December 04, 2010 @01:50AM (#1968741)

I'm sure you already know about this, but people interested in randomly-generated platformer levels may well be interested in Spelunky:

http://www.spelunkyworld.com/

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Re:Steambirds: How handcrafted levels prevent game design it... by TheEzEzz on Saturday December 04, 2010 @03:58AM (#1968892)

Awesome. Great to see some more procedural stuff out there! And they made it on to XBLA, that gives me a lot of hope =D

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Re:Steambirds: How handcrafted levels prevent game design it... by wtracy on Saturday December 04, 2010 @01:36AM (#1968717)

Your stuff looks really cool.

I was already kicking around the idea of using genetic algorithms for play-balancing strategy games (scoring the difficulty based on how many generations it takes to find a winning strategy).

It looks to me like you've taken the concept to a whole new level, though. Good job!

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Re:Steambirds: How handcrafted levels prevent game design it... by TheEzEzz on Saturday December 04, 2010 @06:05PM (#1970413)

Thanks!

I'd love to play around with some genetic algorithms in a game design setting. It sounds like people have been having some success using it in StarCraft, and I think I could definitely find some use for it in my level generator. I might just have to explore that route for the sequel!

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Re:Steambirds: How handcrafted levels prevent game design it... by sparky on Friday December 03, 2010 @10:25PM (#1968375)

Great demo. I couldn't figure out another way to reach you privately, so check your YouTube messages.

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Re:Steambirds: How handcrafted levels prevent game design it... by LordLandon on Friday December 03, 2010 @11:06PM (#1968465)

Man, is that awesome.

Fix your blag so that I can read it.

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Re:Steambirds: How handcrafted levels prevent game design it... by TheEzEzz on Saturday December 04, 2010 @03:55AM (#1968890)

Turns out I'm a lazy programmer when it doesn't involve pretty moving graphics. I suppose the old blog deserves some code love too though. Should be fixed up now, thanks!

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Re:Steambirds: How handcrafted levels prevent game design it... by dkersten on Saturday December 04, 2010 @01:45AM (#1968734)

That looks really, really awesome. Great work!

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