The long journey of this game's random level generator (Patreon)

The past week has been mostly about getting the level generation the way I want it. That means fidgeting around with it. 

A lot of fidgeting.

There are a few considerations I'm making with these randomly generated levels: 

• Dead ends. How many, and how long are they?
• Loops. The basis of non-linear level design is to have loops, so there's more than one pathway to a single location.
• Aesthetic. Could I make this feel like an actual place? (More specifically, a factory?)
• Consistency. How similar is each level the generator comes up with?

I have made several 'models' of level generators. The first was a set of simple, grid-based hallway tiles which could connect back to each other. It looks neat, but there are big problems: long dead ends, no loops, and a total lack of variety.

So then I got to brainstorming the second model. (Don't mind my impulsive doodles.) 

The main idea of Model 2 was to introduce some variety. I used some footage of urban exploration as reference for the new tiles I would be adding.

But it didn't fix the underlying problems. In fact, it made them even more obvious by making the levels bigger. I tried to fix that with Model 3, but Model 3 was such a disaster I won't even speak of it. 

So, a little tired of all this, I "scrapped" the work I had done over the past several days and went back to the most simple possible design, only allowing the computer to use one tile which could turn any direction. I ended up with Model 4, which is where I'm at currently.

You can see a lot more spaghetti in this design, which is something I was unconsciously trying to avoid, favoring map designs that felt logical. However, I decided to embrace the spaghetti for now. It turns out, when I let the computer go hog wild, it tends to be surprisingly consistent overall. It averages itself out.

Besides that, it reminds me of my original concept for Lethal Company's aesthetic, which was a factory which had "overgrown" like a tumor--combining the feeling of an endless, sprawling cave system with a place which actually had a purpose once.

With that I gave myself no more time to fidget with the random level generator, at least for a while. Next week I'll show off the first, basic test enemy, which involves a lot of running and screaming.