A Generative Framework of Generativity

Abstract

Several frameworks exist to describe how procedural content can be understood, or how it can be used in games. In this paper, we present a framework that considers generativity as a pipeline of successive data transformations, with each transformation either generating, transforming, or pruning away information. This framework has been iterated through repeated engagement and education interactions with the game development and generative art communities. In its most recent refinement, it has been physically instantiated into a deck of cards, which can be used to analyze existing examples of generativity or design new generative systems. This Generative Framework of Generativity aims to constructively define the design space of generative pipelines.