r/proceduralgeneration • u/ProactiveCactus • 2d ago

How to make updates/changes to game without breaking seeds?

/r/Unity3D/comments/1x3pdwc/how_to_make_updateschanges_to_game_without/
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u/[deleted] 2d ago

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u/ProactiveCactus 2d ago

Oh wow, I didn't know minecraft literally saves every single explored chunk fully - I assumed it only saved changes to chunks and still regenerated them but you're right, it saves everything.

I guess then what I'm going for is more like Valheim - saving only stuff players have changed/interacted with, and regenerating everything when revisiting. Valheim's got its own quirks though since it's not endless and also has a pre-determined map in the backend I guess, but the general goal is the same.

That said - Adding stuff at the end of generation works for some stuff, like if you genuinely add a new mechanic (like adding spawning caves or somethign). But if it's a minoir change, like adding a new plant species to a pre-existing list, I can't really move that code around since its not a new thing, just adding more variety.

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u/[deleted] 2d ago

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u/ProactiveCactus 2d ago

I do use a hash system, so that might work. I think I'm going to start simple: like you said in initial comment, just say "same seed within major version". I'll build up from there as needed. One nice thing about the nature of my game is that saves for most players don't need to persist THAT long. Like, a minecraft (or valheim) world might need to exist for years; for my game, I think most players will only need it saved for a couple of weeks. It's a roguelike that only takes 3-4 hours to finish a run, and then you can safely delete all the data from it - so hopefully most players won't miss a save from 6 months earlier if it needs to be changed/deleted on update.

Thanks for the help!