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Mechanic Miner: Reflection-Driven Game Mechanic Discovery and Level Design

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Applications of Evolutionary Computation (EvoApplications 2013)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNTCS,volume 7835))

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Abstract

We introduce Mechanic Miner, an evolutionary system for discovering simple two-state game mechanics for puzzle platform games. We demonstrate how a reflection-driven generation technique can use a simulation of gameplay to select good mechanics, and how the simulation-driven process can be inverted to produce challenging levels specific to a generated mechanic. We give examples of levels and mechanics generated by the system, summarise a small pilot study conducted with example levels and mechanics, and point to further applications of the technique, including applications to automated game design.

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Cook, M., Colton, S., Raad, A., Gow, J. (2013). Mechanic Miner: Reflection-Driven Game Mechanic Discovery and Level Design. In: Esparcia-Alcázar, A.I. (eds) Applications of Evolutionary Computation. EvoApplications 2013. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 7835. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-37192-9_29

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-37192-9_29

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-37191-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-37192-9

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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