The phrase "procedural generation" is experiencing a bit of a buzzword-y renaissance in the game industry right now -- but what does it actually mean to embrace it as part of your game production pipeline?

At GDC 2015, Hello Games' Grant Duncan popped up on stage to speak frankly about how the studio came to procedurally generate the worlds of No Man's Sky, and how this approach has affected the development process.

As art director, Duncan oversees a small team of artists using novel tools and techniques to generate large amounts of game content -- whole worlds' worth, in fact -- quickly and effectively. If you missed his talk in person, you can now watch it for free over on the Official GDC YouTube channel to learn how they pull it off.

About the GDC Vault

In addition to this presentation, the GDC Vault and its new YouTube channel offers numerous other free videos, audio recordings, and slides from many of the recent Game Developers Conference events, and the service offers even more members-only content for GDC Vault subscribers.

Those who purchased All Access passes to recent events like GDC, GDC Europe, and GDC Next already have full access to GDC Vault, and interested parties can apply for the individual subscription via a GDC Vault subscription page. Group subscriptions are also available: game-related schools and development studios who sign up for GDC Vault Studio Subscriptions can receive access for their entire office or company by contacting staff via the GDC Vault group subscription page. Finally, current subscribers with access issues can contact GDC Vault technical support.

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