Austin Merritt
Level Design
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Using Perk Choice to Personalize RPG Content
My thesis artifact aims to offer a proof of For this project, I researched video game
large open world Role Playing Games understand that personalization involves
concept for personalized content within
(RPG). I was initially inspired by tackling
the challenge of coming up with a way to
predict which content players will enjoy in
Fallout to enable the creation of levels that
feel handcrafted for any player’s specific
loadouts and abilities.
Over the course of a year with over 200
hours of work, I developed a Fallout 4
dungeon set that changes its enemy
encounters, item placement, and room
layouts to support the player’s predicted
style of play. Playstyle predictions are
calculated through the observation of
the player’s perk choices within a perk
selection interface accessible at the start
of the experience. Once the perk data is
recorded, it is fed into various systems
within the dungeon that affect the player’s
experience within the space.
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LEVEL DESIGN
personalization systems, which helped me
a pattern of observation and prediction of
player characteristics. By understanding
these elements of personalization, I was
able to better frame what the experience
should and should aim to achieve.
Beyond the theories I learned about and
applied, this project also taught me a
great deal about scripting in creation kit
as I constructed new systems within the
game’s framework.