Items

Besides using parameters, another way that model generation compounds is through item generation. If a character is built of armor pieces and uses weapons that are procedurally generated, then each one of those pieces has properties that can be manipulated or modularized. Just like our sword from Chapter 6, Generating Modular Weapons, the item will be made of a certain amount of pieces. However, imagine if each of the pieces was then made of another set of pieces and so on.

Compounding model generation through item generation can create a truly unique experience. However, having to generate that many objects would be costly to our performance due to the amount of time and space it would require. It would also be hard on the player if every single object in the game looked different. People look for patterns.

One option would be to generate an item and then store a reference to that model for later use. By reusing some things, we give the player some patterns to work with. An example...