Procedural generation for humans
Jon Ingold
16:15
The Beach
Procedural generation is everywhere and nowhere. Twitter abounds with bots, creating everything from planetary surveys to Shakespearean insults. Whole game universes are generated and regenerated from random seeds. And yet, procedural storytelling languishes in tedium. No wonder: stories are about creativity, uniqueness and the element of surprise. So what use are procedural generation techniques when the process is not the purpose - when the reader wants levitation, and not wires? The computers have had their fun: but what use now is procedural generation to humans?
Jon is narrative director at inkle, an independent studio creating award-winning interactive fiction. Their game “80 Days” was TIME magazine’s Game of the Year and also one of the Telegraph’s best 100 novels; and, ink, their scripting language for dynamic narrative, is used by game studios worldwide.
Where: Academy London
When: 15 February 2019
Confluence is in partnership with Academy London, Google’s dedicated learning space in Victoria