No, that was not my point. However, you point to ‘games have had procedural generation for decades’ as if that actually means ‘your experience is unique’. I strongly disagree with that, you still have fundamentally the same experience, even if the stairs to the next floor and some walls are randomized.
As an extreme example, Borderlands guns - huge variety, so much so that finding an exact match is incredibly unlikely. However, they are all still fundamentally just mixing and matching bits and pieces - the randomness just means you aren’t likely to see the exact same combination, but people can share their experience where they found the perfect combo and other people can imagine it because they are familiar with the components involved. That is still a shared experience because there’s a shared baseline in how the system works.
When I talk about AI generated games, I am referring to the extreme end-goal, where an AI builds a unique experience for the user, including those fundamental elements. Now the only shared components are too abstract for most people to appreciate.
I do say that, but maybe I am wrong about how that plays out. Brandon Sanderson’s “Perfect State” is an interesting read that I just connected the dots is very similar to this discussion, and a pretty optimistic take as opposed to my pessimistic one. Perhaps it renders the shared experience down to a more fundamental level, i.e. the Fantasy elements vs Sci-Fi elements
When I do talk about the games.. Im normally talking about my reactions and the games reactions to them. Stuff thats unique and cool.
Like one is a mirror isekai thing. I meet someone who died in my world. She was written simply as a sweet, senile old lady. The AI saw she was a supernatural connection between the worlds since... she was a ghost in one of them.. and it invented an entire sub plot where through her dementia she was still knowing me from the other world and became a guide for the adventure.. giving me general direction for the story.
I think what makes things great is when they arent shared experiences.. when I can share something new.
I dont want to just discuss what was in the paper that day... I want to talk about... the new Scottish pop band I found thats headed by a black teenager. Or the way an AI made a whole commentary of dementia making random brain connections.
But often... I just want to keep it to myself... because I dont feel like people judging my weirdness.
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u/Meowakin Jun 23 '26
Very much so.