SMU Guildhall Graduate Catalog Fall 2015 — Cohort 22 | Page 26

Brian Rust Software Development « 2D Map Generation with Cellular Automata Cellular automata is a set of units with at drawing my own maps, so I wanted and destruction. The goal of this Directed interesting 2D tile maps for me. simple rules governing their replication Focus Study was to create a set of cellular automata rules to govern the generation This project took eight weeks to complete. types (grass, gravel, rock and water). I the cellular automata rules I created of 2D tile maps using four different tile wanted my program to be able to create interesting 2D maps while also ensuring the map had no isolated locations that the player could not reach (such as land completely surrounded by water or rock). I chose this project for two reasons. First, I had an interest in the unique patterns that cellular automata could create. Secondly, I have never been very good 26 to create a program that could generate SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT My primary challenge was ensuring that could be manipulated easily through data. I wanted this project to create a tool that others could change and use how they like. Everything from the number of cellular automata steps to the individual weights of the tiles can be altered through XML files with a simple text editor. With this project, I now have my own tool for map generation that I can share with others.