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Actually, they didn't :) Think of it as mathematical compression. The ability for math to create very large amounts of data from a simple starting point. In t
by bruce511 4y ago
Actually, they didn't :)
Think of it as mathematical compression. The ability for math to create very large amounts of data from a simple starting point.
In their case they used a "random" number sequence, based on a specific seed. [1]
Storing the seed is trivial, but the sequence is infinitely long, so getting lots of data from that point is easy.
This approach doesn't let you compress a specific thing, but it does let you decompress something wonderful in a consistent way.
[1] https://www.theguardian.com/books/2003/oct/18/features.weekend https://www.theguardian.com/books/2003/oct/18/features.weeke...
- detrites 4y agoMaybe it depends on your point of view? I see the lines between procedural world generation and bespoke crafted worlds as somewhat arbitrary. Eg, bespoke simulations have a finite custom form, but are yet also infinite, the custom constraints typically being things such as permissible movement or magnification. In principle, without those constraints, you could also keep exploring infinitely, and similar to a procedural world, it'd become boring. Conversely, in Elite, the vocabulary list, and various classifications of world features, are the custom, stored inputs. One could also keep "zooming" into them arbitrarily, but custom limits were placed on that.