worldgen

Worldgen is the process of generating virtual worlds algorithmically, commonly for video games, simulations, and research. It aims to produce expansive environments with diverse terrain, climates, and features without manually crafting every element. Most systems are deterministic when given a specific seed, ensuring reproducibility for debugging and sharing worlds.

Procedural generation relies on algorithms to produce data from simple rules. Popular techniques include noise functions such as Perlin or Simplex noise for natural-looking terrain, fractal and multi-octave variations, Voronoi diagrams for region boundaries, and cellular automata for cave networks. Grammar-based methods and agent-based simulations are also used to create ecosystems, dungeons, and cultural features.

Worldgen typically creates layers of data: terrain height and slope, biomes and climate, water features like rivers and lakes, underground structures, vegetation and wildlife, resources and hazards, and sometimes settlements, roads, or points of interest. A generation pipeline often proceeds from a high-level map to local detail, with parameters controlling scale, density, and stylistic tone.

Technical concerns include chunking and streaming to support large maps, level-of-detail systems to manage performance, and reproducibility via seeds. Designers balance randomness with playability, tune distributions of resources and hazards, and test for artifacts introduced by generation rules.

In games, worldgen underpins expansive, explorable worlds. Minecraft relies heavily on procedural terrain and feature generation; No Man’s Sky procedurally generates planets, flora, fauna, and ecosystems; other titles such as Dwarf Fortress and RimWorld use similar techniques to create histories and maps.