A little reflection/explanation on the procedural generation I used in Caves of Goo
A year later.
So here I am, over a year later from my last post. I'm not going to say something foolish, like I'll try to post more. I would like to. Time will tell. Game design is still a passion for me, but I struggle with motivation. I keep house. I raise 3 kids. One has recently been diagnosed with ADHD, the other was born with a fairly significant genetic condition. The economy seems to be circling the drain as the cost of living rises. I sleep little. I hurt more. I waste my little leisure time with endless youtube tutorials, devlogs, philosophy, psychology, and yes, much mindless drivel. It is hard to justify spending hours of my life for what may never produce an income. On games no one may ever see, stories that touch no mind. Something worthwhile will take so much time, something quick and easy will not be worthwhile. Quick is relative, even then there is hours of learning required, and there are standards I hold myself to that drive me to unattainable perfection. And yet,...
Procedural generation is one of those things that looks like magic from the outside but is really a series of small, careful decisions about what counts as a playable space. The map diagrams here make that clear, since the cave shapes are only half the problem and the other half is making sure every pocket is actually reachable. For a game jam project that is an especially tricky balance, because the generator has to be reliable enough that no run strands the player somewhere useless. It is the same design lesson you see in a much simpler form in Kick the Buddy APK, where every interaction has to read clearly the first time the player tries it.
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