A simple guide to constraint solving Since developing DeBroglie and Tessera, I’ve had a lot of requests to explain what it is, how it works. The generation can often seem quite magical, but actually the rules underlying it are quite simple. So, what is the Wave Function Collapse algorithm (WFC)? Well, it’s an algorithm developed […]
Continue reading
I’ve been experimenting a lot with constraint-based procedural generation these days. Specifically the Wave Function Collapse algorithm (WFC). I’ve even made my own open source library, and unity asset. WFC is a very flexible algorithm, particularly with the enhancements I’ve designed, but at the same time, I’ve found it’s quite hard to actually get it […]
Continue reading
One of my biggest gripes with the WaveFunctionCollapse procedural generation algorithm is that, despite the name, it doesn’t really have anything to do with quantum mechanics. I usually prefer the term Constraint Based Procedural Generation instead. The name WaveFunctionCollapse is meant more as an analogy. As the algorithm progresses, it resolves a fuzzy, uncertain picture […]
Continue readingI’ve been working a lot on Tessera. I presented a paper at the most recent PCG Workshop of FDG, where I explain how Tessera makes WaveFunctionCollapse somewhat less daunting, and go into some of the details of its features. That may not be news for users of the software, but here I explain how things […]
Continue readingWaveFunctionCollapse (WFC) is a procedural generation technique for creating images and tile-based levels. I’ve discussed it many times before. As a technique, it has some pros and cons. Pro: it’s almost uncannilly good at stitching together tilesets into interesting arrangements, and is pretty good at copying the style in a supplied sample image. Cons: it […]
Continue reading
It’s been over a year since I last deconstructed how a game does its procedural generation. Today we’ll be looking at Planet, a 2016 cosy design toy by one of my favourite developers, Oskar Stålberg.
Continue reading
When I spoke about autotiling, I briefly touched on how it’s possible to use Wave Function Collapse (or other constraint based generators) as a form of autotiling, i.e. user-directed editing of tilemaps. I’ve usually referred to this technique as “editable WFC“. It’s a combination of autotiling and WFC, and contains the best of both: Being […]
Continue reading
I’m going to share with you a technique I’ve found for doing lazy, reliable, deterministic, constant-time infinite generation of tile based levels using Wave Function Collapse (WFC). But first, let’s cover some background, Modifying in Blocks, and lazy chunk based infinite generation.
Continue readingLast article, we were comparing WaveFunctionCollapse (WFC), and Model Synthesis (MS). These are both similar procedural generation techniques that work along similar lines. Specifically, they generate a grid of tiles (or pixels), using a set of hard constraints, and some generalized solver technique to find a solution, a set of tiles that satisfies all the […]
Continue reading
I’ve written a lot about Wave Function Collapse. Developed in 2016 by Maxim Gumin, it’s an algorithm for generating tilemaps and pixel textures based on the constraint solving with extra randomization . But did you know most of the key ideas come from a paper written a full decade earlier? Today, we’ll be looking into […]
Continue reading