qd-scenario-libraries opportunity asserted
Quality-diversity scenario libraries
Generate large libraries of scenarios that cover a grid of difficulty and play style, so scenario-driven sims never run out of distinct challenges.
thesis
Scenario modes are expensive to author and players exhaust them. Quality-diversity search can fill a map of scenario descriptors (resource scarcity, threat timing, terrain constraint) with playable, validated scenarios, and learned generators can add theming. Agent playtests confirm each is solvable and estimate difficulty.
design sketch
A scenario browser shows a grid of challenge types by difficulty; each cell holds generated scenarios that agents have solved, with par times. Players rate them; ratings retrain the generator.
validation experiment
Generate 500 scenarios for a bridge or park builder with MAP-Elites over three descriptors; have players compare random generated scenarios with authored ones. Success: generated scenarios rated at least 80 percent as enjoyable as authored ones.
key risks
- Generated scenarios feel generic.
- Agent-solvable is not the same as fun.
falsifiable prediction
A simulation or puzzle-sim game will ship a scenario library generated by quality-diversity search.
Content first shipped after 2026-10-24 in a title with at least 1,000 Steam user reviews; developer documentation names quality-diversity or MAP-Elites generation for shipped scenarios or levels.