How Randomly Generated Content Keeps Games Exciting

Unless you've been living under a rock, you've probably played a game with randomly generated content. This content could be anything from random loot drops, to entirely randomly generated worlds. How you feel about randomness in games comes down to individual preferences, but regardless, it's fair to say that randomness has been a key element of game design for decades now. It doesn't look like randomness is going anywhere anytime soon, so we thought it would be a good idea to look at how and why developers use randomness in games. Let's take a look.

Procedural Generation

Don't be put off by the game developer lingo here, procedural generation is really quite simple. Procedural generation is when content is created quasi-randomly by a computer, rather than designed by the hands of the developer. Perhaps the most well-known example of this design approach can be found in Minecraft. In Minecraft, entire worlds are generated using procedural generation, with no two worlds ever being the same. However, other games use this approach too. For example, the dungeons in Diablo II are partially created semi-randomly. In Warframe, the mission maps are composed of randomly generated tiles that are randomly connected together. These tiles include things like start rooms, extraction rooms, and arena or boss rooms.

There has been debate about whether some games would benefit from more procedural generation. For example, some fans of the Sci-Fi MMO EVE Online have argued that procedural generation would make the gameplay more accessible to new players and keep gameplay engaging. However, the developers have opted to not go this way so far. If you're struggling to get ahead in EVE Online, then you can buy EVE Online ISK to get everything you need.

But why do developers build procedurally generated content into games?

The Pros of Procedural Generation:

• Replayability - Players don't get bored when they don't know what to expect. When each experience is different, there's always new fun to be had.
• Longevity - To keep players coming back to the game, they have to always have something to achieve. Players want new experiences and you simply can't get these new experiences with fixed systems (or at least, not through the content itself). Once a player has completed all the content, they have no reason to keep playing.
• Mastery - It's much harder to master a game that doesn't rely on fixed content. Instead of learning the layout of the map, players have to master the core mechanics of the game so they can thrive in any scenario. This is incredibly rewarding for players.
• Adaptability - Procedural generation systems can be designed to learn the player's preferences and adapt the game to create more engaging gameplay for the player. Left 4 Dead utilizes this to create tension and fear for the player in a way that will be most scary to them.

Cons of Procedural Generation

• Lack of control - When developers create fixed content, they can carefully craft the exact experiences and emotions they want to achieve. Storylines can be woven into carefully designed environments and deliberately paced content so that players are taken on a journey. It's simply not possible to do this with procedurally generated content.
• Expensive - To create a high-quality environment, developers need to spend a lot of money. When they don't, the content can lack any depth and uniqueness.

Randomness in Skill-Based Games

Randomness (or RNG) has been a hot topic of debate for players for many years. Some players hate that their success or failure in a fight can come down to a random critical strike. Other players love randomness. So, what's the point of randomness in games?

Randomness fulfils 3 functions:

• Exciting moments - You're never quite sure how the fight is going to go, even when you execute your most powerful moves.
• Occasionally lets weaker players win - This makes games more accessible to weaker players who might otherwise quit.
• Forces players to adapt to changing circumstances - You have to think on your feet, rather than executing the same set of moves each time.

For example, World of Warcraft uses RNG fairly heavily and has increased its use over the years. In Classic WoW, there was less RNG, although it did still exist. Players could win a fight based on a randomly powerful critical strike hit. They could get super rare content with a very low drop chance from a dungeon. In the current WoW, RNG is built into the core progression systems at end-game. This has led many players to become frustrated and argue that RNG has gone too far. They can find themselves grinding for hours and never get the gear with the exact stats that they need. This is why some players opt to buy WoW gold or even entire WoW accounts that already have the stats they need.

Is Randomly Generated Content a Good Thing?

Randomness will always make some players slam their keyboards in frustration, but ultimately it has proved to be a good thing for games. Randomness keeps games fun and engaging, but developers have to be careful not to take things too far.