How is procedural generation different from just regular generation?

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Slightly related to a recent post.

I understand procedural generation in video games is basically an instruction set to tell the computer to run through to get the same result every time so that it doesn’t load a whole level each time, it builds the level based on a set of parameters.

How is this different than just loading a built level? Isn’t that what a normal script of code is in any other game? Is an instruction set to tell the computer to load the level?

Is it just the difference between one being done by a programmer and one done by a level designer/artist? They both need assets already designed and made to work right?

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Anonymous 0 Comments

Have you played settlers of catan?

In settlers of catan you have 19 hexagonal cards that you shuffle and you follow a rule to draw them and put them to make the board, the result: different boards every game. That’s **procedural generation**.

To get the same result but with **regular generation**, you would have to one board for each permutation of the 19 hexes so 19! boards, that’s more than 121 quadrillion boards! Good luck having enough space in your home

Edit: for the math geeks the actual number of boards woud be 19!/(4! * 4! * 4! *3! *3! * 1!) = a bit over 244 billion boards

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