Uploaded November 2023 | Updated September 2026, 50 minutes ago
This talk will examine how riddles that are meaningful, obscure, and solvable, are procedurally generated in Ultima Ratio Regum. I believe this to be a first in roguelikes and in the talk I'm going to outline how the game a) procedurally generates its main categories of cryptic riddles, b) ensures that there is enough information for the player to decipher them, and c) generates and stores unique custom triggers through which they can actually be solved by performing each procedurally generated solution, and d) checks that there are enough ways to figure out the answer to a riddle, i.e. that the riddle is not unusually difficult or the riddle's key components are too rare or hard to find.
This talk will examine how riddles that are meaningful, obscure, and solvable, are procedurally generated in Ultima Ratio Regum. I believe this to be a first in roguelikes and in the talk I'm going to outline how the game a) procedurally generates its main categories of cryptic riddles, b) ensures that there is enough information for the player to decipher them, and c) generates and stores unique custom triggers through which they can actually be solved by performing each procedurally generated solution, and d) checks that there are enough ways to figure out the answer to a riddle, i.e. that the riddle is not unusually difficult or the riddle's key components are too rare or hard to find.
