The role of environmental design methods in player experience: a comparative analysis of procedurally generated and handcrafted game levels

Abstract

Technological advancements in game design have enabled games to become more interactive, contextual, and personalized. These innovations allow for the creation of greater and more spectacular video game environments (everything in a game that is around a player), and they also lead to the development of technologies that assist in optimizing the game production process. The development steps have become more complex in order to meet the expectations of the games, which has increased the demand for new game content. In addition to handcrafted game content, procedurally generated game content which is algorithmic development with minimal human input has begun to be used in games. Upon reviewing the literature, it is evident that further research is required to understand the player experience in procedurally generated game levels. Player experience research in this discipline primarily focuses on 2D games and 2D game content generation. This study is an attempt to enhance research on procedural generation in 3D games and its impact on player experience. One of the primary goals of this study is to understand the differences between procedurally generated levels and handcrafted levels and to explore the effects, if any, of these levels on the players' experience. A mixed methods approach was utilized. The questionnaires used in game studies were examined in the literature, and afterwards, a survey was produced by combining questions regarding player experience. The online survey asked participants to rate the games using a 7-point Likert scale. The study was conducted with a study group of 39 individuals who have prior experience playing the games utilized in the research. Following the completion of this part of the survey, further semi-structured questions were asked. The study involves players sharing their gaming experiences deeply . Participants were requested to provide how the game environment, including open and closed spaces and interactable objects, influences their sense of immersion, enjoyment, and overall satisfaction with the game. When selecting three games for the research, it is ensured that one of them is procedural, the other one is handcrafted, and the last one combines both approaches. The first one is No Man's Sky which developers used procedural generation to create enormous and endless landscapes and achieve an optimal production balance for game content. The second is Outer Wilds, in which developers methodically designed each planet's to precisely moderate the flow of the game and ensure that players experience essential story elements. The third is Starfield which has over 1000 planets, some of which are hand-crafted and unique to each player, most are procedurally generated. As a result, the aim is to uncover the impact of the relation between environmental design methods and player experience, providing guidance for designers and artists in determining methods for game development. In the survey findings, the queries in the first section were assessed on a scale of 1 to 7, and their results were averaged. The second section carefully examined the semi-structured questions that were given to the participants, and the results were analyzed. The findings indicate that the game environment and its creation process significantly influence player experience, however they do not primarily determine the overall gaming experience.