On Linking Level Segments

TL;DR

This paper addresses the challenge of linking level segments in procedural content generation, proposing algorithms that ensure the resulting levels are playable and structurally sound across different game genres.

Contribution

It introduces a Markov chain and tree search approach to reliably link level segments while maintaining game playability and structural integrity.

Findings

The proposed methods successfully link segments in various game types.

Links ensure levels are playable and structurally consistent.

The approach is customizable for different design needs.

Abstract

An increasingly common area of study in procedural content generation is the creation of level segments: short pieces that can be used to form larger levels. Previous work has used basic concatenation to form these larger levels. However, even if the segments themselves are completable and well-formed, concatenation can fail to produce levels that are completable and can cause broken in-game structures (e.g. malformed pipes in Mario). We show this with three tile-based games: a side-scrolling platformer, a vertical platformer, and a top-down roguelike. Additionally, we present a Markov chain and a tree search algorithm that finds a link between two level segments, which uses filters to ensure completability and unbroken in-game structures in the linked segments. We further show that these links work well for multi-segment levels. We find that this method reliably finds links between segments and is customizable to meet a designer's needs.