Caves of Qud

Planting World Seeds: Procedural Content Generation, Labour and Conceptual Art in Digital Games

This paper by Finn Dawson examines procedural content generation (PCG) in digital games, arguing that the term conflates two distinct production forms with different labour arrangements and aesthetic consequences.

• The paper argues that 'procedural content generation' conflates two distinct forms: Runtime PCG, where worlds are generated during play and foreground the production process, and Development PCG, where assets are generated during production and never directly seen by players.
• The central claim is that Development PCG primarily automates human labour, separating conceptual world-building from the articulation work needed to make generated outputs meet production goals.
• Drawing on Marx and scholarship on automation and outsourced labour, the author contends that Development PCG often adopts a 'reified' aesthetic of nature, modelling erosion and tree growth so generated assets appear realistic and thereby concealing the labour involved.