Analyzing the expressive range of a level generator

Abstract

This paper explores a method for analyzing the expressive range of a procedural level generator, and applies this method to Launchpad, a level generator for 2D platformers. Instead of focusing on the number of levels that can be created or the amount of time it takes to create them, we instead examine the variety of generated levels and the impact of changing input parameters. With the rise in the popularity of PCG, it is important to be able to fairly evaluate and compare different generation techniques within similar domains. We have found that such analysis can also expose unexpected biases in the generation algorithm and holes in the expressive range that drive future work.