An Algorithmic Approach to Decorative Content Placement

Abstract

Placing decorative content in any virtual environment is not a trivial task, as the location of even non-critical content influences player movement choices through the level, as well as the general game aesthetic. In this work we use path visibility properties to define and investigate three methods for content placement in a game level, aimed at generating shared, unique, and never seen content. We compare and evaluate the three approaches using a human study where each player was given a level layout based on our three methods, showing our directed process has a non-trivial and controllable impact on player movement.