Animation of Oblige map generation

Oblige is a random map generator for DOOM and this animated GIF shows the new room growing algorithm in action:



Blue lines represent boundaries between two rooms. Green lines separate different floors in a room. Purple rectangles are connections between rooms.

Watching that makes me realize how primitive the current ruleset is :)

The way it shows this in action is pretty cool.

Wish I could make maps as good as an unthinking program can...

Honestly, when I saw this one Oblige generated map, it just looked like a big fat mess. There was no clarity of design whatsoever, it was literally just random hallways merged together. It manages to make the Vanilla levels look completely believable with the ridiculous amount of abstract. XD

It's really telling when the starting area of the second level triggers a secret.

MetroidJunkie said:

Honestly, when I saw this one Oblige generated map, it just looked like a big fat mess. There was no clarity of design whatsoever, it was literally just random hallways merged together. It manages to make the Vanilla levels look completely believable with the ridiculous amount of abstract. XD

It's really telling when the starting area of the second level triggers a secret.

I generated a megawad or two with it one time for the hell of it, and the thing that really made me laugh my ass off was that all the secrets were... like... ridiculously obvious. They were all indentations in the wall an inch or so deep with bright lighting all around the perimeter of the fake wall that made it super easy to see at long distances.

andrewj said:

Oblige is a random map generator for DOOM and this animated GIF shows the new room growing algorithm in action:

http://oblige.sourceforge.net/shots/ob737_anim.gif

Blue lines represent boundaries between two rooms. Green lines separate different floors in a room. Purple rectangles are connections between rooms.

Watching that makes me realize how primitive the current ruleset is :)

Everything square is 64? Those are some thick ass doors.

everennui said:

Everything square is 64? Those are some thick ass doors.

The grid size is 128x128, and a 256x128 prefab is used in those spots, e.g. the keyed doors contain a door of size 128x16 and some detail to show the key texture (DOORRED etc).

I actually opened up Oblige a few days ago for the first time in a while and was really, really impressed. Thanks for making this awesome tool :D A neat little visualization here, would love to see it for bigger, more complex maps!

Hahaha! It's cool, and pretty curious! :D

Tango said:

I actually opened up Oblige a few days ago for the first time in a while and was really, really impressed. Thanks for making this awesome tool :D A neat little visualization here, would love to see it for bigger, more complex maps!

Don't forget to check the previous version 6.20, which is based on 3.57.

Nice. How does that map look in-game?

boris said:

Nice. How does that map look in-game?

I didn't think to save it.

This is very, very cool! And, it's a great way to verify the algorithm. Reminds me of the early maze generators I used to build.: Find a random spot. Can it be built upon? If yes, do so, otherwise repeat! Massive speedup if you maintain a list of unchecked nodes, and pick from that.

Good stuff! Oblige makes the most realistic (or robust) maps of any generator I've seen. Maybe some of the criticisms are valid, but only a handful of people can really imagine what it takes to get the computer to try to make anything visually appealing, not to mention a map that can actually be played start to finish.

I wonder how many released maps are heavy mods of Oblige :) Cause it wouldn't be so obvious anymore.

And, why not mod an Oblige map? That'd be a good way for a novice to get started, and create something that might actually turn out to be decent.

Some suggestions:
1. Instead of a GIF, make a 'standard equipment' viewer on Oblige's main screen.

2. Show A* lines during pathing from point to point. (would look cool).
3. Shape pre-calc. Before you start the process shown in the .GIF, have an algorithm that draws a large shape within the .GIF, which confines the room grow to that shape. Then you'd need to draw a hallway or something, to the next 'large shape area', where you start the process over.

4. Variable prefabs - Prefabs that accept some arguments which, for example, could scale the prefab in three dimensions, or scale things within the prefab.

I could go on forever - this is a really exciting project, with endless possibilities. Have fun, good luck!