Automatic Video Game Level Generation
Networked affective audio computing
We are developing a generative system that automatically designs levels for skill-based video games such as Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda. Using evolutionary algorithms, levels are selected and bred together based on how fun they are, as determined by a computational model of player enjoyment. The hope is that this method will help small development teams compete with big-budget studios. Since video game creation typically requires a team of professional artists and designers to craft each piece of game content by hand, this research could considerably reduce the time and expense needed to produce games. Furthermore, procedural generative techniques not only promise to produce virtually limitless amounts of content, but also make it possible to tailor content to the individual player.
Members
Nathan Sorenson, Philippe Pasquier.
Research paper
Sorenson, N. & Pasquier, P. (2010). "The Evolution of Fun: Automatic Level Design through Challenge Modeling" Proceedings of the First International Conference on Computational Creativity (ICCCX), ACM Press, Lisbon, Portugal, 258–267.
Sorenson, N. & Pasquier, P. (2010). "Towards a Generic Framework for Automated Video Game Level Creation" International Conference on Evolutionary Computation in Games (EvoGame), Istanbul, Springer, 2010.