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Steam News26 February 20242y ago

Gameplay implications of procedurally generated maps

Let’s talk about procedural generation in this latest update. As mentioned on its Steam Page, Times of Progress features procedural map generation. But how does it work exactly?

Full notes

Full Times of Progress update

Read the full published notes in a cleaner layout. The original post stays linked below.

What changed

0 fixes3 additions4 changes0 removals
  • Maps
  • Compatibility
  • Server
  • Gameplay
changedAs mentioned on its Steam Page, Times of Progress features procedural map generation. But how does it work exactly?
addedWhenever a new run is started, the map is procedurally generated just from a few high-level variables. These variables will be tweak-able by you in sandbox mode (although not in the beta).
changedSetting these variables determines how many Water, Rocks, Hill, Mountains, Forest etc etc tiles that can be found on the generated map. There will be some imbalance, but all resources will be found in some quantity on any map.
changedNot everything is procedurally generated though. For example each Forest tile will always yield the same amount of Wood . Why? Because I don’t want you to spend time min-maxing forever the Wood yield by checking how much of it each Forest tile on the map (thousands of them...) will provide. Instead, deciding where to place the Sawmill should depend on roughly how many Forest resources are in range of it (which is easy to see), as well as how to connect it to the transportation network and find workers nearby.
changedHope these choices will make sense in the upcoming closed beta! If you haven’t signed up already for it, you can do so here: https://subscribepage.io/pressingthumbs .
addedI have an extra dev update note: I have added some wave effects near the coast and some trails behind ships. This is how they look:

Times of Progress changes

changedAs mentioned on its Steam Page, Times of Progress features procedural map generation. But how does it work exactly?
addedWhenever a new run is started, the map is procedurally generated just from a few high-level variables. These variables will be tweak-able by you in sandbox mode (although not in the beta).
changedSetting these variables determines how many Water, Rocks, Hill, Mountains, Forest etc etc tiles that can be found on the generated map. There will be some imbalance, but all resources will be found in some quantity on any map.
changedNot everything is procedurally generated though. For example each Forest tile will always yield the same amount of Wood . Why? Because I don’t want you to spend time min-maxing forever the Wood yield by checking how much of it each Forest tile on the map (thousands of them...) will provide. Instead, deciding where to place the Sawmill should depend on roughly how many Forest resources are in range of it (which is easy to see), as well as how to connect it to the transportation network and find workers nearby.
changedHope these choices will make sense in the upcoming closed beta! If you haven’t signed up already for it, you can do so here: https://subscribepage.io/pressingthumbs .

Let’s talk about procedural generation in this latest update.

As mentioned on its Steam Page, Times of Progress features procedural map generation. But how does it work exactly?

Whenever a new run is started, the map is procedurally generated just from a few high-level variables. These variables will be tweak-able by you in sandbox mode (although not in the beta).

Setting these variables determines how many Water, Rocks, Hill, Mountains, Forest etc etc tiles that can be found on the generated map. There will be some imbalance, but all resources will be found in some quantity on any map.

This imbalance in turn will determine which industries will be better to develop in the game. Being strong in a certain industry will help with trading with external AI-controlled cities later on to get in exchange those resources and materials that are not readily available or producible locally in your city.

Steam post image

Not everything is procedurally generated though. For example each Forest tile will always yield the same amount of Wood. Why? Because I don’t want you to spend time min-maxing forever the Wood yield by checking how much of it each Forest tile on the map (thousands of them...) will provide. Instead, deciding where to place the Sawmill should depend on roughly how many Forest resources are in range of it (which is easy to see), as well as how to connect it to the transportation network and find workers nearby.

Hope these choices will make sense in the upcoming closed beta! If you haven’t signed up already for it, you can do so here: https://subscribepage.io/pressingthumbs.

I have an extra dev update note

I have added some wave effects near the coast and some trails behind ships.

This is how they look

Steam post image

They may be a bit faint due to the GIF resolution and compression, but I am hoping they will add to the chill feelings and keep you in the flow during play!

Until the next update! Have a good one in the meantime.

If you want to stay in touch or have questions you can find me here:

Source

Steam News / 26 February 2024

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