imported>Belbury: MOS:ORDER, second image

2024-10-08T11:21:23Z

MOS:ORDER, second image

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{{No footnotes|date=July 2015}}
{{Short description|Randomly-generated map}}
[[File:Nuclear Throne screenshot 08.png|thumb|A player exploring a randomly generated map in the 2016 [[roguelike]] game ''[[Nuclear Throne]]'']]
[[File:Rogue Screen Shot CAR.PNG|thumb|A randomly generated dungeon map in the 1980 videogame ''[[Rogue (video game)|Rogue]]'']]
In [[video game]]s, a '''random map''' is a map generated [[randomness|randomly]] by the computer, usually in [[Strategy video game|strategy]] games. Random maps are often the core of single and multiplayer gameplay, aside from story based campaigns that are often shipped with the game. Each new game presents an unknown map, providing a new experience to the player, and an even playing field in [[multiplayer|multiplayer gaming]]. Random maps typically have a certain theme - for example a naval random map with many small islands, or a 'gold rush' map with a large amount of gold in the center of the map. The type of random map may also influence the game's [[game artificial intelligence|artificial intelligence]], with the AI employing different strategies optimized for each random map.

Methods for generating such maps vary depending upon the [[topography]] of the game itself. A game which requires natural landscapes may use [[fractal]] subdivision to create convincing terrain, whereas a game set inside a structure such as a dungeon may use two-dimensional maze algorithms. Some games allow the players to make their own '''random map scripts''' (RMS), a form of [[Mod (computer gaming)|game modification]]. Random map scripts provide instructions for generating the map, such as terrain types, resource locations, and many other factors. Random maps can also be used by scenario [[level design|designer]] to unlock previously unavailable units. For example in ''[[Age of Empires II]]'', designers have used RMS to unlock new terrains and units. The unit-terrain combination of fish on shoreless water is one such application of this technique. Another example is ''[[Empire Earth]]'', where an unused dark red coloured cliff can be unlocked through a custom random map script.

== See also ==
* [[Procedural generation]]

== Sources ==
* {{cite book|last1=Kawick|first1=Mickey|title=Real-Time Strategy Game Programming Using Direct 6.0|date=1999|publisher=Wordware Publishing Inc.|isbn=9781556226441|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8pjgAAAAMAAJ}}
* {{cite book|last1=Barron|first1=Todd|title=Strategy Game Programming with DirectX 9.0|date=2003|publisher=Wordware Publishing, Inc|isbn=9781556229220|url=https://archive.org/details/strategygameprog0000barr|url-access=registration}}

{{Real-time strategy gameplay}}

[[Category:Video game terminology]]

Random map - Revision history

imported>Belbury: MOS:ORDER, second image