proceduralgeneration
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Cyberpunk 2077's dialogue was lip-synced by AI
Procedural generation provides accurate animations for 10 languages.
'West of Dead' is a fast-paced shooter starring Ron Perlman
After it popped up in the Microsoft Store perhaps a little earlier than intended, twin-stick shooter West of Dead is available in open beta on Xbox One. You'll play as the Ghost Rider-esque William Mason, who's voiced by Ron Perlman of Hellboy and Sons of Anarchy fame.
Indie roguelike 'Below' has a release date: December 14th
More than five years after its original reveal, Capybara Games is ready to deliver Below, a much-anticipated indie title. Engadget spoke to co-founder Nathan Vella a few months ago about the stresses of running a successful small game studio working on such a complex game. At the time, he said that: "Fear of letting people down, and the kind of trust that people have put in us, are the two biggest motivating factors." Below throws gamers into procedurally-generated dungeons with a shield and weapon, and keeps the pressure up with permadeath. In a 2016 interview, creative director Kris Piotrowski said "The answer to 'What lies below?' is the main thing we're holding back." Now, the game is ready to ship on Xbox One and Steam, with a brief preview trailer teasing the adventures players have ahead of them.
'Chasm' brings its Metroidvania action home July 31st
Coming in just four years after its initially projected release date, 2D action-RPG Chasm has a July 31st release date. Five years ago its Kickstarter closed with $191,897 pledged towards the creation of this Metroidvania-style game with procedurally generated levels. Now, early access backers on Steam will get access on the 16th, while gamer-come-latelys can buy in at the end of the month for $20 on PC, PS4 or Vita.
Lose yourself in the ever-shifting 'Shape of the World'
Sometimes I need a video game that doesn't involve shooting people or decapitating monsters. (Sorry, Bloodborne and Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus.) My brain cells crave something quieter, like a meandering dive through Abzu or a free-roaming session in Skate 3. If you fall into the same camp, I highly recommend Shape of the World, a serene walking simulator set in a colorful and constantly evolving wilderness.
Neural networks can add natural animation to video games
We've seen procedurally generated worlds and weapons in video games before, but piecing together believable animations from a pool of variables is pretty tough. Previous attempts at it have looked janky and disjointed. It's okay in something like Ubisoft's experimental and quirky Grow Home, but big-budget AAA blockbusters akin to Uncharted 4 carry a different set of expectations. New research out of the University of Edinburgh is a bit different, and might help video games get away from one-size-fits-most pre-scripted animations, though.
Survival in 'We Happy Few' starts next week
We Happy Few was one of my coworker Jess Conditt's favorite games from E3 this year, and for good reason: its alt-history, drug-and-paranoia fueled take on a dystopia is unlike anything we've ever seen. But how did it all begin? With a question, according to an Xbox Wire post by developer Compulsion Games' Sam Abbott. The team was trying to figure out how to make a bigger game than its first (Contrast, which made its debut with the PlayStation 4) but wanted to keep its staff size from ballooning. That's why Compulsion turned to procedural generation -- akin to No Man's Sky -- for its 1964 English city.
Here's how 'Minecraft' creates its gigantic worlds
Have you wondered how Minecraft can produce massive worlds that are still chock-full of little details, like elaborate cliff faces and waterfalls? PBS' Game/Show is more than happy to explain in a new video. As you'll see below, Mojang's game relies on procedural generation, which automatically creates environments and objects that are at once random, but guided by rules that maintain a consistent logic. Mountains are always rocky and sprinkled with snow, for example, while the low lands are typically full of grass and trees.
XBLA 50MB limit inspires innovation
What the geek raised an interesting question yesterday: is the 50MB size limit for Xbox Live Arcade games a bad thing? The first and obvious answer is yes. After all, more space equates to bigger, better games, right? Conventionally, the idea makes sense. Look deeper though, and the question isn't quite so cut and dry. Yes, developers can do more with more space, but constraining their space forces them to find ways around it. Look at a game like RoboBlitz. It runs on the Unreal Engine and squeezes in under 50MB. What the Geek cites procedural generation as the next big thing in game design, and we have to agree. Honestly, it's something we've put some thought into recently.
